Aesthetics of the Invisible World

This photo encapsulates the brutal bout between Frank Mir (left) and Brock Lesnar (right) last night - the lack of tact and tactic on behalf of Lesnar, his lack of respect and discipline and the fundamental absence of all the things that make trained fighters admirable.  With all that said, the grotesque has a real beautiful honesty to it as Henry Miller would undoubtedly agree.  Lesnar was a pure destructive and negative force.  He lacked anything worth venerating.  I suppose that I like to see it because it is the yang to the ying.  When it’s so transparently embodied it viscerally demonstrates the laws of the universe that we reside in.

It takes a lot discipline for a fighter to get where Brock Lesnar is.  And yet something deep-seeded within his mind caused him to be so possessed by rage after the fight that he threw out all respect for the opponent (seen above), the organization he fights for and even himself .  After his victory he ran around like a salivating gorilla, yelled at the heated Las Vegas crowed and taunted his opponent.  Completely crazed.  It’s the worst of who we are.  In this case it was anger but it manifests everywhere.  It could be sexual desire.  It could be love.  It could manifest in something we’re trying to accomplish or when we evangelize a way of living.  Fundamentally, it closes you off from other experiences.  Lesnar was so consumed by the moment - an angry booing crowd and a rush of untamed adrenaline - that he lost track of all the parts of himself that brought him there.  You don’t become a NCAA Division-I wrestling champion without some level of discipline and sacrifice. 

Part of being happy is living without attachment or aversion.  It wasn’t the fight that caused Lesnar’s antics.  There are plenty of other fighters who could go through the same situation and come out calm and collected.  It was the milieu of words, taunts and question marks surrounding someone who is obsessed by his pride.  His own idea of self.  The sad thing for a person like Brock Lesnar is that he identifies himself as someone who is big and strong.  However, he will not always be.  If he lives long enough he will someday grow old and weak.  And then who is he?  Someone who was and not someone who is.

Fighting is like a complex pattern that comes from a simple recursive formula.  It’s very easy to have an understanding of what’s going on but it’s incredibly difficult to master.  In general, I like things like this.  A simple, accessible surface but as your understanding increases so does your appreciation.  As your appreciation increases, you are rewarded by uncovering the complex foundations that lie underneath.  I always felt that a good piece of art rewards the repeated viewer but is also accessible to one-time engagement.    Sports and some games are particularly good at this.  Simple on the surface but the inner-workings of the competition are so elaborate that it takes a lifetime of dedication to be a virtuoso. 

The image above is more than just a heinous barbarism.  It’s a narrative.  It’s a story with an unhappy ending.  Not for the person with the horrific face but for the one pointing at him on the right.  At first glance the picture is hard not to react to.  It’s hard not to have an opinion on.  It is immediately polarizing.  Beneath the surface is a sad story.  That’s why the fighting organization, UFC, is doing such remarkable business.  The story.  Lesnar doesn’t understand that people are paying to see his hubris play out - not to see him fight.

[Photo from Foxsports.com]