During a competitive boxing match I had the sense of existing immaterially, rather than physically. Boxing often causes a disassociation from the body because one cannot identify with the sensation of pain and continue to box effectively (in other words, one is forced to perceive the pain as just happening, rather than happening to one’s self).   Hell’s Kitchen employs intense physical exertion in an effort to help participants transcend their physical existence.  Each participant takes a turn in the center, exhausting themselves by throwing punches while being simultaneously pushed off balance by the group.

In the post-performance interviews, participants describe the experience of a one-pointedness of focus, forgetting themselves in the action of the moment.  These expressions tend to be quite vague; human experience can be ineffable, with tremendous complexity arising as we try to describe a state of consciousness.  The conclusion of the performance then is indeterminate, but is it any wonder that a basically intangible goal would lead to an uncertain outcome?