Sound as Environmental Presence: Towards an Aesthetics of Sonic Atmospheres

An exploration of the affective dimension of our sonic environment forms the topic of Ulrik Schmidt’s chapter. Schmidt asks, What does it mean to be affected by the sonic environment as environment? This question leads to a broader discussion of how to distinguish different types of sonic environments and the different ways one may be affected by them, a discussion that involves a conceptual distinction between atmosphere, ambience, and ecology. It is argued that affect and imagination are key components in the environmental production of presence, and Schmidt provides examples of the aesthetic potentials of environments and explore how an environment may “perform” in different ways to affect us as environment.