From Perceptual Apparatus to Immersive Field of Experience: Notes on Atmospheric Perception

Publications: Contribution to conferencePaperCommunication

Abstract

Peter Sloterdijk ascribes to architecture the “the design of immersions” and hence the “production of embedding situations” or atmosphere (2011 (2006): 108-109), which as devised by Gernot Böhme becomes a fundamental concept of a new aesthetics (1993). Atmosphere implies affective immersion and activates a set of traits related to character and impression, calling for a re-evaluation of what perception entails. It requires one to overcome the subject-object dichotomy, being perceived not as an object placed in front of the beholder, but as the “common reality of the perceiver and the perceived” (Böhme 1993: 122). Following these assumptions, engaging the notion of atmosphere in a discussion about space and perception seems necessary.

Jonathan Crary explored the vast field in which perception and its understanding were transformed, tracing a particular taxonomy of visual apparatuses, where the immersive experiences relocate the vision within a “carnal density” (1992: 150), regaining all sensory modalities. Diverse perceptual apparatuses also defined a larger disciplinary expansion in the field of architecture and design. Conceived as sensorial activators, intensifiers of phenomena, or orchestrators of emotions, many of these apparatuses were meant to be vehicles for regaining the consciousness of the body and the environment. Apparatuses that expand into space complete this particular genealogy – space itself becoming a mediating and conductive device capable of engendering these embedding situations, Sloterdijk remarks.

Situated within the field of trans-disciplinary collaborations, the oeuvre of Werner Ruhnau comes to the fore as paradigmatic for illustrating these aspects. The joint projects with philosopher, artist and educator Hugo Kükelhaus, or artists such as Yves Klein and Adolf Luther, constitute a framework for a re-invention of perceptual worlds, providing a basis for tracing the conceptual contours of atmospheric perception, as well as for discerning the means of the production of space understood as an immersive field of experience.

References:
Böhme, G. (1993). "Atmosphere as the fundamental concept of a new aesthetics". In Thesis Eleven, 36. MIT Press, pp. 113-126
Crary, J. (1992). Techniques of the Observer. On Vision and Modernity in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge, Massachusetts, London: MIT Press
Sloterdijk, P. (2011 (2006)). "Architecture As an Art of Immersion" (A. Chr. Engels-Schwarzpaul, Trans.). In Interstices. Journal of Architecture and Related Arts. Unsettled Containers: Aspects of Interiority, 12, pp. 105-109
Original languageEnglish
Publication date28 Jun 2014
Number of pages10
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jun 2014
EventPerception in Architecture. HERE AND NOW - ANCB in collaboration with the University of Sydney, Berlin, Germany
Duration: 27 Jun 201428 Jun 2014

Conference

ConferencePerception in Architecture. HERE AND NOW
LocationANCB in collaboration with the University of Sydney
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityBerlin
Period27/06/201428/06/2014

Keywords

  • Atmosphere
  • Perceptual Apparatus
  • Affect
  • Embodiment

Artistic research

  • No

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