Video Installation
Double HD video screens | 16:9 | 9 minutes

The phenomenon of the zone or flow refers to a state of athletic peak performance, likened to a transcendent, ecstatic condition of effortless yet focussed and optimal functioning. Qualitative data represents in-depth textual and visual information gathered from individuals to facilitate understanding of experience and process. In this project we focus on the interaction between mental processes and physical performance and map it onto a series of filmed journeys through various athletic landscapes - sports apparatus, running tracks, water-courses and other spaces. The relationship between the athletes’ testimony and the architectural void in which they perform, triggers a construct that allows us to explore the poetics of athletic experience.  

Victoria Tischler is a chartered psychologist in the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Nottingham. Her research interests lie in exploring the relationship between mental states and creative processes and the use of the arts and humanities to enhance mental health and wellbeing. She is arts co-ordinator for the Institute of Mental Health, editor of the BPS Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin, on the editorial board for the Journal of Applied Arts and Health and editor of Mental Health, Psychiatry and the Arts. A teaching handbook. Oxford: Radcliffe (2010).

This project is supported by the British Psychological Society Qualitative Methods in Psychology section.

The Zone is voiced by Mia Austen and Steven Edwards.