Gabor Csepregi The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement In our western civilization, we entertain a rather ambiguous relation- ship to the human body. We tend to view it as an instrument, a machine, or a distant object of possession that responds flawlessly to external challenges. Yet, some deeply fulfilling experiences yield to an awareness of its needs and possibilities; we then perceive our living body with a sense of unity and a feeling of harmony. In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to some activities that allow us to be in touch with, and develop, the creative powers of our body. I would like add some additional observations to these contributions, focusing my attention on the aesthetic dimension of move- ment. I What gives to certain movements an aesthetic value? What are the quali- ties and determinants of the motor behaviour which elicits an aesthetic ex- perience? The various authors, each being inspired by a particular philo- sophical, ideological, or anthropological option, advance diverse answers to these questions. Some consider beauty as the primary characteristic of the movement endowed with an aesthetic value. A movement is beautiful when an idea, an intention, a meaning, an excellence, an inner unity and wholeness, or some- thing »transcendent« and »inexhaustible«, becomes manifest in a sensuous and dynamic form. Our aesthetic experience consists of the perception of an irreducible excess, a superabundance, and a plenitude in a technically flawless motor performance. O t h e r s p r e f e r to pay a t t en t ion to the fo rmal qual i t ies of m o t o r behaviour. The aesthetic here is the successful realization of previously iden- tified criteria such as order, regularity, symmetry, balance, proport ion, pre- cision, harmony, and difficulty. Although the motor form is not subordinated to external and pragmatic goals, it nevertheless remains bound to some »im- manen t laws« (Sobotka, 1974) and principles. Empirical observations allow us to analyze and compare these principles and to recognize their commu- Filozofski vestnih, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 173-179 181 Gabor Csepregi nicative significance. Our aesthetic enjoyment springs f rom the perception of a correspondence between subjective per formance abilities and fixed, standardized movement possibilities. The third approach considers movements f rom a subjective point of view. Here the aesthetic is not merely a matter of adapting movements to objective qualities but derives f rom the production of a dynamic form that, on the one hand, expresses ideas, conceptions, emotions, fantasies, and, on the other, elicits an awareness of total bodily involvement. To relate personal meanings to movements means to go beyond the factual, efficient, and use- ful, and to place the movement in a context where expression is valued over performance. The deployment of symbolic figures and illusory appearances produces an aesthetic delight and, consequently, sustains or reshapes feel- ings. Both the symbolic transformation and the ref inement of feelings hap- pen without adaptation to a conscious purpose; they are spontaneous pro- cesses since they spring f rom the primary need for the embodiment of in- ner life and the »symbolic envisagement of the world« (Langer, 1957). I would like to briefly consider the characteristics of movement within the third perspective since it places great emphasis on the body's creative abilities and the affective component of the aesthetic perception. All of us have noticed that certain motor experiences induce in us an exhilarating and stimulating feeling. This is not the same state of ecstasy, euphoria , or intoxication that we might experience while dancing or taking part in cer- tain rituals. Expressions such as enchantment, delight, rapture, captivation, excitement, and inspiration seem to be more appropriate to describe the sensations connected to the movements. The aesthetic delight does not depend on the physiological or muscu- lar processes alone, but rather on how we perceive ourselves in the move- ment and how we relate the movement to the surroundings, particularly to space. We experience a feeling of lightness and ease as we move with un- usual dexterity and alertness and trust our own bodily capabilities. The meaning of the movement is the primary source of our pleasur- able feelings. To be sure, a movement must exhibit an inner order, a struc- ture in which the different segments obtain their unity and cohesion. A fun- damental prerequisite of the aesthetic satisfaction is our ability to coordi- nate smoothly and correctly a great number of partial movements. When an adequate mastery of certain techniques is no t acquired, the various ele- ments follow each other without accentuation, articulation, and synchroni- zation. The movement then is devoid of internal coherence or »kinetic melody«, to use the expression of F.J. J. Buytendijk (1957) and Oliver Sacks (1995). However important it may be, the »melodic flow« alone is insuffi- 182 The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement cient to produce an aesthetic value. What is needed is authenticity and ex- pressiveness. Our aesthetic enjoyment springs from the expression of mo- mentary feelings, insights, and desires through original and personal move- men t compositions. These achievements can neither be created on com- mand nor narrowed down to stabilized and measurable movement patterns. They occur and develop, without any conscious p lanning and control , through the unconcerned variation of the symbolic structure, the playful improvisation of a kinetic theme, and the qualitative use of motor options. II I have already ment ioned that some of the creative abilities of our liv- ing body uniquely contribute to an aesthetic motor experience. What are, more precisely, these abilities? An important feature of the exploratory and symbolic formulations is the absence of interest in efficiency and technical perfection. Expressive movements are not related to specific objectives or restricted by utilitarian considerations; they lack a definite reference to a goal, a distance, or a tem- poral limit. They entail an unconcerned and sympathetic contact with the surroundings, a state of alert but relaxed receptiveness. Movements are ini- tiated and carried out as responses to momentary and immediate phenom- ena, such as the prevailing atmosphere, the activity of other participants, the already accomplished gestures, the intensity of feelings, etc.. We have all experienced music not only suggesting movements but also compelling us to move. Our steps, jumps, turns, rotations, all the gestures, and their infinitely rich combinations, executed by the various parts of our body, are in close affinity with the specific rhythmic and melodic features of music. As Erwin Straus (1980) has noted, »the immediate experience and the (expressive) movement in which it actualizes its meaning are indivisible«. But what makes this affinity possible? Expressive movements are depen- dent upon the sensibility, »pathicity«, of the body. »Pathicity« is that feature of the body by which an immediate, vivid, pre-conceptual, and affective communication with the surroundings takes place. A central e lement of this unmediated bond is the experience of suffering, of being affected. In the pathic sphere, something (an image, an odour, a sound) takes possession of us; we are seized by its quality and delivered to its influence. The decisive factor here is the direct, immediate intimacy of our body with the world, its ability to echo vivid and penetrat ing effects, to resonate to new impressions or unexpected deviations. The words »echo« and »resonance« refer to the 183 Gabor Csepregi affective a t tunement to the outside world and the experience of being af- fected by some meaningful events. Furthermore, we find ourselves involved in our own way in a particu- lar situation: we are sensible to the quality of impressions according to our own point of view and interest. The pathic relationship is a transforming experience: certain objects take hold of us, affect our innermost self, of ten tacitly, without our explicit awareness. The production of various motor forms also imply an attitude that may be called renunciation: a relaxed and trustful surrender to bodily impulses and intentions. As we move easily and effortlessly, we confidently rely on the sense of rhythm and distance concealed somewhere within our body. We abandon ourselves to the »natural spontaneity« of the body that, without purposeful pre-assessment or planning, introduces new movements and responds appropriately to the unexpected demands of the situation. F.J.J. Buytendijk (1965) has pointed out that we are able to invent surprising and unusual movements because our body is invested with a subtle sense of what can and should be tried and risked, with a »finesse d'esprit«, with an »inex- haustible creative power«. Such an inventiveness may embody the connection, the »bisociation« (Arthur Koestler's term), of two previously unrelated sets of movement. Such a movement combination arises suddenly, it is »an upward surge« from some fertile layer of our body. The bisociative creation may consist of the unsus- pected connection of a movement to a subjective significance. When, for example, we express our joy through slow and solemn gestures, without actually knowing why, the motor figures arise spontaneously f rom the bisociative processes of the body. Our expressive movements entail the ten- dency to what Paul Ricoeur (1966) calls »involuntary release«: we are sur- prised by the ease and appropriateness with which our body proposes un- predictable symbolic formulations. The mimetic element is also central to the aesthetic movement expe- riences. The imitation of living or lifeless realities (a bird or a train) is a natural way of investing a motor form with symbolic content and articulat- ing a particular feeling or desire. As Walter Benjamin (1978) has brought out forcefully, the source of imitative movements is our mimetic faculty, the gift of recognising and producing similarities. Thanks to this bodily endow- ment , we are able to re-create and interpret aspects of our immediate sur- roundings and express our own feelings. We find, in the mimetic object or event, an incentive to perform certain movements and charge these move- ments with a personal meaning. When we imitate the peculiar motion of a 184 The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement bird, our interest in flying movements is fused with our intention to give a coherent and active form to some of our fears, hopes, or ideals. This example stresses the non-realistic character of imitation. No at- tempt is made to copy something faithfully. Rather, imitation requires the creative ability of selecting and reproducing the constitutive traits of the chosen object. More important, perhaps, is that the mimetic act presupposes an em- pathic understanding of the meaning of the perceived reality. When we dis- play a mimetic mode of behaviour, we come to act in harmony with our surroundings. In his analysis of Benjamin's theory of mimetic experience, Jurgen Habermas (1983) speaks of the »uninterrupted connection of the human organism with the surrounding nature«. The various aspects and qualities of the environment are no longer perceived in confrontat ion but accepted with a sense of involvement and participation. Thus, the mimetic capacity is no t only the gift of producing similarities, but also the bodily potential on which we draw in order to act in unison with the surrounding world and to perceive it with empathy and care. Beyond their subjective significance, movements elicit an aesthetic experience due to their temporal structure, their inner order. Rhythm is the organizing factor that coordinates the temporal segments of the movement into a coherent and melodic flow. A rhythmic motor pe r fo rmance is not merely a passive and mechanical adaptation to a series of uniform pulses or a sequence of economical gestures. Rhythmic patterns are actively apprehended or produced by the moving subject. Of course neither is rhythm the outcome of random personal invention. However spontaneous a »rhythmizing act« may be, each motor situation and task requires a specific and suitable temporal organization. Whether spontaneously generated or actively appropriated, a rhythmic pattern normally consists of the periodic repetition, articulation, and accentuation of movement phases. How does the rhythmic organization of the expressive movement oc- cur? Some believe that the primary source of rhythm is the natural and vi- tal impulses of the body. Others, placing less emphasis on bodily states and capabilities, contend that intention and consciousness preside over rhyth- mic emergences. We have seen, however, that expressive movements are carried out without conscious planning; they are not tied to particular goals and directions. Their temporal unfolding depends more on the immediate experiencing of spatial and motor qualities than on set structures. Thanks to their own »Knotenpunkte« (to use Arnold Gehlen's expression), movements themselves suggest a particular temporal configuration. A slight change in the manner we employ to emphasize these »fertile« phases results in the 185 Gabor Csepregi variation of subsequent rhythmic patterns. Consequently, the various ways of grouping and accentuating movement phases derive not so much from a conscious representat ion but f rom the »logic« of the movement itself. When, for example, children alter the tempo of their stride, or switch f rom walking to skipping and f rom skipping to hopping, they seem to obey the dictates of their own body. In the words of Ursula Fritsch (1990), they allow their body to »think by means of the movement«. Their »rhythmizing acts« are based on their bodily tendency to repeat, with more or less regularity and intensity, alternating movement components , and on their ability to remain attentive to the »eloquence« of the movements. Paul Valéry (1964), reflecting on the nature of dance, has drawn our attention to this bodily potential through which the rhythmic organization of movements occur. The body, writes Valéry, »assumes a fairly simple periodicity that seems to main- tain itself automatically; it seems endowed with a superior elasticity that re- trieves the impulse of every movement and at once renews it. O n e is re- minded of a top, standing on its point and reacting so sensitively to the slight- est shock.« Finally we come to the productive power of imagination. When we endow the motor form with a symbolic content, we relate our movements to visual images. Visual images, however, are not the only ingredient of ex- pressive movements. Valéry's analogy reminds us that, though not tied to specific perfor- mance criteria and objectives, expressive movements are nevertheless bound to particular motor situations. We may compare the movement to an ongo- ing »conversation« between our body and the surrounding world. From this follows that the execution of a movement requires tactile contacts with natural elements (water, snow, grass) and objects (ball, stick). Our gliding, jumping, running, and swimming motions originate in, and lead to, this active mode of sensory communication, touching. In touching, we both experience and anticipate a specific tactile quality (smooth, rough, hard, soft). Melchior Palagyi (1907) and Arnold Gehlen (1995) have empha- sized that tactile images constitute just as important a part of our movements as do the actual tactile impressions. For example, as we j u m p over a broad ditch or turn while skiing at high speed, our legs, as it were, »imagine«, »project« tactile sensations that should correspond to our movements. But the tactile image of landing on the ground is the outcome of the movement that we execute in imagination. Whenever we envisage a dive into the water, our take off involves an imagined movement followed by an imag- ined sensation. Our body imagines movements to the same extent as it an- ticipates sensations, though we are seldom aware of these projections. 186 The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement The motor form, whose main characteristic is the exploratory variation and continuous introduction of novelty, arises f rom a successful expression of feelings and a receptive relationship to the surrounding world. This re- lationship acquires its importance if we recognize, on the one hand , that a great variety of imagined movements and sensations are evoked by a free and relaxed encounter with objects and, on the other hand, that anticipated qualities and forms determine, just as much, the characteristics of a move- ment as do actual sensory experiences. Movements, in short, are not only upshots of specific intentions, but also responses arising f rom the formative powers and expressive energies of the body. Ill I have tried to draw attention, though rather briefly, to some of our somatic capabilities that produce expressive and »autotelic« movement com- positions. The significance of these movement experiences have already been emphasized by important studies in recent years. To these learned analyses, I would like to add here one remark. Several contemporary thinkers forcefully argue that our relationship to the surrounding world has been radically transformed: we no longer have significant experiences and relate to concrete and tangible realities with a growing sense of alienation. Albert Borgmann (1984) has shown that the widespread tendency to specialization, and the increasing use of technologi- cal devices, has progressively eliminated the need and possibility of active and sensitive engagement with our total environment. The »extended net- work of hyperintelligence« and the »paradigm of technological device« has lead to a degene ra t ion of our bodily capabilities. D i sembod imen t , as Borgmann asserts, is the gradual atrophy of bodily powers and skills, inten- sified by a disconnected and disburdened sort of life. No recovery of our fully functioning body can occur without some ini- tiatives. 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