Adolfo Natalini mentioned that the Chinese found immobility sacred and built the Great Wall the keep wandering barbarians out of their land. What is wrong with mobility and constant migration? What's wrong with not having a place but a memory full of places?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNo one has been answering my questions. I'm tired of answering my own; so I'll discuss something of interest to me that somehow relates.
ReplyDeleteParkour, l'art du déplacement (the art of movement), is the act of moving from one place to another as quickly and efficiently as possible. It consists of running, jumping, scaling, and vaulting obstacles in order to develop the body and mind, and is practiced in urban settings. It's a discipline like kung fu or samurai, and being such is translated into the life of its practitioners (traceurs); but it's what they do that is relevant. Guardrails, walls, stairs, and paths don't control the circulation of a traceur. They move over, under, and through their environment and thus interact with it more. They experience building elevations as traversable surfaces and barriers as paths. Most people experience a city two-dimensionally on the street level until they enter a building. Even when on the streetscape, their path is guided and restricted. Traceurs develop the ability overcome these guides and restrictions and experience a city in three-dimension. Through taking a path that requires precise movements to overcome a string of obstacles to reach a point as quickly as possible, they focus on that place. They experience precise dimensions of that place; where the feet land or kick off, where the hand pushes or clenches. Tracuers measure a place with the limits of their body. Through this measuring, through their mobility, they experience more places and have great spacial memories of places.
Vidoes of parkour are on youtube. Some videos are of freerunning which is similar but more acrobatic and less efficient.