Between the fiction and me

By Annelies de Smet, Isolde Vanhee, Esther Venrooij

Subjects: 20.05 art in relation with other areas of culture: general, Environment (Aesthetics)

Description: What triggers the act of creating? What role do sensory cues, environmental factors, and interdisciplinary exchanges play in this? The semiotic theories of Jacob von Uexküll, a Baltic German biologist, served as an important starting point in addressing these questions. In 1934 he proposed the concept of the Umwelt as a means to assess the behaviour of humans and animals, their realm of experience, and capacity to act. An investigation into the complexity of these Umwelten, from the natural world to 'inner worlds' and 'time worlds', is carried out by theorists, artists, and architects such as Andrés Jaque, Esther Venrooy, Bart Decroos, Isolde Vanhee, Joseph Kohlmaier, and more.