Finally we turn to heat as a way to think about the permeability – and the breaking down – of the building’s walls. We will be reading Michael Taussig ‘Heat’ from My Cocaine Museum and Mae-Ling Lokko ‘The Colonization of Air’ from Nesbit (ed) Nature of Enclosure.

"Like gold or cocaine, heat is a force like color that sets aside the understanding in place of something less conscious and more overflowing, radiance instead of line, immanence instead of that famous bird’s-eye view."
- Taussig, Michael. ‘Heat’. In My Cocaine Museum, 31–40. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.

Reading Environments is a reading group open to all, for reading, listening and thinking together. Hosted by Tim Corballis (Science in Society), Su Ballard (Art History), Bonnie Etherington, and Adam Grener (English Literatures and Creative Communication), Reading Environments brings together academics, students and interested members of the public to delve into and discuss work in – and adjacent to – the Environmental Humanities, helping us navigate the changing environmental contexts of the planet.

The Reading Environments series continues on three Thursdays to accompany The buildings notice me, selected by Tim Corballis senior lecturer in the School of Science in Society, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. The readings complement the exhibition’s focus on architecture, engaging with space, ambience and enclosure within buildings, gesturing inwards towards human bodies and outwards towards the cosmos. The three topics within the Envelope theme will respond to the exhibition as a whole: each session will begin with a brief walking introduction from the foyer to the Lower Chartwell Gallery, touching briefly on works that resonate with the readings. We will make an effort to include anyone with mobility issues in the walk.