The Sky around Our Bodies Climate and atmospheric perception

The Sky around Our BodiesClimate 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)

Meteorology or The sky on earth • Sky, clouds, mist, smog: descending the ladder • Atmosphere(s) • Meteorological & aerial aesthetic? • Looking at Earth from the Moon • 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 vision • Dialectics of the sublime

Correctives: • Envelopping atmosphere(s) • Sensory and affective effects • Changing flow of phenomena

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

Aristotle “The question is really about that which lies between the earth and the nearest stars.” (Aristotle) • Geocentric cosmology and meteorology • Concentric circles of elements • Meteorology: the „interval“ between earth and heaven • Beauty, harmony and permanence of the universe

Goethe „Die Wolkenzüge geben viel zu denken.“ (Goethe) • Artist, scientist & traveler • Visual type, fine weather • General dynamics: object, body, attention • „Splendid, instructive drama“ • Morphology of the clouds

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 blues • The most humiliating of man’s dependences • Heraclitic subject: “meteorology of feelings” • Forerunner of the ecosensitivity: trapped in the smog

3. Atmosphere(s) Natural sciences Phenomenology • Physical space & processes • Wetter, Witterung, Klima • Convection: warmth as „Ur-Atmosphäre“ • Emotional qualities of lived spaces • Half-things (Schmitz) • Atmosphäre vs. Atmosphärisches (G. Böhme) • Weiteraum, Richtungsraum, Ortsraum (Schmitz) • Multimodal perception • General physiological and emotional effects

4. Meteorological & aerial aesthetic? Günther Roth (2009) David Macaulay (2010) • Aesthetic of pure visibility • Chromatic intensity and variation • Blue-sky-thinking • Primacy of visual elements • Exception: weather; ambience and atmospheric • Visual (clouds) vs. tactile (snow)

Looking at Earth from the Moon “The further out he (man) goes, the smaller he seems to become.” (H. Urey) Günther Anders Holmes Rolston III • Fragilityof Earth • Gap between power & knowledge Environmental sensitivity

6. From weather makers to climate makers and from rituals to geoengineering Strategiesofcopingwiththeweather/climatechange: • Biological adaptation • Migration • Inventions (material culture): protectinghulls • Representationsandpractices (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

Thankyouforyourattention! Univ.-Doz. DDr. Madalina Diaconu Universität Wien madalina.diaconu@univie.ac.at

The Sky around Our Bodies Climate and atmospheric perception