These themes were then used to critically analyse the J-Bay Open in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. The aim of this approach being the deeper understanding of the themes and how they link to both the research questions and theory of Spectacle. The approach is used to provide data and evidence in relation to the rationalisation and codification of professional surfing.
The next phase of research involved more embodied and real, as opposed to hyperreal, experiences of the WSL Spectacle. Hyperreality is a theory developed by Jean Baudrillard. It conceptualises an individual’s inability of their consciousness to distinguish reality from simulation. A blurring of the boundaries, if you will, between the real or the original and the fake. In technologically advanced societies, said Baudrillard, the real becomes hyperreal due
to rapid technological manipulation and distortion of the original. Explicit examples will be discussed in relation to the WSL in the discussion chapter.
This embodied approach was designed into the research strategy to gather data and observations exploring the mythologies of surfing Spectacle as represented by the WSL’s brand marketing and event production teams. By mythologies, I refer to the work of Roland Barthes (1957) who examined the tendency of social value systems to create modern myths, extending Saussure’s system of sign analysis where signs were elevated and constructed as myths. Examples of WSL mythology will be presented in the
discussion section.
To these ends, the next methods involve a micro-ethnography of the lived and embodied experience of a CT event in Southern California during the first season of the WSL. The examine myths and simulations in more detail, the researcher also undertook a surfboard making course in the UK to understand the toxic reality of creating surfing’s central sign, the surfboard, as opposed to the miniscule, whitewashed surfboards used by CT surfers as both weapons of war and promotional canvas to draw attention to sponsor names and associated logos.
2.6 The Lived & Embodied Experience: Praxis of a beach based Auto-ethnography The timeframe of the data collection was initially a concern for me. I was unsure as to whether or not one WSL event would be long enough to provide the data needed for this ethnography. However, supported by Wolcott’s (1999) Micro-ethnography research and Andrews et al (2001), view that a micro ethnography could be bookended between the start and finish of an event or an occasion and given the WSL event I attended and the access I had and people I met, I believed I would be able to immerse myself quickly in the event and collect valuable field notes, carry out key figure interviews, observe the social life of a professional beach-based surf event and be part of the surf line up at one of the world’s most contested and crowded waves.
In choosing the most appropriate event to attend I wanted to ensure I immersed myself in the main cultural, commercial and surfing event on the CT calendar in 2015. For just waves the best events are Fiji, Tahiti or Pipeline in Hawaii. However, access to Fiji and Tahiti is problematic for those not involved with the competition and it is expensive. Pipeline was the last event of the season, expensive to attend and its intense nature – both physical and political - might mean I would be unable to gain a broad picture of the new surfing world as defined by the WSL.
The only event on the CT tour combining all the elements I wanted to observe and interact with, and fitted my research schedule and timeframe, was the Hurley/Swatch Pro at Trestles Beach near San Clemente, California, Mid-September 2015. This was in the ‘backyard’ of the US surf industry, near to the new global headquarters of the WSL and where many of the sport’s commercial actors meet to catch up and conduct business. Even talking to locals during my surf sessions at my home breaks in South Wales and asking them where would be the best event to attend, most said Trestles. “They will be surfing right in front of you and you can also surf next to the pros in the line-up.”
I attended the WSL CT Hurley (men’s) and Swatch (women’s) Pro at Trestles Beach, California, which ran between Sept 9-20th, 2015 to carry out an event written, visual and sensory ethnography as participant observer. The rich data collected allowed me to compare and contrast the WSL production, audience consumption and participant performance and field of the live event. It was a startling contrast to the distant and packaged version of CT events as viewed via the WSL app:
“Every field situation is different and initial luck in meeting good informants, being in the right place at the right time and striking the right note in relationships may be just as important as skill in technique. Indeed, many successful episodes in the field do come about through good luck as much as through sophisticated planning.” (Sarsby, J. in Bryman, A. 2008, p.401).
The professional surfing events are unique in that they are usually situated in hard to get to places, of outstanding natural and sensual beauty. At such events, the combination of surf, sun, sand, sea, music, art and parties, coupled with the display of bodies in board shorts and bikinis, provides a unique field of negotiation. It can be an intimidating arena to the
uninitiated and you need experience to negotiate the landscape.
Indeed, perhaps I relied too much on my comfort in and experience with surfers to negotiate access to the space beneath the commodified surface, as I had no real strategy in attending the event and only a clear idea and confidence that I could ‘capture’ the reality of it. I was naïve. While access to the site was relatively easy as it was free to enter and the contest site could be seen from the main coastal highway, San Clemente was a good hour drive from San Diego where I was based and so needed a hire car and satellite navigation to get to the event. It was only a chance meeting on my hotel arrival that I mentioned I was here for the surf contest that a porter who was a local surfer came to have a talk and gave me valuable information on the time I needed to arrive at the event site (at the break of dawn) and how much it would cost to park ($30). Without this information, I would have been a little lost or stuck in a long traffic queue of fans waiting to park up and attend the event. Getting used to
driving on six lane highways on ‘the other side of the road’ was also a baptism of fire. But it all added to the immersion in the experience.
Another issue was accreditation. You needed accreditation to access different parts of the event site. Without accreditation, you could not move freely around the venue and you could only see what the public saw. I wanted to see behind the scenes, beneath the commodified surface. I had contacted the WSL well in advance of the event to outline my research and inform them that I was going to conduct an ethnographic study of the Trestles event and requested time with the Director of Communications to get a sense of the media production behind the process. While I didn’t get any response before I attended the event and was a little concerned about access, I introduced myself to Dave Prodan, the Head of
Communications at the WSL at the event site and explained my research. He was helpful and outlined a few points of change in the privatisation model and agreed to be interviewed as part of the study. He did not highlight any potential issues or concerns in regard to the carrying out of observations at the event site. We have had follow up mails since my return to the UK.
Other examples of being in the right place and the right time were in contacting Ian Cairns via a direct message (DM) on Twitter. We followed each other and I dropped him a note informing him I would be at the event and requesting an interview. He was interested in my research focus, had taken part in the live broadcast of the WSL event and was a complete
‘insider’ and gatekeeper to me. I do not know why it worked this way. He is pro surfing
‘royalty’ and has a reputation as a fearsome and uncompromising character and expert administrator, yet there we were in the Zebra House coffee shop in San Clemente drinking iced lattes and talking for two hours, non-stop, about professional surfing, its history, characters and potential future. He was so generous with his time and knowledge. At the coffee shop, he also introduced me to the WSL Commissioner, Kieron Perrow and another former professional surfer who works for Nike. Ian also provided me with a guest credentials wristband, which allowed me to access most areas of the event site, except the VIP and competitor sections. This access was invaluable in allowing me a deeper insight into a world I thought I knew a great deal about but was to discover it had changed dramatically in the era of packaged professional surfing:
“Hanging around is another common access strategy. As a strategy, it typically entails either loitering in an area until you get noticed or gradually becoming incorporated into…a group.” (Bryman, A, 2008, p. 407).
So, while I was naïve about the practical implications of access, my ‘luck’ of being in the right place at the right time and making the right connections and being confident enough to introduce myself to key stakeholders in the research and explain my research in an overt, open, honest and humble way, enabled me to reap the great reward of getting under ‘the commodified surface’ of professional surfing.