1.3.4 THE BODY AND THE DESIGN PROCESS
3.8 PARKOUR AND VIRTUAL SPACE
3.8 PARKOUR AND VIRTUAL SPACE
Although parkour’s reputation is largely accredited to its appearance in feature films such as Casino Royale (2006) and Banlieue 13 (2004), it has been a movement that has been largely reliant on the participation of amateurs. In a similar fashion to the video representations of skateboarding culture, parkour films produced by a nebulous and ever-‐ growing community have been instrumental in their viral distribution over the Internet, enabling practitioners to have a degree of autonomy over the parkour culture which is communicated. Parkour’s affinity with filmic representation also illustrates a fragmented and disorientating view of documenting urban spaces in a way that articulates experiential qualities. Although the political dimension of parkour may be far less apparent than that of the Situationists, its ability to accommodate the dynamics of mass media and popular culture may have the ability to have a much longer lasting and far-‐reaching effect. By relating to both the commercial world of mass media and the subversive acts of sub– cultural practitioners, the types of movement associated with parkour have demonstrated an ability to have a transformative effect on a global scale. One of the most significant characteristics in films produced on the subject by both professional filmmakers and amateurs alike is that they use the urban environment as a setting to blur social and political boundaries. Consequently, the culture that exists within the parkour community of filming expressive forms of movement around the cityscape serves as a record to capture a sense of place, both in terms of spatial and material qualities, and in terms of social dynamics. If we are to understand parkour films a visual-‐ethnography of the culture then it is important to consider them in relation to the work of anthropologists such as Jean Rouch, Colin Young and David MacDougall who argue that;
‘From being used simply as a passive means of recording visual data, the camera should be an active, catalysing element within the triangle of relationships between film-‐maker, protagonists, and audience, and should be used as such to generate meaningful events and interpretations.’ (Prosser 1998, p. 49)
The narrative found within these films often emphasises the overcoming of physical boundaries in parallel with the psychological and social ones, and in doing so portrays traceurs to an anonymous audience as protagonists over their surroundings. These amateur films are illustrated with visual iconography that connect to a range of influences, including
amongst other things sporting events, music videos, computer games and range of movie genres. By using film to portray the built environment in such a way, traceurs actively engage with the complexities of urban conditions and create connections between aspects of life that are conventionally regarded as being separate. This is due to parkour’s nature as being labelled neither a sport nor an art. Through traceurs appropriation of space for such purposes, parkour could be seen as an alternative form of not only using, but also branding urban space.27 By projecting an edited image of their engagement with places, it is evident that traceurs embrace film as a medium to construct a virtual identity that embodies its own exchange value. As a result, parkour films can be read as a means of engendering an audience that is not restricted by physical constraints, as they capitalise on the Internet as a place to broadcast themselves.
This text box is where the unabridged version of the thesis contained the following third party copyrighted material:
Image from YouTube, Choose not to fall [Uploaded 28,11,2011], [Online]. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRSOe-‐rDa9Y
Figure 5 – Image of the YouTube interface that has been instrumental in the development of parkour.
Similarly practitioners’ films can be seen as a method of visually representing an enhanced sense of place, which is constructed around spontaneous and fluid assemblages of bodily activity, which question the meaning and value of the physical terrain. Traceur’s self– awareness of the visual values of their physical accomplishments is evident in the amount of videos published on the video sharing website YouTube. When examining the viewing figures of videos uploaded on to YouTube, data is revealed that challenges an initial
27 The term brand is of considerable importance when examining the dialogue between traceurs and
assumption that the community, for the community, solely produces parkour videos. This reflects the outcome of parkour being viewed by a much wider audience than the traceur community.
Title View count Category
Parkour and FreeRunning 26,159,090 Sports
PARKOUR 13,733,135 Sports
Evolution– Le parkour 13,355,089 Entertainment
Damien Walters 2010 12,014,451 Sports
parkour 11,882,660 People & Blogs
South park YouTube episode 11,175,357 Comedy
David Guetta vs. The Egg – Love Don't Let Me Go 10,602,710 Music
Best of David Belle’s videos 7,900,702 Entertainment
EXtreme Parkour Team 2007 5,223,020 Sports
Parkour accident 5,067,108 Sports
UrbanFreeflow.com – Crazy Jump 100% – Parkour & Freerunning 4,762,397 Sports
Yamakasi 1 3,765,764 Sports
David Belle Speed Airman 3,574,963 Sports
Extreme PARKOUR Face Plant 3,384,977 People & Blogs
TEMPEST FREERUNNING ACADEMY – GYM VIDEO 3,180,562 Sports
TreT – PARKOUR DOG FROM UKRAINE 2,866,732 Pets & Animals
Killer Parkour 2,756,271 Comedy
Extreme Moves (Freerun and Parkour) 2,470,993 Entertainment
One of the most dangerous Parkour jumps 2,461,120 Sports
Parkour Generations: Visions 2,397,252 Sports
Indicates the video contains copied footage
Table 1 – Table describing the list of most viewed YouTube videos retrieved when searching ‘parkour’ in June 2011.
2007 3run