FOLLOWING THE TRACE-SPIRITS IN THE LANDSCAPE

Ada Kwiatkowska

Abstrakt

The idea of trace-spirit in Scandinavian mythology is based on belief that deep place of footmark keeps something from human being's spirit. It means, the features of man's spirit are settled in space. But trace-spirit is not only a matter of belief. It exists in reality in a sense. Trace is real deformation of space-matter by someone or something, therefore it contains the information about the features of person or thing that has been present in the space. Trace is a witness to being. Trace-spirits determine the space. Space is directed to certain goal and it is extended between place of departure and place of arriving. Trace-spirits determine also the time, which is directed to the future (forward moving) or to the past (backward moving). Footmarks of nomadic cultures and nomadic way of living contain the information about hierarchy of values and concept of landscape and settings. Trace-spirits of Nomads express the worlds closed in small circles of mutual interactions and extreme dependence of people on social, technological and natural processes. The world of Nomads, in spite of the infinity of the surrounding space, is minimized in spatial dimensions and reduced to basic human needs. Portable architecture of Nomads is architecture of the containers; mobile, multi-functional forms of exchange, which can be folded or dismantled, and rebuilt according to the archetypical forms.

Artykuł:

Kwiatkowska, Ada (1998). „Following the Trace-Spirits in the Landscape”, in: R.Kronenburg (ed.) Transportable Environments: Theory, Context, Design and Technology, London, New York: E&FN SPON, s.19-29. 

(fot. Ada Kwiatkowska)   

An open horizon of the desert landscape

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