Snowflakes

Early Modern Ecomimesis between Science and Art

Authors

Keywords:

Snowflake, 17th century, aesthetics of cold, Olaus Magnus, Descartes, Bartholin, ecomimesis, sympoiesis

Abstract

This article examines the aesthetic forms of appearance of the snowflake during the 16th and 17th centuries at the crossroads between art and science.  Through activating all the senses and pointing to the interaction between the human body and snow as a cold form of material, the scientific revolution actualizes a relation  reminding us of that which artists may seek today. Through Timothy Morton's concept of ecomimesis and Donna Haraway's concept of sympoiesis, I seek to describe an aesthetics of the cold which springs from the encounter between different systems, in this case the human body and matter. In this way, I also seek to describe the emergence of the snowflake in the Early Modern Period as image, iconography, scientific object and a Northern climatological symbol.

Author Biography

Cecilia Sjöholm, Södertörn University

My research is particularly focused on the relation between art, politics and climate issues. I have published extensively on art, philosophy and critical theory. My book Doing Aesthetics with Arendt; How to See Things (Columbia University Press, 2015) looks at the way in which Hannah Arendt's reflections on art and aesthetics invite us to rethink her political concepts. My latest book Through the Eyes of Descartes; Seeing, Thinking, Writing (with Marcia Cavalcante Schuback, Indiana University Press 2024) looks at the relation between Descartes’ thought and climate issues. I am currently a research participant in the project "Freezing cold, Northern European imaginaries of winter, snow and ice during the Little Ice Age, led by Cecilia Rosengren (University of Githenburg), and I am one of the initiators of a new platform for research in the arts in times of climate change and societal transformation at Södertörn University, Art Forest.

I have worked extensively with questions of artistic research and artistic processes, as a collaborator with artists in research projects as well as a partner of dialogue in other ways. I am a member of the editorial board of Kultur & Klasse.

References

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Descartes, René. Discourse on Method, Optics, Geometry and Meteorology. Övers. Paul J. Olscamp i. Hackett, 2001.

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Sjöholm, Cecilia. ”Descartes och snöflingorna” i Anekdot, 2019 https://anekdot.se/essa/descartes-och-snoflingorna

Sjöholm, Cecilia & Cavalcante Schuback, Marcia. Through the Eyes of Descartes. Seeing, Thinking, Writing. Indiana University Press 2024.

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https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb11272189?page=,1 (Besökt 12 mars 2025).

Öppna källor

Elektroniskt i P2, red. Andreas Tilliander, Mats Almegård och Miriam Pemberton, sändes 5 mars 2015 https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/6107519

Europeana: Illustrierte Biografie von Anna Maria von Schürmann (van Schu(u)rman), niederländisch-deutsche Universalgelehrte, 1858. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/92062/BibliographicResource_1000126036536

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Published

2025-06-17

How to Cite

Sjöholm, C. (2025). Snowflakes: Early Modern Ecomimesis between Science and Art. K&K - Kultur Og Klasse, 53(139), 175–196. Retrieved from https://tidsskrift.dk/kok/article/view/157730

Issue

Vol. 53 No. 139 (2025): Köld

Section

Articles

License

Tidsskriftet følger dansk ophavsret.