Key research themes
1. How does algorithmic mediation reshape cultural production and social interaction?
This research theme investigates how algorithms, as mediators of culture and sociality, fundamentally restructure how culture is produced, experienced, and understood. It focuses on the sociocultural implications of algorithmic decision-making processes, including the publicness of culture, the formation of social desires, and the reinforcement or amplification of social biases. Understanding this is vital for academics tracing the intersections of computational logics with cultural and social theory, highlighting emergent forms of 'algorithmic culture' and ideology.
2. What new methodologies and conceptual frameworks are needed to understand and critically engage with algorithmic media systems?
This area centers on developing novel theoretical and methodological insights for comprehending algorithms as socio-technical entities with institutional, epistemic, and embodied dimensions. It underlines the necessity for democratic accountability, interpretive frameworks bridging technical opacity and public discourse, and artistic explorations that foreground the physical and sensory experiences of algorithmic processes. It is key for scholars aiming to dissect algorithmic agency beyond technical abstraction and relate it to lived experience and institutional structures.
3. How can algorithmic processes be integrated and critically examined through art and creative practices?
This theme explores the role of artistic and aesthetic computation approaches for revealing the materiality, historical development, and conceptual underpinnings of algorithmic media. It highlights how art can operationalize algorithms not only in creating novel aesthetic experiences but also as a critical practice to interrogate technological and cultural assumptions. This area bridges media art history, technical re-coding, and experimental interface design to deepen academic understanding and public engagement with algorithmic processes.