The Kinematic Subject

The Vehicular Experience of Speed and Automobility in Virtuality/Reality

When the acceleration of stimuli halts, such that the vehicle travels at a constant speed in a straight direction, the subject may become more aware of the irregularities of the linear trajectory. Such defects in ‘pure’ velocity include G-forces, for instance those transferred from bumps in the road, through the vehicle into the subject’s seat. Such examples include in-car cameras where the driver is visible, and being bumped around in their seat by the G-forces. This awareness of chaotic violence is opposite to the cinematic ideal of the steadicam. We may deduce from this that in the absence of ecstasy (constant stimuli), the driver becomes a temporary passenger. This apparent loss in the conscious concentration of control accordingly signifies that ecstasy requires, or more specifically, produces heavy concentration. If constant speed results in a driver-spectator, then a driver’s experience of flow must happen when control is constantly being adjusted; when there is constant ecstasy; when there is a constant change in stimuli frequency. Such experiences occur in the constant acceleration, turning and braking as featured in motor car racing.

Frampton also states that during an experience of ecstasy, the ‘consciousness seems to enter a separate temporal domain’ (in Baldwin , 2002: 130 ). Ecstasy then also results in a separation of space and time; of body and mind; of movement and thought. This altered state of mind thus distances thought from action, aiding towards a subject’s automated control of movement. In physiology, when perception cannot keep up with

the speed of a sequence of action, the subject’s motor commands (muscular movements) often operate at subconscious levels (Gandevia, 1996: 131). Similarly,

When all a person’s relevant skills are needed to cope with the challenges of a situation, that person’s attention is completely absorbed by the activity. There is no excess psychic energy left over to process any information by what the activity offers. All the attention is concentrated on the relevant stimuli. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990: 53)

Thus, the ecstatic alteration of the kinematic subject’s estate of mind results in the focussing of concentration on the activity at hand. When the speed of perception catches up to the speed of action (as when acceleration stops, replaced by a constant speed), external awareness increases. Thus, theoretically, the introduction of interactivity to media (the creation of ergodicart) would increase the concentration of audiences (now termed users).

This phenomenon is most commonly popularised in the media by ‘twitch’ games like Tetris, and commercialised in console games with button gamepads. What possesses anyone to perform a series of acts that exceed the speed of perception? - [For the answer to this question, continue reading here - games, flow experiences]