Aesthetics of energy landscapes

Dolly Jørgensen and Finn Arne Jørgensen, “Aesthetics of Energy Landscapes,” Environment, Space, Place 10, no. 1 (2018): 1-14

Abstract: Energy landscapes are entangled with technological infrastructures. Interro- gating these infrastructures is a critical move for the environmental humani- ties, as these infrastructures carry ideas as well as power across the landscape. One of the main ways in which infrastructures can be interrogated is through aesthetics, particularly the visual perception of the infrastructure but also the lived experience of the place. Technologies in landscapes direct the gaze of ob- servers and promote a particular mindset and a way of inquiring. The modern landscape of energy embodies a tension between what is perceived as natural (often linked to the wild and primitive) and what is perceived as technological (often associated with modern and progressive). This article introduces a collection of articles that together are a joint journey through the energy landscape beyond oil, which is often singled out as the “bad” energy source, to reveal the complex assessments and contradictions in energy landscapes of many different types.

See the theme issue on Aesthetics of Energy Landscapes edited by Dolly Jørgensen: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/envispacplac.10.issue-1

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