The atmosphere of the image:An aesthetic concept for visual analysis

This paper introduces the concept of ?atmosphere? as relevant for visual analysis. This concept was developed in aesthetic theory and has been used previously in studies of aesthetic artefacts and architecture. When a visual encounter is viewed as an aesthetic situation, the concept helps to explain how the impact of images derives from their aesthetic, emotional and corporeal effects, from the mood and cognitive responses they create. In this paper, a case study from the trading floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is presented to illustrate how the atmosphere of imagery exerts an aesthetic influence on people. Emphasizing the subtle power of atmospheres, the paper outlines implications for broader issues of consumption and culture

Atmospheres of seduction:A critique of aesthetic marketing practices

This article introduces the concept of the ?atmosphere? from aesthetic theory to contribute to critical research on the aesthetic, embodied experience in retailing, and consumption spaces, which has received little attention in the marketing literature. The article draws on the ?new aesthetics? of Gernot B�hme which is not a theory of art or the works of art but considers the full range of ?aesthetic work? including marketing practices. Contributing to the art-versus-commerce debate, this framework suggests differentiating between atmospheres in the arts and in marketing, and it suggests the continued relevance of Critical Theory. The theoretical background is applied to a Starbucks coffee shop as an example for a seductive consumption atmosphere to make evident issues of aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic manipulation. The concept of the atmosphere helps to consider aesthetics as an active social power in a macromarketing context

Using artistic form for aesthetic organizational inquiry:Rimini Protokoll constructs Daimler's Annual General Meeting as a theatre play

This paper reviews and analyses an artistic intervention in the context of aesthetic organizational inquiry and theatre in organizations. Having served as inspiration and as a tool within organizations, theatre now has returned the favour: Rimini Protokoll, a group of directors, used Daimler's 2009 Annual General Meeting in Berlin as a ready-made and constructed it as a theatre play entitled Hauptversammlung. Two hundred theatre spectators were channelled into the event via the purchase of shares. This study focuses on the aesthetic experience of the event and underlines the potential of artistic forms for aesthetic organizational inquiry. Implications suggest that a so-called postdramatic, nonlinear aesthetic form can be most promising for enabling critical interpretations of organizational issues