Experimental media archaeology

Dataset from the research project Doing Experimental Media Archaeology (DEMA) was recently published on Europeana, the online platform of cultural heritage.

Report of the international conference that took place on 8 & 9 September in the Science Center, Differdange.

On 7 September, the Kulturfabrik in Esch-Alzette became the stage of a hands-on media archeology performance.

The international conference 'Doing Experimental Media Archaeology: Practice & Theory' offers a platform for a discussion on how to widen the reach and inclusivity of hands-on approaches to experimental media research and education.

Dive into the world of Experimental Media Archaeology and the power of object-based re-enactment on the historical imagination!

Organised by the C²DH, the conference 'Doing Experimental Media Archaeology: Practice & Theory' will take place from 7 to 9 September 2022 in Esch-sur-Alzette and Differdange.

On 18 December 2020, the second workshop of the DEMA project - Doing Experimental Media Archaeology: Practice & Theory - project took place at the C²DH. For this workshop, participants from various fields, including media history, art history, musicology, history of science, sensorial ethnography, contemporary composition and sound art were invited to share experiences on how to perform historical re-enactments and how experimental research can serve or operate in artistic practice.

Research seminar with Tim van der Heijden

Research seminar with Aleksander Kolkowski

A hands-on demonstration of the Kinora Viewer Replica. This public online event shows the fruits of a recent successful collaboration between the C²DH and the Department of Engineering. Combining historical inquiry with a hands-on and technical approach - involving the latest 3D modelling and desktop manufacturing engineering techniques - a media historian and two engineers joined forces to produce a working replica of a very special object in the history of (early) cinema: the Kinora viewer.

On 17-18 December 2019, the first workshop of the DEMA project - Doing Experimental Media Archaeology: Practice & Theory - project took place at the C²DH. For this workshop, specialists from the fields of media history, art history and the history of science were invited to share best practices and experiences in documenting hands-on and experimental research.

Workshop & Demonstration with Sean Davies & Aleks Kolkowski (U.K.)

In this blog post, I present my post-doctoral research within the DEMA project in which I examine the genealogy of home cinema and amateur moviemaking as early-twentieth century practices by means of an experimental media archaeological approach.

In September 2019, C²DH will launch the DEMA project which will provide a systematic reflection on the methodological underpinnings of experimental media archaeology as a practical and sensorial approach to media historiography.

This entry briefly describes how we generated English subtitles (using digital tools) for the binaural radio play "Glanz und Elend der Kunstkopf-Stereophonie" we produced in 2017.

How do we look back on the Great War today, a century after the events unfolded? What do we remember of that time? What has been handed down to us of the conflicts and traumas that took place? What memories are conserved by objects, places and commemorative practices? And what stories have been deliberately sidelined or simply lost?

Research seminar with Andreas Fickers and Tim Van der Heijden.

In the Hands-On History seminar on the 24th of May by Dr. Ludwig M. Vogl-Bienek and Karin Bienek from the University of Trier we were introduced to the history of the magic lantern. After a brief overview during the lecture, we got to experience a live performance of the magic lantern in our Digital History lab. We were also encouraged to experiment with some smaller but original magic lanterns.

Hands-on History session with Karin Bienek and Ludwig Vogl-Bienek (University of Trier).

'Staging the Amateur Film Dispositif' is a media archaeological experiment performed on March 31, 2014 at the 9th International Orphan Film Symposium at the EYE Film Institute Amsterdam. In three tableaux we explored how past media usages of film, video and digital media have altered the practices of home movie staging.