Lisa & Luuk, Kreta, 7 May 2015 (picture taken by Benjamin Scheers)
Lisa, WG/Amsterdam, 9 September 2018
Jumping, suspended in mid-air, and the subsequent descent into falling—these are not merely physical actions but metaphors for being alive, embodying themes such as existential uncertainty. In contemplating these movements on the vertical plane, one is drawn into a philosophical exploration of human existence, touching upon questions of agency, temporality, and the very nature of being.
In the liminal space between jumping and falling, one finds themselves suspended in mid-air—a state of existential ambiguity where the boundaries between ascent and descent blur, and time seems to stand still. It is a moment pregnant with possibility, where the past recedes and the future looms uncertainly on the horizon. In this suspended state, one confronts the existential paradox of human existence—the tension between freedom and fate, agency and contingency, autonomy and vulnerability.
In exploring the philosophical dimensions of jumping and falling, particularly through the lenses of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Brian Massumi, and Erin Manning, we delve into the rich tapestry of ambiguity, transformation, actuality, and virtuals inherent in these movements on the vertical plane.
Drawing from Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the rhizome, I perceive jumping and falling not as discrete events but as interconnected nodes in a web of dynamic processes. Jumping represents a rupture in the established order, a deterritorialization that opens up new lines of flight and potentialities. In this moment of departure, one transcends the actual and ventures into the realm of the virtual—a space of infinite possibilities and becoming.
As one leaps into the void, they enter into a state of indeterminacy—a liminal space between actuality and virtuality, where the boundaries between self and world blur. Brian Massumi's notion of affect becomes relevant here, as the sensation of suspension—of being in mid-air—exemplifies the intensity of embodied experience. In this state of ambiguity, one is acutely attuned to the subtle nuances of their environment, their senses heightened by the immediacy of the moment.
Yet, this state of suspension is ephemeral, giving way to the unavoidable descent into falling. Erin Manning's concept of preacceleration comes into play here, as the body anticipates the impending impact and braces itself for the inevitable collision with the ground. Falling represents a reterritorialization—a return to the realm of the actual, where the virtual potentialities of the jump are concretized into lived experience.
However, falling is not merely a descent into entropy but a transformative process in its own right. Massumi's notion of the body as an open system suggests that even in the midst of descent, new possibilities emerge. The impact of the fall becomes a catalyst for change, propelling the body into new trajectories and configurations. In this sense, falling becomes an act of creation—a moment of radical reorientation that opens up new lines of flight and potentialities for becoming.
