The Sky around Our Bodies Climate and atmospheric perception

Mădălina Diaconu

“The question is really about that which lies between the earth and the nearest stars.” (Aristotle)

„Die Wolkenzüge geben viel zu denken.“ (Goethe)

1. Meteorology or The sky on earth2. Sky, clouds, mist, smog: descending the ladder3. Atmosphere(s)4. Meteorological & aerial aesthetic?5. Looking at Earth from the Moon6. From weather makers to climate makers and

from rituals to geoengineering

1. Meteorology or The sky on earth

Kant:

„the starry sky above me“Dynamic visionDialectics of the sublime

Correctives:

Envelopping atmosphere(s)Sensory and affective effectsChanging flow of phenomena

2. Sky, clouds, mist, smog: descending the ladder

Aristotle

Geocentric cosmology and meteorology

Concentric circles of elementsMeteorology: the „interval“

between earth and heavenBeauty, harmony and

permanence of the universe

“The question is really about that which lies between the earth and the nearest stars.” (Aristotle)

Goethe

Artist, scientist & travelerVisual type, fine weatherGeneral dynamics: object,

body, attention„Splendid, instructive

drama“Morphology of the clouds

„Die Wolkenzüge geben viel zu denken.“ (Goethe)

Types of clouds

Cioran“Le brouillard, la seule chose qui ne m’a jamais déçu, la plus belle réussite à la surface de la terre.”

Cioran

„Amoureux du mauvais temps“

Winter bluesThe most humiliating of

man’s dependences Heraclitic subject:

“meteorology of feelings”Forerunner of the

ecosensitivity: trapped in the smog

3. Atmosphere(s)

Natural sciences PhenomenologyPhysical space &

processesWetter, Witterung,

KlimaConvection: warmth

as „Ur-Atmosphäre“

Emotional qualities of lived spaces

Half-things (Schmitz)Atmosphäre vs.

Atmosphärisches (G. Böhme)Weiteraum, Richtungsraum,

Ortsraum (Schmitz)Multimodal perceptionGeneral physiological and

emotional effects

4. Meteorological & aerial aesthetic?

Günther Roth (2009) David Macaulay (2010)Aesthetic of pure visibilityChromatic intensity and

variationBlue-sky-thinking

Primacy of visual elementsException: weather;

ambience and atmosphericVisual (clouds) vs. tactile

(snow)

Looking at Earth from the Moon

Günther AndersHolmes Rolston III

Fragility of EarthGap between power &

knowledge

Environmental sensitivity

“The further out he (man) goes, the smaller he seems to become.” (H. Urey)

6. From weather makers to climate makers and from rituals to geoengineering

Strategies of coping with the weather/climate change:

1. Biological adaptation2. Migration3. Inventions (material culture): protecting hulls4. Representations and practices (culture):

Rituals: „paparuda“ (rainmaker) Rationalization Technology (geoengineering): pros & cons

Geoengineering / Konrad Ott

Gaia-hypothesis

Arthur J. Lovelock:Geophysiology„somehow alive“Atmosphere: „biological

construction“

The Keeling curve: “breathing planet”

Sensitivity of the environment

Univ.-Doz. DDr. Madalina DiaconuUniversität Wien

madalina.diaconu@univie.ac.at