Contingent Agencies Inquiring Into the Emergence of Atmospheres

• Main Authors: Arteaga, Alex, Gansterer, Nikolaus, Barad, Karen, Böhler, Arno, Cocker, Emma, Damianisch, Alexander, Dirmoser, Gerhard, Elo, Mika, Holzer, Sabina, Ingold, Tim, Kramer, Paula, Manning, Erin, Mersch, Dieter, Rheinberger, Hans-Jörg, Rouhiainen, Leena, Spiegl, Andreas
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Hatje Cantz Verlag 2025
• Subjects: Alex Arteaga; Applied physics; art and philosophy; artistic documentation; artistic research; atmosphere studies; Atmospheric physics; embodied cognition; enactivism; experimental notation; human and nonhuman interaction; interdisciplinary art; Mathematics and Science; new materialism; Nikolaus Gansterer; perception and space; phenomenology and art; Philosophical traditions and schools of thought; Philosophy; Philosophy and Religion; Physics; QDHR5 Phenomenology and Existentialism; Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects; Research and information: general; research-based art; Science: general issues; Scientific research; The Arts; The arts: general topics; The Arts: treatments and subjects; Theory of art; Western philosophy from c 1800
• ISBN: 9783775759038; 3775759034
• DOI: 10.61608/9783775759649

Contingent Agencies is an interdisciplinary artistic research project by Alex Arteaga and Nikolaus Gansterer that explores the dynamic interplay between human and nonhuman forces in shaping atmospheres. At the intersection of art, philosophy, and science, this book delves into how material and immaterial agencies co-create the conditions for perception and presence. Rooted in phenomenology, enactivism, and new materialism, the project uses diverse methods of notation, documentation, and reflection. The publication combines textual contributions, diagrams, drawings, photo series, sound recordings, and video stills—blurring the boundaries between artistic process and scientific inquiry. More than a static publication, Contingent Agencies is supplemented by an extensive online archive and invites artists, theorists, researchers, and curious readers alike to engage with the investigation and contribute to its evolving discourse. It is an open-ended invitation to experience and participate in a new way of thinking about space, relation, and emergence.