Frictions: Inquiries into Cybernetic Thinking and Its Attempts towards Mate[real]ization

Andrei Cretu is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages at The Ohio State University and a recipient of the American Society for Cybernetics’ Heinz von Foerster Award. His research focuses on communication theory and the mathematical modeling of language.

Wolfgang Ernst is chair of Media Theories at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His research covers media archaeology as method, theory of technical storage, technologies of cultural transmission, micro-temporal media aesthetics, critique of history as master discourse of cultural and technological time, and sound analysis from a media-epistemological perspective.

Thomas Fischer is a professor at the School of Design at the Southern University of Science and Technology, a fellow of the Design Research Society, and recipient of the American Society for Cybernetics’ Warren McCulloch Award. His research focuses on design computing, design cybernetics, and digital media.

Hans-Christian von Herrmann holds the chair of Literary Studies (Literature and Science) at Technische Universität Berlin. His work focuses on the change in literary culture in the age of cybernetization, practices of automation in the arts since the late 19th century, and the effects of planetarization associated with modern technology.

Stefan Höltgen (PhD, ScD) is scholar for media science at University of Bonn. He researches and teaches media and computer archaeology, and works as scientific advisor for the Oldenburg Computer Museum.

Rolf F. Nohr is professor of Media Aesthetics and Media Culture at HBK Braunschweig, and an external affiliate at the College of Humanities of University of Arizona. His work focuses on media evidence processes, game studies and instantaneous images.

Eva Schauerte is a media and cultural historian with a focus on media history of computer democracy. In the past she held research positions at the Institute for Media Culture Studies at Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg (2011–2016), and at IKKM (2016–2020). Currently, she works for the Senate Chancellery of Bremen.

Isabell Schrickel is a PhD candidate at the Center for Global Sustainability and Cultural Transformation (Leuphana University / Arizona State University). Isabell was visiting fellow at Harvard’s Department of the History of Science and at IKKM. Her work historicizes environmental sciences, modeling and simulation, and the evolution of sustainability thinking.

Sebastian Vehlken is professor of Knowledge Processes and Digital Media at Universität Oldenburg, and head of the program area Ships as Knowledge Repositories at the German Maritime Museum/Leibniz-Institute for Maritime History. His research interests include the media history of computer simulation, media of futurology, and oceans as knowledge spaces.