Rekspring en die eKstreme sublieme

Abstract

This article traces the relation between bungee jumping as eXtreme sport and the experience culture that we live in. It is argued that the sublime has been commodified to suit consumers' preferences and choices. The higher the bridge or drop the more enticing and challenging the jump. The sublime experience of bungee jumping has been reduced to a "drug" that can be induced whenever a quick fix of adrenaline is needed. The difference between the Kantian sublime and the sensational sublime, as figured in bungee jumping and other extreme sports, is also discussed. Some comparative notes are made between the Romantic sublime as figured in the landscapes of Friedrich and bungee jumping. Where the Romantic sublime still worked with a necessary distance between object and subject the contemporary extreme sublime attempts to momentously disrupt the distance and become one with the eventfulness of the sublime.