Gymkhana, It’s what’s for Dinner

Many times the endeavors individuals undertake in their leisure time are regarded as merely hobbies; a way to get away from the daily grind. This conclusion can be made only of hobbies that are purely relegated to one’s free time and have no professional counterpart, or, as Theodor Adorno states, “free time should in no way suggest work, presumably so that one can work that much more effectively later.” Free time, and the hobbies contained therein, can often develop into obsessions that replace their 9 to 5 jobs as their main motivator for getting up in the morning, rather than the money that they will make at their regular job because of the need for humans to be productive due to the historical teachings of conservative societies.

I have never come across a “pure hobby” that someone, somewhere in the world does not get paid to do in a professional capacity. There is an element of productivity in every hobby. Perceived unproductive hobbies such as shopping and bird watching have the equivalent professions of Mystery Shopping and Ornithologist, respectively. There are also the more obvious hobbies with professional equals like baking and being a pastry chef. Adorno mentions, “The state of dozing in the sun represents the culmination of a decisive element of free time under the present conditions: boredom.” “Dozing in the sun” can also be perceived as a part of a profession when it is liked to, say, a swimsuit model, whose job it is to be tanned and beautiful. Hobbies and their professional doppelgangers many a time look unproductive, but still serve a purpose.

Millions of people have taken a look at Ken Block’s Gymkhana video, along with its sequel, on YouTube and various other video hosting web sites. Upon first look at any of his videos, or even motorsports in general, the activity looks as if there is no point to it other than an entertaining competition. DC Shoe Company blatantly states what might not be obvious to the common viewer of their productions at the beginning of their second Gymkhana video with Block. The video begins with a green screen with black letters telling the viewer that, “WARNING! The following is a product advertisement.” This video, as said by DC Shoes themselves, is an advertisement. What follows is an assault on the senses of “awesome” clothes and “sweet” slow motion. No matter what motorsport one encounters there is going to be some type of selling of a product involved. Even in amateur, or hobbyist, motorsports the competitors do the work of the companies whose products they use for free because when someone asks what they’re using they will inevitably tell them with great pride.

Ken Block may be living what was once a hobby for him, and currently a hobby for many around the world, but DC Shoes is selling his talent. As a rally driver Ken Block doesn’t really need to win another race because he can sell being “cool” for DC Shoes as long as there are still hobbyists who want to be like the guys in the movies and magazines with money to spend.
Adorno postulates that free time is simply an extension of the daily grind; preparing the partaker for the next time they must suffer their occupational obligations. I take contention with this statement and would assert that the use of free time can sometimes, if not often, replace the job that afforded the hobbyist the free time in the first place and contain a great element of productivity. In a motorsports there are companies that are willing to shell out the dough to the most talented drivers to slap their name on their car and race with their products

Tactical Visual Superiority

In the book War and Cinema: The Logistics of Perception, Paul Virilio addresses several aspects of the relationship between war and visual technology. His prime focuses were on the development of camera technology and its vast military applications both tactical and non-tactical, the advancement of color film, the power of shocking images, and the use of visual technology is public relations and propaganda campaigns. Whilst reading Virilio’s work and pondering the concept of whichever side possesses the visual advantage in a military scenario, that side holds tactical and motivational advantages as well, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the importance of visual technology displayed throughout John McTiernan’s classic 1987 film Predator.

In Predator, an elite force of muscle bound commandos, heroically led by Arnold Schwarzenegger, are dropped into a Central American jungle in search of POW’s only to find themselves being hunted by a brutal alien with advanced weaponry and visual technology. Perhaps the predator’s greatest use of visual technology, and one of his biggest assets, is an advanced form of camouflage which makes him a blur while he literally blends in with the jungle. For most of the film Schwarzenegger and company remain clueless as to what is hunting them. Even the audience isn’t sure what the predator looks like, they just see a fuzzy blur seamlessly jumping through the jungle canopy picking off heavily armed commandos one at a time.

How can you fight something you cannot see? Virilio explains the importance of optical advantages in military scenarios: “Rather like a Western gun duel, where firepower equilibrium is less important than reflex response, eyeshot will then finally get the better of gunshot. It will be an optical confrontation; its likely slogan, “winning is keeping the target in constant sight.” No amount of bullets can help Schwarzenegger’s team when they can’t see what they’re shooting at. This is fabulously illustrated in a pivotal scene where the predator attacks and the team blindly fires hundreds of rounds into the jungle only to realize the futility of their actions when they find their shots hit nothing.

The mystery and violence surrounding the Predator causes “moral shock” in the commandos. They become panicked and frightened, therefore less deliberate and effective on the battlefield. Virilio quotes General F Gambiez when addressing the effects of fear on the battlefield: “The search for psychological factors – whether depressive or tonic – helps to restore the true countenance of battle.” The Predator’s mystery increasingly becomes more terrifying to the commandos and the audience as well, while the Predator’s appearance and location remain unknown. Virilio also discusses this phenomenon: “To fell the enemy is not so much to capture as to “captivate” him, to instill the fear of death before he actually dies.”

Such as the case in the classic film Jaws. During the filming of Jaws, the mechanical shark built for the film kept malfunctioning and the result was not being able to shoot that much of “the shark” for integral scenes. The unintended result however was fantastic. Not seeing the shark very much in the film, even in scenes where the shark is attacking people, actually enhanced the terror and suspense, making the film more frightening. Throughout Predator the characters’ fear is illustrated in the action scenes and in conversational scenes where they attempt to figure out what kind of sinister villain is after them.

Just as the predator makes use of visual technology for defense, he also employs his advanced visual technology offensively. The predator sees in infra-red thus rendering Schwarzenegger and his team’s camouflage and any attempts to hide virtually useless. To his supreme advantage, the predator maintains this visual superiority throughout the film until the third act when Schwarzenegger recognizes that the predator’s vision is based on heat. While our hero is covered in mud, the Predator’s infra-red vision is rendered impotent. As Schwarzenegger gains visual superiority, he is then able to deliver to the audience a final battle for the ages.




Author Does Not Exist

GREAT WAVE

The picture shown is one of many woodblocks created by Japanese artists in the early 19th century. This particular painting was done by Katsushika Hokusai in 1831 representing a seascape with Mt. Fuji. The waves form a frame through which we see Mt. Fuji. Hokusai loved to depict water in motion; the foam of the wave is breaking into claws which grasp for the fishermen. The large wave forms a massive yin to the yang of empty space under it. However there is one primal aspect about this painting, similar to most Japanese art, in which I am going to discuss. That is the paintings ability to direct the eyes towards the edges of the image. Theodore Adorno would love this painting due to its enticement to imagine what is going on outside of the image. In Adorno’s article about free time he points out the lack of imagination people are rendered since their leisure is heteronomously determined. Adorno writes, “The lack of imagination that is instilled and inculcated by society renders people helpless in their free time. The impudent question of what the people are supposed to do with the abundant free time they now supposedly have – as though free time were a charity and not a human right – is based on this helplessness.”

As oppose to modern pop art, this painting does not wish for the audience to focus on a central element and exploit it. Rather it is a captured moment of mobility in space which leads you to ponder on certain questions and imagine their outcome. Such as “Where is the wave heading?” or, “How many people are at that location?” Instead of keeping your attention, which is what television advertisement successfully does, the painting invokes you to drift away from the central object and encourages a plethora of thoughts. Ardono argues that people are not free during their free time because of the rigid placements of our culture industry. Unfree people have no autonomy in an economy filled with advertisement and propaganda. As an example, Adorno points out that boredom need not exist in this world of labor, and its counterpart free time. “If people were able to make their own decisions about themselves and their lives, if they were not harnessed to the eternal sameness, then they would not have to be bored.”

In conclusion, Adorno would definitely have a lot of optimistic comments to give to Hokusai’s painting “Great Wave.” The notion to think outside of the “box” is where Adorno and Hokusai coincide with one another. Adorno’s writing about free time brings forth that people are under a spell; a spell which is driven by profit and continues to sublimate our desires into bogus consumption. Hokusai’s painting carries that of which a sense of freedom. A quaint depiction of Mother Nature at its peak of glory, this painting has the ability to release your psyche from political agendas. Adorno would appreciate all the awesome qualities of this painting and its significance on people.

Today’s Digital Reproduction of the Individual

The digital image along with the Internet has opened up this world of reproduction and alteration to the middle class consumer which has intern changed how images are produced and how authentic they truly are. In today’s society with the Internet and technology continuing to expand the ideas behind the “original” and its “authenticity” are slowly depleting. According to Marxist theory, the term reproduction is used to describe the ways that cultural practices and their forms of expression reproduce the ideologies and interest of the ruling class. With Internet sites like My Space, Facebook, and even many dating sites the reproduction of our own image is numerous. These sites along with the constant reproduction of our own images, brings with it the loss of individual identity. I believe Marx’s theory applies today because, with these sites comes free expression. This free expression is actually not free at all, the majority or ruling class of these social sites are the ones calling the shots. It’s who has the cutest, sexiest, or most interesting pictures and who has the most friends or comments from people about their page. If you are not a part of this social network your considered old, boring or not cool. This type of behavior proves Marx’s theory correct.

Some people choose to separate themselves from this social sphere completely and blame the Internet or even the producer of the site for its unruly or pornographic content. But according to the authors of Practices of Looking an Introduction to Visual Society Cartwright and Sturken, it can be argued that technologies have some agency- that is, that they have important and influential effects on society and that they are also themselves the product of their particular societies and times and the ideologies that exist within them and within which they are used. So to blame someone else for how these new sites are being used is not accurate. Individuals often say that these sites may not be to blame but the mass reproduction of identities even false ones could become a huge problem. Cartwright and Sturken note that reproducibility itself is a deeply inherent characteristic of digital technology. Meaning trying to control the reproduction of images on such technology as the Internet is almost impossible.
With all of these identical images of people one might ask where is this person’s authenticity, meaning their genuineness or their legitimacy. Sociologist Walter Benjamin believes authenticity of the aura means the value of an image or art work derived from its uniqueness and its role in ritual This aura according to Benjamin cannot be reproduced. A person’s aura is their unique individuality and to copy and reproduce the ideologies presented by the majority is to lose your individuality or our value in Benjamin’s thoughts.
The Internet has provided many avenues where one could lose themselves to the digital majority, so to speak. With this lack in control over the reproducibility of images and the Internet we should ask ourselves if these technologies are useful or harmful to the idea of expressing ones individuality.

Free Time... What's That?

As an avid sports fanatic and someone who has played softball seventeen years of her life, “free time” does not exist in the life of a dedicated athlete. I have spent hundreds of hours devoting my life to a sport that I love. However, once I got to college… softball became a job. Free time did not exist in my college life. I did not live that “college life” of party all day every day, or getting to pick my classes whenever I wanted to, or skip class because I was too hung over. My weekdays consisted of getting up early for class, going to workouts, off to get shoulder treatment, back to class, and then off to three hours of practice, and back to class, and my night (which I would like to say was my "free time") ended in bed doing homework, and waking up early to do the schedule all over again. According to Adorno, "free time should in no way whatsoever suggest work..." I had no free time during winter break; that consisted of working out everyday to stay in shape for season. Oh, and once season started, I had no weekends and we traveled for weeks at a time to different states.

On the other hand, this thing we call a “hobby” doesn’t exist for my self, I call it my profession, and as Theodor Adorno says, “not that I’m a workaholic who wouldn’t know how to do anything else but get down to business and do what has to be done. But rather I take the activities with which I occupy myself beyond the bounds of my official profession, without exception, so seriously that I would be shocked by the idea that they have anything to with hobbies.” I once thought softball was a hobby... ya, that was from the ages six to eighteen. But once I got to college, this sport became a profession. It's more a job than anything. No one really understands the time and dedication and strain we put on bodies to make us a better player and a better team. In college, athletics is a whole different world. Sports are to be take so serious, it almost takes the fun out of it. And to me, a "hobby" was fun. I believe that most athletes are so wrapped up in athletics that they don't even realize how unfree their life really is. "Unfreedom is expanding within free time, and most people are as unconscious of the process as they are of their own unfreedom."

You never realize how much you learn from playing a team sport, but for those of you that have played any type of sport; you would know that it’s the dedication and hard work that made you who you are today. There is no I in team, and what you learn from that, is how to become a team player, which then you take those qualities into the real world and the work place. “Some insight nevertheless is furnished by the hypothesis that the physical exertion required by sports, the functionalization of the body within the team, that occurs precisely in the most popular sports, trains people, in ways unknown to them, in the behavioral techniques that, sublimated to a greater or lesser degree, are expected from them in the labor process,” Adorno states. As you grow as a player and a person, you gain these qualities that you never really paid attention too, but you are expected from your coaches and players to have these qualities, in which make you a better player.

Athletes give up their free time because we know that there is a job to be done and that is to win. So in the end, even though we work our asses off all year around, non-stop, it's all well worth it in the end. This thing we call a "hobby" or more like a "profession," only makes us better players and people for the moment and in the future.

"real" media coverage

In the writing Satellite Panoramas, Lisa parks discusses the media documentation of the shoe-maker-levy 9 comet’s collision with Jupiter to emphasis her concept that the images captured are connotative to the occurrences. The images captured by the Hubble Telescope of the collision and star formation offer the citizens of planet earth a window to another cosmic world.

While this astronomical view enabled us to see what was happening in outer space, the media dispersed the images and information to show the world as it was happening in “real” time. The media portrays the truth as “real” and the audience accepts it, though, it goes through the process of media agenda, the demand for viewer ship and generating money.

Media coverage of an event such as this one generated to believe that the images and footage taken are of immediate exposure. Though, while the footage was shown on the media outlets the event has already happened, time has passed by, and real time was already the past. Through the process the media engages in to produce news the truth gets reconstructed.

The media gains from people wanting to watch the material they produce; they make the agenda suitable to attract viewers. Parks states that these still images taken by the Hubble telescope don’t have meaning and the news media built a story around them. As a story is constructed based on social events, they get over dramatized and details get added, it’s not necessarily what happened if one was physically present. Thus making the fact that real time connotation does not exist.

In a worldlier example we can examined the images shown on the news media outlets to the public about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. Thought the United States is far from these locations, the public does want to gain knowledge about what is happening. The media uses images that have been taken in the past and reuses them to create meaning of what is happening right now on the grounds. When the news covers what is happening in the war, they will not show you images of the soldiers as they fight in the desert, images of sand, or in the middle of an operation. This is because of the fact that in “real” time the audience who is watching the television coverage would not be able to make out what is really happening, as they would see sand, unclear sound, and blurry images.

In their coverage of war affairs the media will use an already written story, with edited footage of soldiers on the field, or weapons or any images that relate to the story. These images are clear and enforce the message that the media wants to speak about. Also this footage is also accompanied by audio and commentaries from an individual who has some sort of authority and credibility on the subject. However even the commentary is preplanned and produced because the individual got the topic, the questions, and the information he was going to discuss ahead of time. Thus proving the point that even though the media portrays their coverage as in “real time”, the content of the coverage has been prewritten and preplanned to air.

In their interest to gain audience, get high ratings, and make money, news media outlets take the coverage of the war and shows what they think will draw audience. They do not necessarily show what is the most important, or what would be most important for citizens to watch. Rather, a producer who wants to draw people to watch, constructs a story line, that may have facts, but is not actually what happened in “real” time. These kinds of events had to be filmed; a story line had to be written, then edited a number of times, and finally broadcasted through the media. The story it self went through a process to have meaning and importance for our world to have an understanding of what was happening.

The media incorporates images, raw footages, audio, and commentaries to try and make the situation comprehensive to people. Reality does not always make sense; the media constructs an explanation based on what society values to create an understanding that makes sense. By doing so the media is not really showing real time footage of what is happening, rather they are exploiting the occurrences and creating their own description to the public.

The war footage as well as the Hubble satellite images was purely connotative as they both were being used as a discursive narrative dictated by the media to reveal this phenomenon that never occurred before. The news media could tell the audience many events and occurrences that are happening at war in many different ways. Though, these things are told to the audience using arguments and stories that are socially familiar to us. News media coverage in “real” time does not exist; rather a given discourse of what is happening is produced for the audience.

The Gathering Storm

Throughout the chapter “Satellite Panoramas” in the book Cultures In Orbit, Lisa Parks reinforces the idea of the media utilizing satellite-captured imagery to exact 'remote control' over the audience. The application of both imagery and “expert” interpretation through television broadcasts reinforces unsubstantiated fears and long-held ideologies in American popular culture. The same way in which interspace satellite imagery is applied to the media can also be observed through the months of the year known across the southeastern United States as 'hurricane season'.

Hurricane season is a time that is characterized by obsession and, at times, hysteria. Such states of consciousness are primarily media-driven, leading the American populace to become rabidly consumed with statistics and facts about a storm, despite the facts that they are virtually all incomprehensible to their audience and that the storm is merely a tropical depression just forming off the northwestern coast of Africa. However, this is a crucial time for the media to beging to recondition the American psyche, and it begins with this barrage of incomprehensible facts and statistics, which leads people into a state of worry and concern, thus constantly tuned in to their trusted station for weather news. As the storm initially progresses on a path in the general direction of the southeastern United States (as it typically does), the next phase of the media's assault is engaged. The media transitions into treating the storm as if it is an invading army gaining momentum as it destroyes anything and everything in its path. Statistics to show its increase in size and strength are plastered all over television screens. Then, right on cue, visual evidence in the form of third world countries being devastated (which harkens back to previous class discussions on “shock” photos), which acts as a warning to Americans to either prepare accordingly or end up like a third world country (infrastructure and building sturdiness aside, of course). As Parks wrote in regards to the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet crashing into Jupiter, “this practice of presenting live coverage of catastrophic events happening elsewhere has become one of the dominant television news conventions of our time”(p. 145).

If the storm should happen to impact the Caribbean, then the imagery is taken to another level, aided by NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) and transmitted by every news outlet across the country (and especially so by the weather stations and local television news in the southeastern US). First is the classification of a storm into a category (1-5) which are repeated as if it is a reverse DEFCON level. Next is the implementation of what is referred to as the “cone of uncertainty”. It is essentially a standard deviation of a hurricane's projected path, but more importantly, it serves to maximize the range of potentially impacted citizens, thereby maximizing the base of the audience. It is at this time that anywhere within the “cone of uncertainty” that even capitalism begins to kick in. What were once the bare necessities known as a “hurricane preparedness kit” has now ballooned into a “hurricane survival kit” (implying of course, that you need everything on this list to merely survive). What is coincidental (or not) is that the list requires you shop in virtually every kind of department store (grocery, hardware, electronics, clothing, etc). Never has there been a more combined influential mechanism over such a large group of people than that of fear and capitalist consumerism.

The calculated media, and eventually capitalist consumer, campaign based on fear in the form of tracking a hurricane is one that is as formulaic as it is effective. The efforts to paralyze an entire region's psyche with just a handful of words and images behind the basis of a governmental agency and the transmission by every news outlet is, year in and year out, roundly successful. From the outset of grabbing the citizenry's attention with what could potentially down the road have a chance of turning yoru city into a third world to the ultimatum of “buy or die”, the non-stop assault on the fearful American and the American consumer is exemplified by that of a hurricane's path. It is not just the hurricane that is the gathering storm.

- William Jennings