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Prof. Dr. Claus PiasProfessor of History and Epistemology of Media Leuphana Universität Lüneburg |
In Residence
November 2016 — January 2017
Research Project
Digital cultures and sovereignty
The research I intend to conduct during my fellowship is part of a more encompassing project on digital cultures in the course of which I wish to move beyond the confines of modernity and the concepts it offers. Digital cultures may be conceived of as direct consequence and product of modernity, but at the same, time they arguably mark the end of that very era, too. It is this anachronism I source from when proposing a thought experiment that explores digital cultures through the ostensibly strange lens of pre-modern concepts instead. Consequently, in a first step, the notion of »sovereignty« will be applied to knowledge (and imperatives derived from it) of computer simulation. Sovereignty used to designate the realm that granted protection to despotism and wisdom of the ruler by harnessing the metaphysical to render this sphere incomprehensible. Today, it is the incommensurability of the speed and complexity of data processing which experiences this kind of protection against human cognition and understanding. During my time at the Center for Advanced Studies BildEvidenz, I want to lay bare to what extent these »digital arcana« can be thought of with regard to the notions of »visibility« and »evidence«.
Research Interest
- Wissens- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte des Mediendenkens
- Medientheorie
- Geschichte und Epistemologie der Simulation und der Kybernetik
Publications
Hrsg. mit Inge Baxmann und Timon Beyes: Social Media — New Masses, Chicago: University Press 2016.
Hrsg. mit Stefan Rieger: Vollstes Verständnis. Utopien der Kommunikation, Zürich: diaphanes, 2015.
»Friedrich Kittler und der ›Mißbrauch von Heeresgerät‹. Zur Situation eines Denkbilds 1964 – 1984 – 2014«, in: Merkur, 4 (2015), S. 31-44.
mit Timon Beyes: »Transparenz und Geheimnis«, in: Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaft, 2 (2014), S. 111-117.
Hrsg. Was waren Medien?, Zürich: diaphanes 2012.
ContactProf. Dr. Claus PiasKolleg-Forschergruppe BildEvidenz Arnimallee 10 Zimmer K012 |
