Religion as Atmosphere: The Material Mediation and Aesthetical Ambiguity of a Contemporary Night Church Atmosphere

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, I offer an ethnographic exploration of how Fatboys (a type of bean bag chair) and visuals co-constitute the atmosphere and religion inside a Copenhagen Night Church. By exploring the atmosphere as a distribution of agency – primarily from the visitors’ perspective – I focus on how the Fatboys and visuals help constitute the atmosphere as an affective force by mediating visitors’ engagement. Moreover, I claim that the Fatboys and visuals also contribute to an aesthetic of ambiguity that emphasises the role of visitors as producers and consumers of an affective religious atmosphere. Closely related to the cultural emphasis on individuality that pervades contemporary consumer society, this aesthetic of ambiguity enables different conceptual frames to inform visitors’ atmospheric experiences and thus amplifies the existence of multiple atmospheres inside the Night Church. In this sense, religion is not only materially mediated but also co-created and carried out by the visitors.