Sublime Kinetic Melody: Kelly Slater and the Extreme Spectator

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the awesome, almost spiritual feeling I experience as an ‘extreme spectator’ while watching Kelly Slater ride the monstrous waves of Pipeline. Drawing on the aesthetics of Kant and Schopenhauer, I examine the experience of the sublime and how it, in conjunction with the perceived kinetic melody of Slater's movements and his karmic connection to the environment in which he thrives, gives rise to the deeply felt awe of the extreme spectator. My intention is to use Slater's case as a paradigm that can be applied to many other athletic performances which share the characteristics discussed in the paper.