Page - 9 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 3/2017

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 3 2o17 Rainer Kazig, Damien Masson, Rachel Thomas | Atmospheres and Mobility 9 vice versa. Numerous studies in the field of mobility research point to the need for consideration of the sensual and experiential (Bissel 2010, Thomas 2010a and 2010b, Masson 2012, Hui 2014, Spinney 2015). Conversely and as indicated previously, research on atmospheres originates in the consideration of movement, both on the conceptual and methodological levels. Therefore, to develop this confrontation by aiming explicitly to use the concepts of mobility and atmosphere in intersection, we highlight the three following challenges. I Atmospheres on the move One of the most important interests of mobility studies revolves around their constant atten- tion to meaning and values carried out by mobility, and therefore giving sense to mobile prac- tices, representations, and experiences (Cresswell 2006, Sheller & Urry 2006, Urry 2007, Adey 2009). Among these, sensory experience of mobility has been first investigated and researched in terms of the renewal of the forms of experience in relation to the mobile carrier. Early work on perception shows that the very mode of transportation plays a crucial role on the experience of movement. Erwin Straus (1992) notably indicates how the train transfigured the experience of motion by introducing straight lines which connect distinct places. Straus proposes that this kind of connection catalyses a fundamental shift in the experience of space as it helps the passenger to consider his or her body in the space, not only from a self-centered perspective, but also from an allocentric one (Berthoz 1997). By doing so, the train helped the mundane travel- ler to experience not only the landscape surrounding the moving wagon, but also an abstract – almost cartographic – representation of the land, as the train follows a human-constructed path that existed in no such form before. In addition to that, Schivelbusch (2014) shows how far experience is shaped by the mode of transportation, when he indicates that the train builds a “mechanized perception”, meaning that experiencing train journeys starts with the technical- scape of the train which consists of the geography of the rail path, the kind of engine of the locomotive, the shape of the wagons, of their windows, their insulation from the environment, and so on. By indicating that, we aim at highlighting that atmospheres of mobility are neces- sarily shaped by a scape-nexus encompassing environment, geography and technique. In addi- tion to that, work on the experience of travel and of movement clearly showed the contribution of practices, human presence, and of the socio-cultural sensory shaping (i.e. lighting, sounding, etc.) in the production of atmospheres of mobility (Bissell 2010, Masson 2012, Spinney 2015). These works also contributed to designing new research methods, not only mobile, but also atmospheric, as they clearly address the issue of grasping and understanding sensory, felt and affective situations (see part 3 that develops further the issue of methods). Nevertheless, these works on the atmospheres of mobility do not directly address atmospheres as an analytic cate- gory and its specific interplay with mobility. Here lies one of the challenges of this encounter: if recent research in mobility studies contributes to show how atmospheres impact on, form and alter the experience of mobility, what is nevertheless the specific contribution of the concept of atmosphere to the analysis of the sensual and affective dimensions of mobility? On the other hand, the question of the role of mobility in the emergence of atmospheres remains understudied. Works on atmosphere do not always look upon the mobile component of the considered situations, therefore the challenge arises to clarify how mobile practices, situa-