Prof. Dr. Martina Merz

Johannes Bruder 

Cluster 4: Image, Model, and Design 

The central goal of this cluster is gaining insights about images, taking into account the way they were manufactured in the sciences, technologies, and design. Here, the reference to the topic of iconic criticism consists in the fact that the image practices used in designing and modelling are based on an analytical study of the images generated within the process. The knowledge of the power and effect of images as a rule only implicitly available in the field of image generation opens, properly and systematically studied, an as yet little studied “epistemic space” [Erkenntnisraum] (Rheinberger) of image research. Closely linked to the issue of design, this cluster studies dealing with and creating models. Similar to the design process, modelling also is an activity triggering knowledge production and a shift of perception. There is a close link between the topic of design and that of the model, which this interdisciplinary team will explore in this clus­ter. 

Module: Image and Model 

Images and models often appear side by side. However, their interplay in the production of knowledge has hardly been studied to date in spite of the fact that establishing a relation between them promises to open up new perspectives for images and iconographic research. Which facets have to be focused on if you are going to study images concerning their role as a model? 

What role do images play in imparting insights created by and gleaned from models? With respect to their actual functions, images and models exist in-between the conflicting demands of representativity and productivity. In which constellations do they appear though and how do they shed light on each other? Questions arising as to their relationship shall, on the one hand, be empirically investigated on the basis of actual case studies, on the other hand, we shall have to conceptually expand existing approaches to image analysis and model theory to address these issues. Due to the interdisciplinary composition of this module, we shall not only examine different priorities but also the most diverse interfaces between model and image.  

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