Ephemeral Atmospheres. Clouds, Points and the Representation of Natural Elements

Abstract

In the first part, the text describes some significant episodes related to the representation of clouds in the history of West ern painting, particularly in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, highlighting a relation to theatrical representations of sacred scenes belonging to the medieval period. What is most important are the symbolic aspects linked to this atmospheric element, often related to its mystical role. Mention is made of the function assumed by the representation of clouds in tradition al Sino-Nipponese painting, in this context the characteristics of mutability and vague ness explain their use. But the cloud is also an element that enchants the observer and is therefore employed by contemporary artists in their installations for unexpected performances, where the cloud itself is the protagonist. The second part of the article is dedicated to the relationship between data collected by laser scanners (point clouds) and their use as representation tools, beyond metric information. The rendered images of these data highlight artis tic values in the field of digital art.