Atmospheric Media: How they Enable a Pre-reflective and Embodied Mode of Perception

Climate change, pollution, and scarcity of resources—the 21 st century confronts the human species with complex problems that have no phenomenological correlate in the everyday experience. Can there be a way to become sensible towards processes outside of our conscious awareness that take place in our atmospheric surrounding? This paper explores how atmospheric media (e.g., air, clouds, water) allow for an alternative embodied way of relating to our environment. What many atmospheric phenomena have in common is that they can hardly be objectified, i.e., they have no identifiable parts or clear dimensions, sometimes they are even partly or completely invisible. Despite their intangibility, we do experience their dynamic presence through our bodies, such as in humidity and other atmospheric phenomena. I argue that this mode of perception is pre-reflective and disregards the subject-object dichotomy.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Desiree Förster

Conference

Publication date: May 2018

Publication date (Print): May 2018

Pages: 1-10

Affiliations

[1 ] University Potsdam, Department of Philosophy, Institute for Arts and Media

Am Neuen Palais 10

14469 Potsdam (Germany)

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.4

SO-VID: daf18278-b37c-4dc0-b8a0-135a80e480d3

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Politics of the Machines - Art and After

Conference acronym: EVA Copenhagen

Conference number: 7

Conference location: Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark

Conference date: 15 - 17 May 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Digital arts and culture

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.4

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

G Böhme 1995 Atmosphäre Frankfurt am Main Suhrkamp
S Frost 2016 Biocultural Creatures: Toward a New Theory of the Human Durham Duke University Press
AR Galloway E Thacker 2007 The exploit: a theory of networks, Electronic mediations Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press
M B N Hansen 2015 Feed-Forward: On the Future of Twenty-First-Century Media Chicago, London University of Chicago Press
E Husserl 1970, orig. 1954 The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology Evanston Northwestern University Press
M Merleau-Ponty 2005, orig. 1945 Phenomenology of Perception Translated by Colin Smith. London Routledge
H Schmitz 2014 Atmosphären Freiburg Karl Alber
G Simondon 1992, orig. 1967 The Genesis of the Individual Jonathan CrarySanford Kwinter Incorporations New York Zone Books 297 319
A FotopoulouM Tsakiris 2017 Mentalizing homeostasis: The social origins of interoceptive inference Neuropsychoanalysis 19 1 3 28
G Böhme 1993 Atmosphere as the Fundamental Concept of a New Aesthetics Thesis Eleven 36 113 126
P. P Grassé 1959 La reconstruction du nid et les coordinations interindividuelles chez Bellicositermes natalensis et Cubitermes sp. la théorie de la stigmergie: Essai d'interprétation du comportement des termites constructeurs Insectes Sociaux 6 1 41 80
P Rudiak-Gould 2013 We have seen it with our own eyes. Why we disagree on climate change visibility Weather Climate Society 5 120 132
J Randerson 2015 Weather as Medium: Art and Meteorological Science Leonardo 48 1 16 24
ISO 7730 2005 Ergonomics of the thermal environment -- Analytical determination and interpretation of thermal comfort using calculation of the PMV and PPD indices and local thermal comfort criteria Geneva International Organization for Standardization
Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine 2008 Altitude sickness Medical Dictionary. Available from: https://medical- dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/altitude+si ckness 01 08 2018
Nasa 2005 What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate? Nasa Available from: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather.html 15 06 2018
J. G DécosterdP Rahm 2002 Hormonorium Available from: http://www.philipperahm.com/data/projects /hormonorium/ 15 06 2018
Ecologic Studio 2014 Urban Algae Canopy Available from: http://www.ecologicstudio.com/v2/project.p hp?idcat=7&idsubcat=59&idproj=129 15 06 2018
F Nakaya 2012 Cloud parking a as architecture. Available from: http://aasarchitecture.com/2013/04/cloud-parking-by-fujiko-nakaya.html 15 06 2018
Random International 2013 Rain Room The Museum of Modern Art. Available from: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibition s/1352 15 06 2018
R Gander 2012 I Need Some Meaning I Can Memorize (The Invisible Pull) Frieze Available from: https://frieze.com/article/ryan-gander-0 15 06 2018
P Rahm 2013 Open House Lecture: Philippe Rahm “Constructed Atmospheres” Harvard GSD Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP6EB TwGcug 15 06 2018

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] G Böhme 1995 Atmosphäre Frankfurt am Main Suhrkamp

[2] S Frost 2016 Biocultural Creatures: Toward a New Theory of the Human Durham Duke University Press

[3] AR Galloway E Thacker 2007 The exploit: a theory of networks, Electronic mediations Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press

[4] M B N Hansen 2015 Feed-Forward: On the Future of Twenty-First-Century Media Chicago, London University of Chicago Press

[5] E Husserl 1970, orig. 1954 The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology Evanston Northwestern University Press

[6] M Merleau-Ponty 2005, orig. 1945 Phenomenology of Perception Translated by Colin Smith. London Routledge

[7] H Schmitz 2014 Atmosphären Freiburg Karl Alber

[8] G Simondon 1992, orig. 1967 The Genesis of the Individual Jonathan CrarySanford Kwinter Incorporations New York Zone Books 297 319

[9] A FotopoulouM Tsakiris 2017 Mentalizing homeostasis: The social origins of interoceptive inference Neuropsychoanalysis 19 1 3 28

[10] G Böhme 1993 Atmosphere as the Fundamental Concept of a New Aesthetics Thesis Eleven 36 113 126

[11] P. P Grassé 1959 La reconstruction du nid et les coordinations interindividuelles chez Bellicositermes natalensis et Cubitermes sp. la théorie de la stigmergie: Essai d'interprétation du comportement des termites constructeurs Insectes Sociaux 6 1 41 80

[12] P Rudiak-Gould 2013 We have seen it with our own eyes. Why we disagree on climate change visibility Weather Climate Society 5 120 132

[13] J Randerson 2015 Weather as Medium: Art and Meteorological Science Leonardo 48 1 16 24

[14] ISO 7730 2005 Ergonomics of the thermal environment -- Analytical determination and interpretation of thermal comfort using calculation of the PMV and PPD indices and local thermal comfort criteria Geneva International Organization for Standardization

[15] Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine 2008 Altitude sickness Medical Dictionary. Available from: https://medical- dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/altitude+si ckness 01 08 2018

[16] Nasa 2005 What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate? Nasa Available from: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather.html 15 06 2018

[17] J. G DécosterdP Rahm 2002 Hormonorium Available from: http://www.philipperahm.com/data/projects /hormonorium/ 15 06 2018

[18] Ecologic Studio 2014 Urban Algae Canopy Available from: http://www.ecologicstudio.com/v2/project.p hp?idcat=7&idsubcat=59&idproj=129 15 06 2018

[19] F Nakaya 2012 Cloud parking a as architecture. Available from: http://aasarchitecture.com/2013/04/cloud-parking-by-fujiko-nakaya.html 15 06 2018

[20] Random International 2013 Rain Room The Museum of Modern Art. Available from: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibition s/1352 15 06 2018

[21] R Gander 2012 I Need Some Meaning I Can Memorize (The Invisible Pull) Frieze Available from: https://frieze.com/article/ryan-gander-0 15 06 2018

[22] P Rahm 2013 Open House Lecture: Philippe Rahm “Constructed Atmospheres” Harvard GSD Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP6EB TwGcug 15 06 2018

Celebrating 65 years of The Computer Journal - free-to-read perspectives - bcs.org/tcj65