„Generation Image“ explores social dimensions of contemporary digital image-production and application. Hosted by the University of Arts and Design (HfG) Karlsruhe, this conference kicks off a new research project within the DFG priority program „The Digital Image“, while tapping into HfG Karlsruhe‘s research history: Between 2000 and 2009, our university had been home to „Image Body Medium“, a prolific graduate program informed by Hans Belting‘s anthropological approach to Bildwissenschaft. Given the omnipresence and social importance of digital media, its key question of where the image actually ‚takes place‘ seems more relevant than ever. In order to grasp the ‚place‘ and shifting status of digital image practices, our conference will consider them with regard to technological affordances (smartphone screens, apps, interfaces), and locate them within social and physiological feedback loops. In response to most recent debates, we are hosting a dedicated panel discussion on the synthetic nature of AI generated photorealistic images.

With: Alexander Estorick (London, UK), Adam Harvey (Berlin), Inge Hinterwaldner (Karlsruhe), Charlotte Kent (Montclair, USA), Arif Kornweitz (Karlsruhe), Elisa Linseisen (Hamburg), Roland Meyer (Bochum) and Katrin Tiidenberg (Tallinn, Estonia).

Organizers: Matthias Bruhn & Katharina Weinstock, Department of Art Research & Media Philosophy, HfG Karlsruhe.

Supported by
HfG Karlsruhe
SPP The Digital Image
ZKM Center for Art and Media

ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medien
Lorenzstraße 19
76135 Karlsruhe
ZKM_Vortragssaal, ground floor

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JULY 13, THURSDAY

17.30 —18.00 INTRO Matthias Bruhn & Katharina Weinstock
18.00— 19.00 The digital image as application Elisa Linseisen: „Queer Image App(lication)s. A User’s Manual“
19.00 —20.00 The digital image as social practice Katrin Tiidenberg: „Visual social media. Meanings and affordances“
20.00 —20.15 Discussion

JULY 14, FRIDAY

09.30 —10.30 The digital image as artifact
Introduction by Arif Kornweitz
Inge Hinterwaldner: „A Thousand Screenshots are Better than One. But Do they Suffice? How to Build and Condense Knowledge“
10.30 —11.05 AI generated images
Introduction by Alexander Estorick
Roland Meyer: „Image Derivatives. On the Visual Economy of Synthetic Media“
11.05 —11.20 Coffee Break
11.20 —12.00 AI generated images
Charlotte Kent: : „Art by Fiat: Discourse as Critical to Text-to-Image Generated Production“
12.00 —13.00 Lunch Break at Mint, ZKM Karlsruhe
13.00 —14.00 AI generated images
Roundtable with Alexander Estorick, Charlotte Kent, and Roland Meyer
14.00—15.00 Final Discussion and Conclusion