Person

Senior Lecturer, Reader
- Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
- Division of Ethnology
- Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences
Contact information
E-mail robert.willimkultur.luse
Phone +46 46 222 75 65
Visiting address
Helgonavägen 3, Lund
Postal address
Box 192, 221 00 Lund
Internal post code 30
Researcher and teacher in Digital Cultures. Also active as artist.
My research primarily deals with how imaginaries and practices are unfolding and changing in relation to emerging technologies, materiality and processes of consumption.
Some years ago I developed a research track about the concept Industrial Cool. This deals with the ways traditional industries are transformed in contact with ideas about a postindustrial society. I have continued this work through examinations of imaginaries of decay and vital materiality.
Mixes of art and cultural analysis is at the heart of my practice. I work with a number of art projects that are juxtaposed with research questions. The artworks are used as probes that might transmute concepts in my research.
Research
My profile in Lund University research portal
- Pufendorf ASG: The Seamless Life: Experiences and Visions of a Data-Driven Life
- Aesthetic Studies Reading Group
- CROCUS Kulturens rum och kreativitetens villkor
- The research node for aesthetic studies
- Forskningsnoden för kulturpolitik och kulturarv
- HEX - Humanistisk Experimentgrupp
- Popular Culture Research Node
- Infrastructure Imaginaries-A cultural Exploration of Emerging and Decaying Technological Systems (research leader)
- Imagining and Living the Global: Transnational Trajectories and New Junctures of Community
- Being moved: the patterns and disjunctures of mobility and flow
- Home-made: The cultural dynamics of the inconspicuous.
- Two Nations for the Price of One: Tourism and the Experience Economy in the Øresund Region.
- DigiTrust: Privacy, Identity and Legitimacy in the Digital Society
- Runaway Methods: Ethnography and Its Transformations
- In Search of Search and its Engines
- Konst för en stad i förändring - de offentliga gestaltningarnas betydelse för social hållbarhet
- The Archaeology of Time Travel
- The Digital Society - prospects and challenges
Books (4)
- Willim, R., Ingmarsson, N. & Magntorn, M. (2010). Förbisett : när vardagen glimrar till. Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Symposion.
- Willim, R. (2008). Industrial Cool : om postindustriella fabriker. Hex, 2. Humanistiska fakulteten, Lunds universitet.
- Cronqvist, M., Eriksdotter, G., Hagström, C., Liljefors, M., Mossberg, F. & Willim, R. (2006). Virtualiteter : sex essäer. Hex, 1. Lund University.
- Willim, R. (2002). Framtid.nu : flyt och friktion i ett snabbt företag. Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Symposion. Dissertation.
Editorships (5)
- Willim, R., Fors, V. & Berg, M. (2018). (Eds.) Samverkansformer : Nya vägar för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap. Studentlitteratur AB.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2011). (Eds.) Irregular Ethnograpies. Ethnologia Europaea, 41:1. Museum Tusculanum Press.
- Willim, R. (2006). (Ed.) ETN:HEM. ETN: etnologisk skriftserie, 2. Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- Ideland, M., Sjöholm, C. & Willim, R. (2005). (Eds.) ETN:POP. ETN: etnologisk skriftserie, 1. Department of European Ethnology, Lund University.
- Willim, R. & Löfgren, O. (2005). (Eds.) Magic, Culture and The New Economy. Berg Publishers.
Articles (19)
- Willim, R. (2020). Det smarta hemmets mundanisering. Kulturella perspektiv, 29, 75-79. Föreningen Kulturella perspektiv.
- Willim, R. (2019). Mundania : Just above the noise floor. Seismograf.
- Willim, R., Pink, S., Ruckenstein, M. & Duque, M. (2018). Broken data : Conceptualising data in an emerging world. Big Data and Society, 5, 1-13. SAGE Publications.
- Willim, R. (2017). Art probing and worldmaking : Exploring museum imaginaries. Hamburger Journal für Kulturanthropologie, 7, 77-97. Inst. für Volkskunde/Kulturanthropologie, Univ. Hamburg.
- Willim, R. (2017). Evoking imaginaries : Art probing, ethnography and more-than-academic practice. Sociological Research Online, 22, 208-231. SAGE Publications.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2015). Rendering Culture and Multi-Targeted Ethnography. Ethnologia Scandinavica, 45, 89-102. Folklivsarkivet.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2013). Transcription and the Senses : Cultural Analysis When It Entails More Than Words. The Senses & Society, 8, 314-334. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Willim, R. (2013). Att utforska gränsland : om TV-serien Folkliv. ETN:LUF Folklivsarkivet i Lund 100 år, 39-43. Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2011). Composing Ethnography. Ethnologia Europaea, 41, 27-40. Open Library of Humanities.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2011). Irregular Ethnographies : An Introduction. Ethnologia Europaea, 41, 5-14. Open Library of Humanities.
- Willim, R. (2010). När nätet växer : om algoritmiska och irreguljära metoder. Nätverket etnologisk tidskrift, 17, 34-38. Institutionen för kulturantropologi och etnologi. Uppsala universitet.
- Willim, R. (2009). Två spår. Rig, 24-27. Föreningen för svensk kulturhistoria.
- Willim, R. (2008). Bridging Parallel Realities. ETN:JOB, 61-66. Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R. (2007). Walking Through The Screen. Digital Media on The Go. Preprint without journal information. Manne Siegbahn Institute.
- Willim, R. (2006). Menuing. Ethnologia Europaea, 35. Open Library of Humanities.
- Willim, R. (2005). Återupptäckten av industrisamhället. Rig, 152-160. Föreningen för svensk kulturhistoria.
- Willim, R. (2003). Tools for The Electronic Frontier - Aretefacts and Associations in IT Business. Ethnologia Scandinavica, 33, 21-29. Folklivsarkivet.
- Willim, R. (2001). Klick! Modulära associationsfält. Kulturella perspektiv, 10, 14-19. Föreningen Kulturella perspektiv.
- Willim, R. (1997). Tillbaka till framtiden. Kulturella perspektiv, 34-41. Föreningen Kulturella perspektiv.
Book chapters (38)
- Willim, R. (2020). Beyond Ethnographic Representation. In Vannini, P. (Ed.) Routledge Handbook of Ethnographic Film and Video. Routledge.
- Willim, R. (2020). The Clouds of Mundania. In Jörgensen, D. & Jörgensen, F. A. (Eds.) Silver Linings : Clouds in Art and Science. Museumsforlaget.
- Willim, R. (2019). Det uppkopplade hemmet. In Möller, D. (Eds.) Vetenskapssocieteten i Lund: Årsbok, Vetenskapssocieteten i Lund. Årsbok 2019 (pp. 105-116). Vetenskapssocieteten i Lund.
- Willim, R. (2019). Från insyn till insikt : Digital kultur och transparensens estetik. In Höög, V., Kärrholm, S. & Nilsson, G. (Eds.) Lund Studies in Arts and Cultural Sciences, Kultur X : 10-talet i kulturvetenskaplig belysning (pp. 45-60), 24. Lunds universitet. Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2017). Entanglements : Issues in Applied Research and Theoretical Scholarship. In Pink, S., Fors, V. & O'Dell, T. (Eds.) Theoretical Scholarship and Applied Practice (pp. 206-224). Berghahn Books.
- Willim, R. (2017). Das unvollständige Imaginäre : Digitalisierung, Mundanisierung und das Ungreifbare. In Koch, G. (Ed.) Digitalisierung : Theorien und Konzepte für die empirische Kulturforschung (pp. 55-87). UVK Verlagsgesellschaft.
- Willim, R. (2017). Imperfect imaginaries : Digitisation, mundanisation, and the ungraspable. Digitisation: Theories and Concepts for Empirical Cultural Research, 53-77. Routledge.
- Willim, R. (2017). Korrosionens karaktär : Om förfall, patina och levande kulturmiljöer. In Jönsson, L.-E. (Eds.) Lund Studies in Arts and Cultural Sciences, Politiska projekt, osäkra kulturarv : Kampanjer och förhandlingar i det sena 1900-talets Sverige och Europa (pp. 81-112). Lunds universitet. Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper.
- O’dell, T. & Willim, R. (2016). Applied cultural analysis : Ethnography as compositional practice. Handbook of Anthropology in Business, 787-799. Routledge.
- Willim, R. (2016). Att kontrollera ljud : tekniker för isolering och delaktighet. In Alftberg, Å., Apelmo, E. & Hansson, K. (Eds.) Lund Studies in Arts and Cultural Sciences, Ljud tar plats : funktionshinderperspektiv på ljudmiljöer (pp. 83-106), 11. Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper, Lunds universitet.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2014). Applied Cultural Analysis and the Compositional Practices of Rendering Ethnography. In Sunderland, P. & Deny, R. (Eds.) Handbook of Anthropology in Business (pp. 787-800). Left Coast Press Inc..
- Willim, R. (2014). Gränser mot det vilda. In Midholm, L. & Saltzman, K. (Eds.) Naturen för mig : nutida röster och kulturella perspektiv (pp. 349-351). Institutionen för språk och folkminnen i samarbete med Folklivsarkivet, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R. (2014). Under molnen - synliggörandet av digital infrastruktur och hur tillit och aura skapas. In Larsson, S. & Runeson, P. (Eds.) DigiTrust: Tillit i det digitala : Tvärvetenskapliga perspektiv från ett forskningsprojekt (pp. 97-106). Pufendorfinstitutet, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R. (2013). Enhancement or Distortion? From The Claude Glass to Instagram. In Sarai Reader 09, E. C. (Ed.) Sarai Reader 09: Projections.
- Willim, R. (2013). Out of Hand – Reflections on Elsewhereness. In Schneider, A. & Wright, C. (Eds.) Anthropology and Art Practice. Bloomsbury Academic.
- Willim, R. (2013). Transmutations of Noise. In Czarniawska, B. & Löfgren, O. (Eds.) Coping with Excess. How Organizations, Communities and Individuals Manage Overflows (pp. 118-132). Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Willim, R. (2012). Industrial Cool. En postindustriell romantik?. In Dahlström Rittsél, E., Isacson, M. & Tafvelin Heldner, M. (Eds.) Industrihistoriskt forum. Rapport från nationell konferens i Trollhättan 2008 och Falun 2009 (pp. 109-115). Tekniska museet i Stockholm.
- Willim, R. (2012). Med industrin i backspegeln. In Bogaeus, S. (Ed.) Liv i Skånsk industri (pp. 183-187). Skånes hembygdsförbund.
- Willim, R. (2011). Frammanande ljud. In Åkerman, C. (Ed.) Kulturens årsbok 2011: Musik (pp. 42-55). Kulturen i Lund.
- Willim, R. (2009). Sönderfallets lockelser- Fabrikers postindustriella romantisering. In Askander, M. (Ed.) Förgängligheter. Åtta essäer (pp. 43-66). Sekel Bokförlag.
- Willim, R. (2007). Paradiset bland bergen? Ladakh som imaginär geografi. In Ek, R. & Hultman, J. (Eds.) Plats som produkt: Kommersialisering och paketering (pp. 191-203). Studentlitteratur AB.
- Willim, R. (2006). Det obetydligas betydelse - dammets kulturella dynamik. In Willim, R. (Ed.) ETN:HEM (pp. 55-64). Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R. (2006). Extra allt. In Åkesson, L. (Ed.) Överflöd. Mellan minnesvärt och bortglömt - Kulturens årsbok 2006 (pp. 133-138). Kulturen i Lund.
- Willim, R. (2006). Under ytan - Om digitala föreställningsvärldar och dold komplexitet. In Willim, R. (Ed.) Virtualiteter - Sex essäer (pp. 69-85). Humanistiska fakulteten, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R. & Duvander, P. (2006). Dansar med kylskåp. In Willim, R. (Ed.) ETN:HEM (pp. 111-120). Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R., Duvander, P. & Parnelöv, A. (2006). Stilleben ´06. In Willim, R. (Ed.) ETN:HEM (pp. 151-159). Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- Löfgren, O. & Willim, R. (2005). Introduction: The Mandrake Mode. In Löfgren, O. & Willim, R. (Eds.) Magic, Culture and The New Economy (pp. 1-18). Berg Publishers.
- Willim, R. (2005). Aura & transparens - Möten och iscensättningar i en spektakulär fabrik. In Corvellec, H. & Lindquist, H. (Eds.) Servicemötet. Multidisciplinära öppningar. Liber.
- Willim, R. (2005). Bastardpop - om digital musikåteranvändning. In Ideland, M., Sjöholm, C. & Willim, R. (Eds.) ETN:POP (pp. 11-30). Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R. (2005). Gamla och nya fabriker. In Sjölin, M. (Eds.) Vattenfabriken som blev Brew House Götborg (pp. 68-76). Göteborgs stadsmuseum.
- Willim, R. (2005). Industrial Cool - Om det materiellas närvaro och industrisamhällets frånvaro. In Kragelund, M. & Otto, L. (Eds.) Materialitet och dannelse (pp. 159-174). Danish University of Education Press.
- Willim, R. (2005). It's in The Mix: Configuring Industrial Cool. In Löfgren, O. & Willim, R. (Eds.) Magic, Culture and The New Economy (pp. 97-104). Berg Publishers.
- Willim, R. (2005). Lönsamhet och LEGO. Vuxenlek i datavärlden. In Johansson, E. (Ed.) Ting för lek (pp. 61-71). Kulturen i Lund.
- Willim, R. (2005). Looking with new eyes at the old factory - On the rise of industrial cool. In O'Dell, T. & Billing, P. (Eds.) Experiencescapes. Tourism, Culture and The New Economy. Copenhagen Business School Press.
- Willim, R. (2005). Språklig uppdatering. In Ideland, M., Sjöholm, C. & Willim, R. (Eds.) ETN:POP (pp. 103-105). Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R., Duvander, P. & Parnelöv, A. (2005). Arbete och redskap (visuell remix). In Ideland, M., Sjöholm, C. & Willim, R. (Eds.) ETN:POP (pp. 135-144). Etnologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R. (2003). Claiming The Future - Speed, Business Rhetoric and Computer Practice. In Garsten, C. & Wulff, H. (Eds.) New Technologies at Work. People, Screens and Social Virtuality (pp. 119-143). Berg Publishers.
- Willim, R. (2003). Full fart framåt! Kunskap och uppgradering i ett IT-företag. In Idvall, M. & Schoug, F. (Eds.) Kunskapssamhällets marknad (pp. 155-186). Studentlitteratur AB.
Conference contributions (43)
- Willim, R. (2022). Rediscovering The Home : Techno-Sensory Ethnographic Approaches to The Hidden Dimensions of Domestic Atmospheres.
- Willim, R. (2021). The shifting materialities of Mundania : How the connected home is reimagined during times of crisis.
- Willim, R. (2019). Art Probing and Emerging Technologies.
- Willim, R. (2019). Art Probing as a Creative Method.
- Willim, R. (2019). Beyond Words - Different modes of exploring concepts and theories.
- Willim, R. (2019). The Automagic Home.
- Willim, R. (2019). The Mundania Files (Imagine Clouds).
- Willim, R. (2019). Using art probes as instruments of evocations.
- Willim, R. (2018). The Darkness Beyond The Digital : Internet of Things and Disquiet Connectivity.
- Willim, R. (2018). The Look of Siri : Visual Manifestations of Digital Voice Assistants.
- Willim, R. (2018). Welcome to Mundania (an Audio Paper).
- Willim, R. (2017). Evocation of worlds and the compositional craft of art probing.
- Willim, R. (2017). More-Than-Academic Practice : Movements between art and cultural analysis.
- Willim, R. (2017). Three art probes: between art practice and cultural analysis.
- Willim, R. (2017). Video and Art Probing.
- Willim, R. (2016). The Noise at The End of The Data Stream.
- Willim, R. & Gustafsson Reinius, L. (2016). Possible Worlds and The Surrealities of Ethnography.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2015). Multi-Targeted Ethnography : Refunctioning Academia in an Age of Measurements and Demands for Societal Usefulness.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2014). Rendering Culture and Multi-Targeted Ethnography.
- Willim, R. (2014). Floating Points of Reference. Trust, Enchantment and The Shifting Visibilities of Digital Infrastructures.
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2012). From Art to Business: The Transformations and Consequences of Invoking Ethnography Beyond the Borders of Academia.
- Willim, R. (2012). Coming Close? -Techno-Culture and The Longings for Intimacy.
- Willim, R. (2012). In and Out of Focus: The Cultural Dynamics of Mediation and Landscape.
- Willim, R. (2012). Rendering Culture: Elsewhereness, The Ethnographic, The Surreal.
- Willim, R. (2012). Small Things That Matter.
- Willim, R. & O'Dell, T. (2012). On The Road: Following Ethnography From Orange County to Madison Avenue.
- Willim, R. (2011). Attracting Rust - The Fascination of Controlled Decay.
- Willim, R. & O'Dell, T. (2011). Persuade, Evoke, Represent. Ethnographic Compositions in Use.
- Willim, R. (2010). Elsewhereness - Evoking The Ethnographic and The Surreal.
- Willim, R. & O'Dell, T. (2010). Composing Ethnography.
- Willim, R. & O'Dell, T. (2010). Creativity & Corporate Research. User Driven Innovation & New Invocations of Ethnography in Business Practices.
- Willim, R. & O'Dell, T. (2010). Ethnography. Its Routes and Incarnations Beyond The Swedish Academ.
- Willim, R. (2009). Ruined Workplaces – On Postindustrial Romanticism.
- Willim, R. (2008). Evocations- Mixing Art and Cultural Analysis.
- Willim, R. (2007). Transformations. Between Art and Science.
- Willim, R. (2007). Walking The Cognisphere - Navigation and Digital Media on The Go. Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings, 667-676. Linköping University Electronic Press.
- Willim, R. (2006). I'm taking a ride... Curve Surfing and Speed Mania.
- Willim, R. (2004). Bastardpop – On Digital Sound Recycling.
- Willim, R. (2004). Prefab Music – The Recycled Sounds of Digital Media.
- Willim, R. (2003). It's in The Mix. The Magic and Rationality of Combinations.
- Willim, R. (2002). Click! Lego and Modularity in The Factory of The Future.
- Willim, R. (2000). Fast Forward – Computers, Turnover and the Aesthetic of Ephemerality.
- Willim, R. (2000). Prefab Future – Practices and Rhetorics in an IT company.
Reports (1)
Working papers (3)
- Pink, S., Ruckenstein, M., Willim, R., Ardevol, E., Berg, M., Duque, M., Fors, V., Lanzeni, D., Lapenta, F. & Lupton, D. (2016). Data Ethnographies 5 : Broken Data. Data Ethnographies. Digital Ethnography Research Centre (DERC).
- O'Dell, T. & Willim, R. (2014). In The Loop : Rendering Culture and Multi-Targeted Ethnography in Applied Contexts.
- Willim, R. (2013). Transmutations of Noise.
Articles in specialist publications and popular press (4)
- Willim, R. & Ingmarsson, N. (2008). Försvinnandet som attraktion. Samtid & Museer, 32, 18-18. Samdok.
- Willim, R. (2003). Kopieringens virtuoser skapar originaliet. Axess, 32-34. Axess Publishing AB, Axel och Margaret Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse för allmännyttiga ändamål.
- Willim, R. (2002). Click! Work, Play and LEGO. Reflexioner. Forlaget Reflexioner, Forlaget Reflexioner.
- Willim, R. (2002). Drömmen om det ideella företaget. Företagsminnen : tidskrift från Föreningen Stockholms företagsminnen, 7-9. Föreningen Stockholms företagsminnen, Centrum för näringslivshistoria.
Miscellaneous (11)
- Willim, R. (2020). Mundania : Obscured by Everyday Life. The Mundania Files.
- Willim, R. (2020). Taking Seat. Ljudmiljöcentrum vid Lunds universitet.
- Willim, R. (2020). Waiting : a Christmas 2020 Essay.
- (2017). Selkonen.
- Willim, R. (2017). Give Voice - At Hand.
- Willim, R. (2016). Broken Data : Broken World.
- Willim, R. (2015). Multistable Fields.
- Willim, R. (2014). Possible Worlds.
- Willim, R. (2013). Almost There : Washington Park.
- Willim, R. (2013). Fieldnotes.
- Willim, R. (2011). Close to Nature.
Teaching
- DIKA41, Digital Cultures: Theories - Specialisation 2, Consumption Practices and Communication
- DIKA46, Digital Cultures: Understanding Digital Cultures through Work Experience
- ETNA22, Ethnology: Cultural Analytical Perspectives, Level 2
- MODA42, Fashion Studies: Fashion in Historical and Cultural Contexts 3 - Advanced
- TKAN21, Applied Cultural Analysis: Ethnographic Methodologies for Cultural Analysis

Senior Lecturer, Reader
- Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
- Division of Ethnology
- Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences
Contact information
E-mail robert.willimkultur.luse
Phone +46 46 222 75 65
Visiting address
Helgonavägen 3, Lund
Postal address
Box 192, 221 00 Lund
Internal post code 30