During spring 2014 two series of sensorial walks was facilitated as part of a master thesis in Aesthetics and Culture at Aarhus University. The thesis is a “production thesis”, based on the creation and production of a practical project. The experiment was adopted by the Aarhus-based production unit Secret Hotel as a part of their long-term project Landscape Dialogues. The aim of the overall project of the walks, was to test and develope an aesthetic practise that would combine landscapes, senses and phenomenology.
The walks were blindfolded, site specific, participatory and intimate – just for 1 participant at the time.
After each walk the participant wrote 6 words in a guest book – 3 about their overall experience, and 3 about their experience of the landscape – and we had an interview session with space to share our experience verbally.
The following material is gathered from a series of seven walks in and around the Botanical Garden in Aarhus, April 2014.
Concept developer, facilitator and sensorial guide: Lotus Lykke Skov
Facilitated in collaboration with Secret Hotel
From walk nr. 2:
Participant: Søren
Photograher: Christine Fentz
From walk nr. 4:
Participant: Stephan
Photographer: Rasmus Skov
From walk nr. 7:
Participant: Tanja
Photographer: Trine Vestergaard
Guest book notes from the Botanical Garden in Aarhus
Overall experience – 3 words from each participant:
1: Strong emotions. The present moment. Contrasts.
2: Childhood. Unrestrained. Curious.
3: Senses. Curiosity. Trust.
4: Atmospheres in spaces. Intimacy between people. Smells/Sounds.
5: Cool! Silence. Sensory.
6: Joy. Merging. Childhood memories.
7: Let go of ego. Trust. Sensuousness. Presence. Awake.
Experience of the landscape – 3 words from each participant:
1: Spring. Fertile. Human made.
2: Forest. Breathing space. Cultivated.
3: Differences. Senses. Experience.
4: Urban nature. Natural manipulation. Feel hand. Flood of emotions.
5: Terrain. Different grounds. Sun, summer, spring.
6: Texture. The wind. Surfaces.
7: Up, down, around. Awakeness. Beauty.
