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Atmosphere in Art

I think one of the most beautiful elements of artistry is how a piece can drop you into an environment and let you soak up the emotions, the feelings, and the energy of it. Being able to look through the author's or a character's eyes for a few moments and experience their setting.

Atmosphere: the pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or work of art.

Utilizing this definition in this post I want to discuss some of my favorite atmospheric pieces of art and also find how they achieve this affect.

Pink in the Night - Mitski

Track 10 Pink in the Night is one of the deeper cuts off of Mitski's 2018 hit album Be the Cowboy but it's a personal favorite of mine. In line with the theme of being a cowboy this song sounds like Mitski is alone in the desert, yearning for someone, glowing Pink in the Night with frustration. The rain of her love pours down from the desert sky, and while rain is celebrated in the desert; hers' is torrential, pouring without end.

With every drop of rain singing "I love you, I love you, I love you I love you, I love you, I love you I love you, I love you, I love you"

This desolate feeling pairs perfectly with the production and vocals of the track, Mitski's desperate repetition and haunting tone paired with the production that is minimal enough to provide a feeling of space. Not just space, overwhelming and suffocating space. Mitski's unrequited love has flooded her surroundings and she's drowning in it herself. The desperation, isolation, and inundation of Mitski's desert in Pink in the Night has always stuck out to me.

Attack on Titan - Hajime Isayama

Attack on Titan is one of the series I hold as our generation's peak of fiction, our Shakespeare. One of the few series I would say best represent the strides and advances of storytelling over the past century. If you're unfamiliar, Attack on Titan takes place within the walls of the Eldian Empire, the last remains of humanity after titans destroyed the rest. These titans are man-eating, uncanny 3-15 meter tall creatures that eat humans; not for any biological need, just to do it. Society has insulated itself from the outside with the use of a 3 wall system.

As you can imagine, a setting like this would lead to an unprecedented amount of despair: and it does! However what I find most beautiful is how Attack on Titan displays hope and joy. In such an apocalyptic story the moments of triumph and the small successes add up. Whether it's our protagonists sharing banter over their rations of bread, or seeing everyone risk their lives and protect a character as they march forward towards Wall Rose (middle) to patch the hole in it. The spirit of hope within the first season is intoxicating at its highest and beautifully compliments the OFTEN dark and drab moments seeped into the show.

Persona 5 - ATLUS

Last but not least, where the name of my blog comes from. This game is a beautiful living, breathing, artistic expression. Stylized to a T and every detail is attended to. This game is a JRPG with action, religious symbolism, and political commentary but some of its most potent moments are... the quiet ones. Like walking down the streets of Shibuya in the rain. Making coffee in the café you live in. Strolling the Red-Light District at night. And spending an evening with someone you know. Persona 5's down time is beautifully executed and makes an amazing moment of rest between intense story beats. And this blog gets it's name from Café Leblanc in this game! I will go into further detail on my appreciation for this game in a future post, but this game's atmosphere is absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you for reading my first post of many to come! Have a beautiful day, afternoon, evening, night, or 3 AM; I have no clue when you're reading this.