ABSTRACT
Introduction: stalking the zones The Stalker is a character played by Aleksandr Kaidanovksy in the 1979 film Stalker directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. The stalker does not spy on others, but smuggles people seeking inspiration (a scientist and a writer) into and out of a zone, in which the normal laws of reality appear not to apply. The nature of the zone remains disturbing and mysterious throughout. Was it created by an industrial disaster, an alien crash landing, a military experiment or some other event?1 We are told that at the centre of the zone is a room and that those who set foot in it will be granted their real wishes. Ultimately, the characters cannot bring themselves to enter, leaving one wondering why: What were their real desires? What is the zone? There are several resonances between Tarkovsky’s zone and the topic of this book: ‘being in the zone’ (bitz). Since it has become part of everyday slang, we can begin with its definition in the online Urban Dictionary as
a state of consciousness where actual skills match the perceived performance requirements perfectly. Bitz implies increased focus and attention which allow for higher levels of performance. Athletes, musicians, and anybody that totally owns a challenge of physical and mental performance can be in the zone.
