Stimmungsräume. Zur Aktualität eines Landschaftskonzeptes der Aufklärung
The age of Enlightenment produced a concept of landscape gardens as spaces of emotion. Through the example of one of the earliest English landscape gardens in Germany, the Hinübersche Garten near Hanover, this essay explores a specific mode of perception: a garden walk in which the visitor should experience a sequence of different emotions evoked by landscape design.
In contemporary site-specific art, we find similar strategies aiming at transforming the spectator into an emotionally involved participant. Examples from the documenta 13 exhibition (Kassel 2012) are the projects “The Path” and the performative radio play “50 Aktenkilometer/50 Kilometres of Files”, which took place in the public space of Berlin. As in the 18th century, the creation of spaces of emotion is based on a desire for reality — under different conditions.