Machines in the Air: Atmospheric Manifestations

Abstract

The present communication is a reflection on the concept of atmosphere in the context of the current climate crisis. This complex notion can be understood through quantification and measuring of a corporeal object; however, as Félix Guattari has shown in his late writings, every entity presupposes both a corporeal and an incorporeal side, and is a manifestation of possible and real ontological registers. As such, a purely corporeal understanding of any object would be insufficient. Thus, Guattari deploys a thought that invites us to accept the manyfold manifestations and potencies of any object – including the atmosphere – and reveals the difficult enterprise of articulating different systems of value inherent to any object.