Abstract
Atmospheric scenes compel anthropology into a dilution: a shift in concentration. Working through suspension as a condition through which to ask into life in the air, this Opening pauses with moments of arrest, distribution, and deposit by various airs. Such moments compel a reorientation of attention toward airy things even as they model a recomposition of anthropological inquiry by atmosphere. Exploring how sands shift and settle in a Chinese wind tunnel and how matsutake mushroom solids become aromatic vapors in Seoul, we move from considering materials in airborne states to a condition of suspension in atmosphere to which particulates and people alike are held. What could an anthropology in suspension become when its anthropos is subject to vaporization into a thing among others in the atmosphere's composition?.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 210-223 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Cultural Anthropology |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Anthropology
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Keywords
- Air
- Anthropocene
- Atmosphere
- Environment
- Suspension
- Vaporization
- Volatiles