25 Nov 2013

Image studies, new media studies, network studies - Call for applications: PhD at CityU

The School of Creative Media of the City University of Hong Kong is now accepting admissions for the Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Media. Deadline for all uploaded documents December 4th 2013. Applicants are strongly advised to submit draft applications as soon as possible so they can get feedback before final submission.

School of Creative Media (SCM), founded in 1998, is Hong Kong's first institution committed to research across art, computing, technology, animation, music, sociology, and engineering.

Candidates will have advanced knowledge of media art, art history, arts institutions, and curating, or relevant fields of inquiry. They are required to hold a minimum four-year Bachelor's degree with Honours, and a research Master's qualification in a relevant discipline. Candidates should apply with a research project relevant to SCM's research foci and PhD supervisory expertise. Given the very nature of creative media and media art, interdisciplinary projects as well as those with an element of practice-based research are encouraged. Numerous scholarships covering the cost of PhD studies are available at the governmental level as well as at the level of the City University of Hong Kong and are awarded after assessment of the academic merits and artistic potential of the candidates.

Please visit the link below to see more about the wide range of subjects covered by our full team of PhD supervisors. This announcement highlights the research expertise of one of SCM's PhD supervisors.

Dr. Ingrid Hoelzl

Ingrid Hoelzl researches on the theory of the digital image crosses the disciplines of image studies, new-media studies, network theory and software studies. She explores the change of the paradigm (from geometry to algorithm) introduced by the 'digital revolution' (Manovich), and questions the 'photographic form' that remains the general form of the image in spite of the disintegration of the philosophy of representability that underpinned it. In so doing, it draws the lines for a new theory of the 'operative image' (Farocki), a theory that accounts not only for our representation of the world but also for our action, our operation in and on the world.

Hoelzl has published a monograph on the theory of photographic self-portraiture and several catalogue essays and book chapters on contemporary photography and video art. Her articles on the new temporality and status of the image in the context of digital animation, screening, and JPEG compression have a appeared in prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as Photographies, History of Photography, Intermédialités, and Digital Creativity. They are available for download on her academia.edu website.

She is currently finishing a monograph that explores the question of 'what is an image today', following its move from geometry to algorithm, and the convergence of image and data, vision and representation (forthcoming with Amsterdam University Press 2014).

Area of supervision
Image studies, new media studies, network studies
Theory of photography
Research creation


For details on other research fields: www.scm.cityu.edu.hk/programmes/postgraduate/research-degrees/