Atmospheres, Waterscapes and theirs Atmospheres:

Cornelia Berthold

What are atmospheres – how can we describe them

In general the natural philosophy concept of atmospheres assumes that nature has an effect. It assumes that nature has a language striking and affecting the experiencing subject. We, who work with and in nature, probably agree with this assumption. But it remains to clarify, in which way atmospheres are effective and what it is that has an effect and that makes us affected.

The answer approaches the topic from the beginning of the term atmosphere. It is a neologism of the 17th century, which consists of the greek word for vapour, haze, smoke (atmis, atmos) and the word for ball, globe (sphaira). Originally, the term meant the vapour escaping and surrounding a luminary object of the sky (cf. SCHULZ 1913 as cited in HAUSKELLER, 1995), and later on the air space surrounding a planet (cf. HAUSKELLER, 1995). Subsequently the meaning environment or proximity of something became accepted, which concerns the room that is influenced by the presence of an object. HAUSKELLER (1995) proposes a natural philosophy determination for the atmospheres in the sense of the German leaning transmission Dunstkreis – orbit. This includes everything that is in the orbit of something, in the sphere of influence of it, and would be a different thing if it was not there. The degree of variance of atmosphere of an object/of something varies with the difference its presence makes (HAUSKELLER 1995). The discussion of the determination of the concept atmosphere continues and refers mainly to nature, to spaces and people.

Moreover there are important explanations from the German natural philosophers SCHMITZ (1969), who suggested the idea of atmosphere, from BÖHME (1995), who specified and advanced the idea as well as from HAUSKELLER (1995) and MAHAYNI (2003). It can be make the note, that atmospheres are what we perceived first when we enter a room (as well as in the sense of landscape) and that atmospheres affect the rest of our perception, rather the way how we perceive something. Roughly speaking, atmospheres tint a room and it is this tintinnabulation we notice, which makes us appeared and affected and at the same time has an effect of the way we perceive something. In our daily routines atmospheres are only marginally noticed. They are perceived randomly.

The origin of atmospheres

Atmospheres are described as something that is influenced by both subjects and objects. According to BÖHME, atmospheres are something by which environmental qualities and feelings are referred to one another. Atmospheres thereby become designated as a mediator between the perception of a situation (object) and a subject. Hence they are the common reality of both. The effect of the atmosphere is shown finally by its striking and is reflected in emotions and feelings.

Thereby the atmosphere is shaped from both sides of the relationship, on the one hand from the side of the subject which begins the situation with its entire past and experiences, and on the other hand by the object side of the atmosphere. The object side consists of the individual things in a room that radiate and which we can sense as humans (cf. BÖHME 1995). What these individual things radiate is called atmospherical ecstasy. But even if they emerge from the objects, ecstasies are qualities, which do not belong to the thing, but exist only with reference to a subject. The atmospherical ectasies are neither to be determined as purely objective nor as purely subjective. Furthermore, the ecstasies are no descriptions of the mental state (purely subjective), but belong to the subject because they allow the sensation of an object in a specific way. The ecstasies get their final determination after the unity of the concrete situation of perception. All the phenomenon units eventually form one sole perceptive entity – a atmosphere.

Nature, as a generator of atmospheres, not only tinges the room atmospherically, but also stimulates and affects the perceiving subject by this tinge. For this reason, the atmospheres are not bound to the origin of several specific things, but found only spatio-perceptually (cf. HAUSKELLER 2003). In this way atmosphere and perception melt into a whole, which is characterised by the alternating influence and dependence of both.

Even if a subjective core at the ecstasies exists, we can assume that the tinge of the field of experience is still detectable by subjects and produced inter-subjectively.

So it is possible to discover objects which generate ecstasies and generate atmospheres independently of their individual meaning. The atmospherically-effective mediums of waterscapes can be seen for example in the different forms of water, the various watersides and the weather condition. First, however, we shall address how we perceive atmospheres.

How do we perceive atmospheres?

The perception of atmospheres must be more than the mere sensual perception of information (cf. SCHMITZ 1978). Perception can rather be described as the way in which a particular thing represents another, and how it is perceived (cf. HAUSKELLER, 1995). The reason is, how I pointed out in the last chapter, that things aren’t simply perceived as objects; furthermore, even though we may not be aware of it, they convey a certain meaning, a locally present quality of atmosphere that affectively captures us (cf. MAHAYNI 2003; SCHMITZ 1969). Therefore, body and soul play differing roles within the interactive process between cognition and practical action (cf. HASSE 2005). The reception of an atmosphere is thus presented as experience that includes the entity of body and soul, and it is only through their reception and interpretations that atmospheres can be experienced.

Consequently, the main question that arises for the examination of atmospheres in water landscapes will concern the both the underlying factors of perception and the effect of an atmosphere on the individual. The primary factors might include the different conditions of water and shore, sky and weather, means of transportation, etc. They conform to the things from which generate the various atmospherical ecstasies.

Different accesses to atmospheres?  How and when do we become aware of atmospheres?

Since atmospherical presence or atmospherical proximity do not correspond to a geometrical presence, and since atmospherical presence cannot be quantified (i.e. it knows neither a more nor a less) (cf. HAUSKELLER 2003), it has to be found directly in the immediately experienced situation. It enters the consciousness as a qualitative characteristic of  appearance,  and along with it it describes concrete experience of an environment “here and now” (cf. BOCKEMÜHL 2002). Only based on this experience it is possible to ask for the relevant schemes, shapes, impulses, and articulations of nature (cf. BÖHME 1995).

There are different ways of finding access to the atmospheres. They can enter the consciousness either in a concrete situation or afterwards, i.e., as the result of a reflection. The perception of the atmosphere depends on if the subject him/herself participates actively in a situation or if he/she takes the role of an observer.

In a concrete situation, different atmospheres can be distinguished depending on the degree of challenge. The atmospheres change if the subject is released from the action. Because of this they can only be dealt with in a concrete situation if the subject is able to get involved with the environment and situation, out of a state of leisure and contemplation. To be open for the environment as well as to get involved with it are given special emphasis in this case. Under such conditions, the impacts of nature are unconsciously and automatically received with the highest possible intensity.

The second way of access results from reflection, i.e. after a particular experience. This is often the only possibility, especially in very challenging situations with a dominant action that interacted or interfered with the surrounding atmospheres. Indications for the reconstruction and post facto perception of them are the individual ecstasies, which mirror that which was experienced in the situation. Thus, the atmosphere only becomes effective afterwards, out of the reflection. This way of access provides a possibility to think about the activity very intensively. It is important, first of all, to access the experienced situation. It can be very helpful to work with field reports, because they cover the for atmospheres relevant appearances almost automatically. Furthermore, it can be a good idea to retell the situation: What did we do? What formed the situation? What did the water do with you, and what else were You still able to do? The emphasis lies on the examination of the environmental situation and the student’s own possible courses of action. The atmosphere is thus bound to the action. However, it is also possible to single out separate aspects that created ecstasies, for example noises or something similar in order to finally reconstruct the atmosphere.

What can be the benefits to know about atmospheres?

Experiencing atmospheres turns out to be a sensual experience of landscapes. The individuals are involved with all their senses, experiences, and feeling. Here the holistic identity is presuppose, to which the outdoor and experiential education often refers.

But what effects do different atmospheres have on the subject? As a complete feeling that results from the entire perceptive situation, they affect the reactions of body and soul. These move between enlargement and a corporally perceived constriction, between a comforting (feeling safe in a situation) and a disturbing (feeling insecure) feeling. In the perceived atmosphere, the subjects can be encouraged to think about themselves and their own position in the world. Therefore, all atmospheres carry developmental potential for the subject; at the same time, nature can also be effective via the immediate situation. By dealing with atmospheres, it is possible to initiate processes of differentiation and to support future actions. The nature of particular situations and experiencing atmospheres is the fact that the individual is surrounded by the phenomena and perceives the appearances with all the senses, which fosters integral experience and perception of nature. Almost automatically we read landscapes and focus on the elements that move us and determine the atmospheres.

The possibility of transfer brings the danger of carelessly instrumentalizing nature just to achieve certain effects in the subject. However, natural atmospheres cannot be simply produced or staged. In the vivid and constantly changing nature there is no guarantee for experiencing certain atmospheres. However, we can provide others the opportunity to experience atmospheres and support their interpretations in order for them to learn more about themselves and the world.

Bibliography

Becker, P.(2001): Treue zum Niemals(mehr)-Werdenden. Das Abenteuer als Wiedergewinnung verlorenen leiblich-sinnlichen Vermögens, in: Ders./Schirp, J. (Hg.): Jugendhilfe-Schule, Münster. p109-121.

Bockemühl, M. (2002): Atmosphäre Sehen. Ästhetische Wahrnehmung als Praxis. In Ziad Mahayni. (Hrsg), Neue Ästhetik – Das Atmosphärische und die Kunst (pp203-222). München: Fink 2002

Bollnow, O. F. (1988): Das Wesen der Stimmungen. (7. Aufl.). Frankfurt am Main:  Klostermann.

Böhme, G. (1995): Atmosphäre – Essays zur neuen Ästhetik (1. Aufl.). Frankfurt am Main. Suhrkamp Verlag.

Böhme, G. (1998): Anmutungen –Über das Atmosphärische. Ostfildern vor Stuttgart: Ed Tertium (arcaden).

Böhme, G.; Schiemann, G. (Hrsg.)(1997): Phänomenologie der Natur (1. Aufl.).Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Wissenschaft.

Hasse, J. (2005): Fundsachen der Sinne. Eine phänomenologische Revision alltäglichen Lebens. Herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft für Neue Phänomenologie. Band 4. Freiburg/München: Karl Alber.

Hauskeller, M. (1995): Atmosphären erleben – Philosophische Untersuchungen zur Sinneswahrnehmung. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.

Mahayni, Z. (2003): Feuer, Wasser, Erde, Luft – Eine Phänomenologie der Natur am Beispiel der vier Elemente. Lynkeus. Studien zur Neuen Phänomenologie – Band 9. Hrsg: Gesellschaft für Neue Phänomenologie. Ingo Koch Verlag.

Minssen, M. (2003): Wahrnehmungen auf See. In Hauskeller, M. (Hrsg.), Die Kunst der Wahrnehmung. Beiträge zu einer Philosophie der sinnlichen Erkenntnis. (pp88-107). Zug: Die graue Edition.

Schmitz, H. (1978): System der Philosophie. Dritter Band: Der Raum. Fünfter Teil: Die Wahrnehmung. Bonn: H. Bouvier u. Co. Verlag.

Seel, M. (1996): Eine Ästhetik der Natur. (1. Aufl.) Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.