Landscape Embodied (in and through Art)

Authors

  • Beata Frydryczak European Institute of Culture of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26485/AI/2023/25/10

Keywords:

landscape, senses, the haptic, art, Józef Chełmoński

Abstract

In this essay, I attempt to formulate the concept of embodied landscape, i.e., land­scape which transcends traditional ways of understanding a view or sight, or the paradigms of cultural or participatory landscape. I aim for a conceptualization in which landscape becomes a world of multisensory experience that shapes our relationship with the external world; a realm of immersion so deep that all our active senses are thoroughly engaged, anchoring us in the sen­sations that cocreate the here and now. To substantiate the concept, I refer to two paintings by Józef Chełmoński: Bociany (Storks) and Babie Lato (Indian Summer), chosen in view of their interpretative potential that exceeds a mere genre scene. The works are shown to be instances of landscape embodiment, singular moments of intermingling and interaction of everything that, at a point in time, constitutes the experienced rather than observed landscape.

Author Biography

Beata Frydryczak, European Institute of Culture of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

Beata Frydryczak – professor, aesthetician and philosopher of culture.

She works at the European Institute of Culture, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. Head of the Department of Cultural Studies; editor of the "Landscapes" editorial series and editor-in-chief of "Polish Journal of Landscape Studies".

Her research interests focus primarily on cultural landscape studies, aesthetics of landscape and the experience of landscape. She is the author of several monographs, e.g., "Krajobraz. Od este­tyki the picturesque do doświadczenia topograficznego" ("Landscape. From the aesthetics of the picturesque to topographical experience") (Poznan 2013), "Zmysły w krajobrazie" ("Senses in Landscape") (Łódź 2020) and "Muskauer Park – the space of remembrance and reconciliation" (Zielona Gora 2006), and numerous articles published in journals and monographs. Editor and co-editor of several monographs devoted to landscape issues, among others: "Krajobrazy. Anto­logia tekstów" ("Landscapes. Reader.") (Poznan 2014).

References

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Published

2023-12-13

Issue

Vol. 25 (2023): How do artists think?

Section

Articles

License

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