Art History & Media Theory
Katharina Weinstock (Dr. des.) is an art historian and media theorist with a focus on modern & contemporary art and digital culture.

Katharina holds a Postdoc position at HfG Karlsruhe University of Arts & Design where she had previously been a Research Associate in the department of Art Research & Media Philosophy. Her project Designing Habits: The Digital Image as Application analyses inherently digital aesthetics that have emerged on social media platforms. These intense advertising and data collection environments abound with triggers, nudges and baits as forms of visual and affective stimulation and manipulation.
Designing Habits looks at images, apps and games promising to satisfy aesthetic needs while soothing physiological and psychological imbalance. Platform interests, the affordances of the smart phone, and a human desire to “get better” merge in one seductive promise: To restore agency to the users of addictive app design. This project is funded by the DFG priority program “The digital Image”.
Fields of Expertise
Digital Culture: Aesthetics of #ASMR and #OddlySatisfying, Virtual Embodiment and Virtual Bodies (avatars, companions), AI Generated Photorealism and Human Memory, Ghost Bots and the Digital Afterlife Industry.
Modern and Contemporary Art: Surrealism, Post-Digital Art, Post-Internet Art, Net Art, Artistic Research, Art as (political) Activism, Art as (individual) Activation, Documentary art practices, Institutional Critique, Art without Objects, Art beyond Art, Found Objects and Post-Readymades.
Contact
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