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Shades of Sublime Shades Of of a design for landscape experiences ofas an instrument meaning in the making A. Roncken Paul a design for landscape experiences Paul A. Roncken as an instrument Shades of Sublime in the making of meaning of a design for landscape experiences as an instrument in the making of meaning Paul A. Roncken Thesis committee Promotors Prof. Dr A. van den Brink Professor of Landscape Architecture Wageningen University & Research Prof. Dr E.A. de Jong Professor of Culture, Landscape and Nature (Artis Chair) University of Amsterdam Co-promotor Prof. Dr M.G.C. Schouten Special professor, Ecology and Nature Conservation Wageningen University & Research Other members Prof. Dr H.G.J. Gremmen, Wageningen University & Research Prof. Dr M.N.C. Aarts, Radboud University Nijmegen Prof. Dr M. Prominski, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany Prof. D.F. Sijmons, Delft University of Technology This research was conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School for the Socio- Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment (SENSE). SHADES OF SUBLIME a design for landscape experiences as an instrument in the making of meaning Paul A. Roncken Thesis submitted in fullment of the requirement for the degree of doctor at Wageningen University by the authority of the Rector Magnicus, Prof. Dr A.P.J. Mol, in the presence of the Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board to be defended in public on March 14, 2018 at 4 p.m. in the Aula. Paul A. Roncken Shades of Sublime, a design for landscape experiences as an instrument in the making of meaning 338 pages. PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands (2018) With references, with summary in English ISBN: 978-94-6343-828-5 DOI: 10.18174/427612 Shades of Sublime CONTENT 7 Introduction Part One: The Structure of the Sublime 29 CHAPTER ONE – THE IDEA OF THE SUBLIME Seven themes related to nature, landscape, the environment and art 51 CHAPTER TWO – AN EXPERIENTIAL SEQUENCE The founding fathers on the idea of the sublime 95 ACT ONE – SUMMONED Where Burke, Kant and Longinus agree and disagree Part Two: Anatomy of Sublime Sensations 111 CHAPTER THREE – THOMAS WEISKEL An instrument in the making of meaning 143 CHAPTER FOUR – SIX SHADES OF SUBLIME Including Buddhism and the absence of imagination 155 ACT TWO – SECOND THOUGHTS The sublime as a serious fantasy – – – 165 INTERMEZZO: Four Letters Development of landscape-related sublime sensations – – – Part Three: Landscapes of the Sublime 185 CHAPTER FIVE – SERIOUS LANDSCAPING Introducing a sense of place and six archetypical places 221 CHAPTER SIX – LANDSCAPE MACHINES An exploration of the repertoire and design of performing landscapes Part Four: Challenged by Sublime Landscapes 259 CHAPTER SEVEN – A FUTURE REPERTOIRE BY HABIT- BREAKING DESIGN 283 ACT THREE – DEVELOPING INTIMACY A discourse on the aw and the design of the sublime 311 Acknowledgements – Abstract – Appendix – Bibliography Introduction Shades of Sublime Figure 1: C.D. Friedrich, Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer, 1818, oil on canvas, 98x74cm. 8 Introduction What is the sublime? In experiential terms, the idea of the sublime can be interpreted as an extreme type of aesthetics, a supernova of sensations (after: Lewis 2003). It is extreme, at both ends of the emotional spectrum – both in its uplifting and oppressive forms. In its darker forms, it may be expressed as a harsh, spartan lifestyle and a desire to ‘live deep and suck out all the marrow of life’ (Thoreau 1854). In a more light-hearted version it is an inspiring experience with an uplifting eect (Longinus 2010 (third century)). The fact that the whole of nature is bigger and more complex than any individual can imagine or fathom may induce some fear, but this can settle within moments into a sense of awe and respect (Kant 1951 (1790)). Some believe that the idea of the sublime may help human beings to regain a rightful humility regarding our treatment of nature (Brady 2013). In design-related discourses, the sublime is a specic aesthetic sensation that was debated throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as one of three cornerstones in the development of landscape design: the beautiful, the sublime and the picturesque (Wimmer 1989). Remarkably though, it is specically the idea of the sublime that has been regaining relevance over the past twenty years (Tuan 2013; Berleant 2009; Brillenburg Wurth 2002; Asheld and de Bolla 1996). Sensations described as ‘sublime’ are often associated with grand and astounding natural scenery, such as dizzy heights, erupting volcanoes and complex patterns of animals, oceans, clouds and plant growth (Burke 1998 (1759)). Such phenomena were not only deemed arrestingly scenic, they also seemed to address some ancient and symbolic aspect of life before human inuence (den Hartog Jager 2011). An unmitigated confrontation with such an intense reference conveyed not only beauty, but a certain amount of fear and horror as well (von der Thüsen 2008; Tuan 1979; Burke 1998 (1759)). Interestingly, images of such natural scenes often included a 9 Shades of Sublime special position within the landscape from which to best witness such sublime qualities. A famous example is Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Der Wanderer über den Nebelmeer (1818). It depicts a lone man on top of a mountain overlooking a foggy valley stretching endlessly before him (Figure 1). In this artwork, ‘nature’ can be recognized as an obscure source of marvels and ‘landscape’ as the more mundane environment that oers scenic access to vantage points overlooking marvels (see also: Crandell 1993). References to similar ‘sublime’ landscape experiences are as old as storytelling itself and can be traced back as far as Homer’s Odyssey. These are accounts that contain both ctive and realistic elements, such as prominent geophysical features. There is a notion of a challenging journey through the wild and unexpected that helps to build character. The journey may be a cathartic one in which the hero must rely on his or her ability to improvise and overcome mesmerizing obstacles. Even today, when a scientic team demonstrates yet again that a journey through the wilderness without mobile phones and other electronic gadgets increases creative reasoning by a full fty per cent (Atchley et al. 2012), it causes a media stir (e.g. ‘Want to boost your brain?’, independent.co.uk, retrieved 29 January 2015). Real-time experiences of the wind, the smells, the sounds, the view and the ever- changing face of nature can give way to an immersive sensation of ‘being’ that is apparently creative. European ideas about mankind’s relationship to nature were severely challenged by the great Lisbon earthquake and tsunami in 1755. This event shocked many people, even decades later, and showed that raw natural powers should not be underestimated (Schouten 2001: 176). Since then, even in the absence of an earthquake or tsunami, the staggering raw power of nature was sought after by expeditions into wild landscapes, such as Henry David Thoreau’s exploration of a spartan way of living in Walden (1854: 73, 74), the solo adventures of John Muir from 1888 to 1901 and the Reveries of a Solitary Walker by Jean-Jacques Rousseau 10 Introduction (1783). Such examples and collections of landscape experiences aroused even the senses of those that stayed at home. They also raised interest in a ‘true’ description of natural phenomena, somewhere between the real and the imaginary, such as Goethe’s nature observations and Charles Darwin’s insights during his travels. There are also more recent accounts of hiking through the last wildernesses in Europe, such as those by Robert Macfarlane (2012) and John Wylie (2007), lled with precise and eloquent descriptions of just those types of places that recall sensations as described in the eighteenth century. Macfarlane, for example, describes places that are sometimes pristine and unspoilt, at other times explicitly designed or the result of human intervention. Such travelogues exist even for the cultivated Dutch landscape, despite the fact that the natural landscape has everywhere been tamed and constrained (Freriks 2010; van de Klundert 2012). The same is true for so-called urban jungles (Bunschoten 2010), which can best be explored by getting lost in a more or less intoxicated state, as demonstrated by the Paris based Situationist Guy Debord (1995 (1967)). The sublime can also be found in less obvious sources, such as illustrated children’s books (Roncken and Convery 2016) that depict landscapes of imaginary worlds and the popular superhero comics that emerged in the early 1950s (e.g. Marvel Comics). In addition to such literary works, paintings and other works of art such as music, fashion, architecture and design, the experience of the sublime is now being modernized by cinematography, the internet and the gaming industry (Giblett 2008; McGonigal 2011; Lanier 2014). Nevertheless, one may question whether sublime experiences like these have become obsolete and are merely a reminder of a Romantic era that may only be of historical interest. One glimpse at the photograph Nickel Tailings #34 (Sudbury, Ontario 1996) by Edward Burtynsky dismisses this doubt and rejuvenates the idea of the sublime as a contemporary environmental experience (Figure 2). The text that accompanies this image on the photographer’s website says that the startling colours may be reminiscent of lava ows caused by a natural phenomenon, 11 Shades of Sublime Figure 2: Edward Burtynsky, Nickel Tailings #34, 1996. yet the oranges and reds are the product of a man-made process of separating nickel and other metals from the ore mined in Canada (edwardburtynsky.com, retrieved 29 January 2015). The dramatic consequences of such a heavily polluted vein of planet earth are rivalled by the sheer visual impact of this photogenic landscape. We can admire the photographer for nding this remarkable place and capturing it so well, and at the same time wonder how such an environmental disaster could be allowed to come about.
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