Journal articles on the topic 'Towed foils'

Abstract Efficiently profiling the water column to achieve both high vertical and horizontal resolution from a moving vessel in deep water is difficult. Current solutions, such as CTD tow-yos, moving vessel profilers, and undulating tow bodies, are limited by ship speed or water depth. As a consequence, it is difficult to obtain oceanographic sections with sufficient resolution to identify many relevant scales over the deeper sections of the water column. This paper presents a new concept for a profiling vehicle that slides up and down a towed wire in a controlled manner using the lift created by wing foils. The wings provide a novel low-power method of propulsion along the cable by using the free stream velocity of the wire moving through the water in similar fashion to a sailboat sailing up wind. Scale model tests show a wide range of achievable profiling glide slopes for tow cable angles between vertical and 45°, and effective isolation of cable strum vibration from the towed vehicle body. The concept is not depth limited and will offer two-dimensional resolution that meets or exceeds current undulating tow bodies over the full water column. Additionally, this system could be used simultaneously with many other deep towed instrument packages to produce complementary datasets.

In this study, particle image velocimetry was applied to measure the flow field around the bow region of a trimaran with different appendages. The dimensionless axial velocity u/U in test planes 1 and 2 of the testing model was measured by using a towed underwater stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) system. Based on the measured flow field data, the local sinkage values in test planes 1 and 2 of the testing model with different appendages at speeds of 1.766 and 2.943 m/s were presented. In addition, the effects of speed, bulbous bow type, T foils, and bow wave on the axial velocity u/U were studied in detail. The acquired experimental data help in understanding the distribution of the flow field around the ship bow, and the data can also act as a reference to verify computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results.

The flow mechanisms of shape-changing moving bodies are investigated through the simple model of a foil that is rapidly retracted over a spanwise distance as it is towed at constant angle of attack. It is shown experimentally and through simulation that by altering the shape of the tip of the retracting foil, different shape-changing conditions may be reproduced, corresponding to: (i) a vanishing body, (ii) a deflating body and (iii) a melting body. A sharp-edge, ‘vanishing-like’ foil manifests strong energy release to the fluid; however, it is accompanied by an additional release of energy, resulting in the formation of a strong ring vortex at the sharp tip edges of the foil during the retracting motion. This additional energy release introduces complex and quickly evolving vortex structures. By contrast, a streamlined, ‘shrinking-like’ foil avoids generating the ring vortex, leaving a structurally simpler wake. The ‘shrinking’ foil also recovers a large part of the initial energy from the fluid, resulting in much weaker wake structures. Finally, a sharp edged but hollow, ‘melting-like’ foil provides an energetic wake while avoiding the generation of a vortex ring. As a result, a melting-like body forms a simple and highly energetic and stable wake, that entrains all of the original added mass fluid energy. The three conditions studied correspond to different modes of flow control employed by aquatic animals and birds, and encountered in disappearing bodies, such as rising bubbles undergoing phase change to fluid.

Dynamic Velocity Prediction Programs are taking an increasingly prominent role in high performance yacht design, as they allow to deal with seakeeping abilities and stability issues. Their validation is however often neglected for lack of time and data. This paper presents an experimental campaign carried out in the towing tank of the Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France, to validate the hull modeling in use in a previously presented Dynamic Velocity Prediction Program. Even though with foils, hulls are less frequently immersed, a reliable hull modeling is necessary to properly simulate the critical transient phases such as touchdowns and takeoffs. The model is a multihull float with a waterline length of 2.5 m. Measurements were made in head waves in both captive and semi-captive conditions (free to heave and pitch), with the model towed at constant yaw and speed. To get as close as possible to real sailing conditions, experiments were made at both zero and non-zero leeway angles, sweeping a wide range of speed values, with Froude numbers up to 1.2. Both linear and nonlinear wave conditions were studied in order to test the limits of the modeling approach, with wave steepness reaching up to 7% in captive conditions and 3.5% in semi-captive ones. The paper presents the design and methodology of the experiments, as well as comparisons of measured loads and motions with simulations. Loads are shown to be consistent, with a good representation of the sustained non-linearities. Pitch and heave motions depict an encouraging correlation which confirms that the modeling approach is valid.

AbstractIf a moving body were made to vanish within a fluid, its boundary-layer vorticity would be released into the fluid at all locations simultaneously, a phenomenon we call global vorticity shedding. We approximate this process by studying the related problem of rapid vorticity transfer from the boundary layer of a body undergoing a quick change of cross-sectional and surface area. A surface-piercing foil is first towed through water at constant speed, $U$, and constant angle of attack, then rapidly pulled out of the fluid in the spanwise direction. Viewed within a fixed plane perpendicular to the span, the cross-sectional area of the foil seemingly disappears. The rapid spanwise motion results in the nearly instantaneous shedding of the boundary layer into the surrounding fluid. Particle image velocimetry measurements show that the shed layers quickly transition from free shear layers to form two strong, unequal-strength vortices, formed within non-dimensional time ${t}^{\ensuremath{\ast} } = 0. 03$, based on the foil chord and forward velocity. These vortices are connected to, and interact with, the foil’s tip vortex through additional streamwise vorticity formed during the rapid pulling of the foil. Numerical simulations show that two strong spanwise vortices form from the shed vorticity of the boundary layer. The three-dimensional effects of the foil removal process are restricted to the tip of the foil. This method of vorticity transfer may be used for quickly introducing circulation to a fluid to provide forcing for biologically inspired flow control.

On the surface of the Earth, methan is usually located in undermined areas, especially in places where the mining was stopped already. The protection of buildings from methan coming out of bedrock can be provided by layer isolation made of suitable type of polymer foil. The entry deals with the matter of designing the isolation against penetrating methan coming out of bedrock into surface line buildings (e.g. shaft, reservoir, water tower etc.).

As the operational speeds of surface ships and submarines increase, so does the probability that unwanted vibrations caused by the hydroelastic instability (flutter) of the special class of hydrofoils called control surfaces. These include rudders and diving planes. By nature, these are thick symmetric hydrofoils having low aspect ratios. The 3-D tip effects become more pronounced as the aspect ratio decreases. In the present study, the added-mass and circulation terms of the 2-D flutter equations are modified to include three-dimensional effects. The modifications are performed by introducing quasi-steady coefficients to each term. The results predicted by the modified equations are found to compare well with experimental results on a towed rectangular foil having an aspect ratio of one.

In this paper, a method for the determination of the efficiency and limitations of the evaporative cooling process is presented. Ceramic is employed as a packing material in the evaporative equipment. It is shown that the experimental efficiency of the ceramic packing is 10-20% higher as compared to packings made of aluminum foil and multichannel polycarbonate plates because of the absence of common liquid film on the packing surface, and due to the absolute wettability of the ceramic packing. Heat and mass transfer equipment for desiccant-evaporative cooling systems (direct and indirect evaporative coolers, cooling tower) utilizing ceramic structures has been developed.

In this study, simulations and experiments were conducted on reducing the heave and pitch motions of a catamaran. To serve as stability appendages, an actively controlled T-foil and flap were designed, including their dimensions and installation position on the catamaran. Based on the uncoupled analysis of the appendages, the following control strategies were adopted: the previously proposed resultant force and moment distribution with feedback by displacement (RFMD-D) and the newly developed resultant force and moment distribution with feedback by velocity (RFMD-V). These two control strategies were applied to an S-plane controller, and their performances were tested in simulations and experiments. Finally, a bare catamaran and catamaran with actively controlled appendages were towed in a towing tank, and the two control strategies were tested. The results showed that both control strategies are effective and that RFMD-V is more effective than RFMD-D.

In this paper, we propose a novel logic-rule learning approach for the Tower of Knowledge (ToK) architecture, based on Markov logic networks, for scene interpretation. This approach is in the spirit of the recently proposed Markov logic networks for machine learning. Its purpose is to learn the soft-constraint logic rules for labeling the components of a scene. In our approach, FOIL (First Order Inductive Learner) is applied to learn the logic rules for MLN and then gradient ascent search is utilized to compute weights attached to each rule for softening the rules. This approach also benefits from the architecture of ToK, in reasoning whether a component in a scene has the right characteristics in order to fulfil the functions a label implies, from the logic point of view. One significant advantage of the proposed approach, rather than the previous versions of ToK, is its automatic logic learning capability such that the manual insertion of logic rules is not necessary. Experiments of labeling the identified components in buildings, for building scene interpretation, illustrate the promise of this approach.

The assessment of hydrogen release, distribution, and mitigation measures in the containment of a nuclear power plant is increasingly based on code calculations. These calculations require state-of-the-art experiments to benchmark the codes against them. Two of these experiments are presented in this paper. These experiments were conducted in the PANDA facility (Switzerland) in the framework of the OECD/NEA HYMERES project. The experiments consider natural circulation flow in a two-room type containment where flow loops can form between the inner and the outer zones. During normal operation these zones are separated and in the case of an accident they become either connected by the opening of rupture disks, convective foils, and dampers or connected by bursting of doors and opening of other connections between compartments. For the experiments considered here one lower PANDA-vessel represents the steam generator (SG) tower and the inaccessible area whereas the other vessel represents the outer room area. The lower vessels are isolated from one another except for a small aperture that represents the damper. The two upper vessels—representing the containment dome—are connected to the lower vessels through tubes. The scenario consisted of four phases. In phase 1, a high steam mass flow rate was injected in the vessel representing the SG tower. After the relaxation phase 2, helium (representing hydrogen) was injected in the same vessel (phase 3). Finally in phase 4 no active interventions were done until the end of the test. Two tests were conducted to evaluate the developing helium transport by the natural circulation flow: one with and one without damper (by closing the aperture). The results showed that a two-room containment (TRC) mixing scenario can be well represented with the PANDA facility. It is found that, with the mixing damper open, a global natural circulation loop develops over all four vessels, whereas with closed damper the natural circulation loop is established only between the three vessels representing the inner zone and the upper dome. It is shown that the presence of the damper has a strong effect on the resulting helium content in the inner zone with 3 times less helium at the end of the test compared with the configuration without damper. The formation of a stable helium stratification in the upper vessels was observed in the presence of the open damper.

Self-propelled flapping foils with distinct locomotion-enabling kinematic restraints exhibit a remarkably similar Strouhal number ( $St$ )-Reynolds number ( $Re$ ) dependence. This similarity has been hypothesized to pervade diverse forms of oscillatory self-propulsion and undulatory biolocomotion; however, its genesis and implications on the energetic cost of locomotion remain elusive. Here, using high-resolution simulations of translationally free and restrained foils that self-propel as they are pitched, we demonstrate that a generality in the $St$ - $Re$ relationship can emerge despite significant disparities in thrust generation mechanics and locomotory performance. Specifically, owing to a recoil reaction induced passive heave, the fluid's inertial response to the prescribed rotational pitch, the principal source of thrust in unidirectionally free and towed configurations, ceases to produce thrust in a bidirectionally free configuration. Rather, the thrust generated from the leading edge suction mechanics self-propels a bidirectionally free pitching foil. Owing to the foregoing distinction in the thrust generation mechanics, the $St$ - $Re$ relationships for the bidirectionally and unidirectionally free/towed foils are dissimilar and pitching amplitude dependent, but specifically for large reduced frequencies, converge to a previously reported unified power law. Importantly, to propel at a given mean forward speed, the bidirectionally free foil must counteract the out-of-phase passive heave through a more intense rotational pitch, resulting in an appreciably higher power consumption over the range $10 \leq Re \leq 10^3$ . We highlight the critical role of thrust in introducing an offset in the $St$ - $Re$ relation, and through its amplification, being ultimately responsible for the considerable disparity in the locomotory performance of differentially constrained foils.

AbstractIn times of collective concern about pandemics, body-shield resuscitation barrier devices are more and more considered to protect against transmission of different pathogens between rescuers and patients. The objective of this experimental study was to investigate the characteristics of blood drops dispersed on the surface of four different foils suitable for blanketing patients during resuscitation. We analyzed run-off characteristics of blood stains depending on surface properties of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate and aluminum-coated polyethylene terephthalate. Confocal fluorescence microscopy revealed less cellular density and lack of fibrin networks in blood stains on the four foil surfaces than on paper towel. Delayed clotting went along with larger areas of contamination indicating a greater likelihood of coming into contact with potential germs but a smaller chance of contracting an infection. Space blankets as obligatory components of first aid kits are readily available for rescuers and serve as a mechanical barrier between rescuers and patients during resuscitation.

Infected SARS-CoV-2 virus occurs not only through contact with an infected person, but also through surfaces with wich the illnes has contacted. The problem of preserving an infectious virus over time capable of infecting remains actual. We evaluated the SARS-CoV-2 viability preservation on different model surfaces over time. Ceramic tiles, metal (aluminum foil), wood (chipboard), plastic and cloth (towel) were used as model materials. Assessment of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was carried out by quantitative RT-PCR. Viable virus was determined by tissue culture assay on 293T/ACE2 cells. It was found that the SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected on all studied surfaces for 360 minutes, but a significant decrease RNA by 1 log10 copies/ml was detected after contact of the virus with cloth (towel). While the viability of the virus was completely lost after 120 minutes. Type of experimental surface significantly affects viability preservation.

SummaryTuberculosis is among the leading causes of death from infectious diseases and affects many organ systems, including the skeleton. Skeletal tuberculosis is an extrapulmonary stage of tuberculosis, which occurs after the early and post-primary pulmonary stages of the disease. The aim of our study was to assess the microarchitecture of historic dry bone samples of subjects who have died of tuberculosis documented by post-mortem examinations. These preparations date to the pre-antibiotic era, and were provided by the Pathological-Anatomical Collection in the “Fools Tower” of the Natural History Museum Vienna (PASiN-NHM).We investigated macerated samples of 20 vertebral bodies, 19 femoral heads, and 20 tibiae of a total of 59 individuals diagnosed with tuberculosis from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. 10 femora and 10 tibiae from body donors that did not exhibit signs of infection and 10 (unaffected) vertebrae kept at the PASiN-NHM were studied as controls. The affected regions of the bone samples (and the corresponding regions of the control bones) were analyzed by microcomputed tomography using a Viscom X 8060 II system. Obtained images were analyzed semi-quantitatively. In samples with tuberculosis, independent of the investigated skeletal region, trabecular defects and decreased trabecular thickness were observed. Cortical porosity was seen in affected vertebrae and tibia; in tuberculous tibiae (but not in the femora) cortical thickness was decreased. In half of the individuals, cortical sclerosis was present; signs of ankylosis were observed mainly at the femoral heads affected with tuberculosis. We conclude that a combination of several alterations at the trabecular compartment could be suggestive of the presence of tuberculosis in historic skeletal remains.

The release of the film Fight Club (Dir. David Fincher, 1999) was met with an outpouring of contradictory reviews. From David Ansen’s [Newsweek] claim that “Fight Club is the most incendiary movie to come out of Hollywood in a long time” (Fight Club DVD insert) to LA Times’s Kenneth Turan who proclaimed Fight Club to be “…a witless mishmash of whiny, infantile philosophising and bone-crushing violence that actually thinks it’s saying something of significance” (Fight Club DVD insert), everyone, it seemed, needed to weigh in with their views. Whether you think the film is a piece of witless and excessive trash, or believe, as Fight Club novelist Chuck Palahniuk hopes “it would offer more people the idea that they could create their own lives outside the existing blueprint for happiness offered by society,” this is a film that people react strongly to (Fight Club DVD insert). Whether or not the film is successful in the new ‘blueprint’ area is debatable and one focus of this essay. It isn’t difficult to spot the focus of the film Fight Club. The title and the graphic, edgy trailers for the film leave no doubt in the viewer’s mind that this film is about fighting. But fighting what and why are the questions that unveil the deeper edge to the film, an edge that skirts the abyss of deep psychological schism: man’s alienation from man, society and self, and the position of the late twentieth century male whose gendered potentialities have become muted thanks to corporate cookie-cutter culture and the loss of a ‘hunter-gatherer’ role for men. In a nutshell, the film explores the psychic rift of the main character, unnamed for the film, but conventionally referred to as “Jack” (played by Ed Norton). Jack leads a life many late twentieth century males can identify with, a life without real grounding, focus or passion. It is the kind of life that has become a by-product of the “me” generation and corporate/consumer culture. Aside from Jack’s inability to find real satisfaction in his love life, friendships, job, or sense of self, he also suffers from an identity disorder. While there are few people who are unaware of the mind-numbing (and in some cases, audience-alienating) “twist” offered near the end of the film, it bears repeating that the compelling character of Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt) who shapes and influences the changes in Jack’s life is actually revealed near the end of the film as a manifestation of Jack’s alter ego. Jack and Tyler are the same person. The two conspire to start ‘Fight Club’, where men hit other men. Hard. The Club becomes an underground sensation, expanding to other communities and cities and eventually spawns the offshoot Project Mayhem whose goal it is to ultimately erase individual debt so everyone (all consumers) can start at zero. In order to manage this affair, several large buildings are slated for destruction by the Mayhem team. Of course no people will be in the buildings at the time, but all the records will be destroyed. This is the core of the film, but there are several other interesting sidelights that will become important to this discussion, including the lone female character Marla who becomes the love interest of Jack/Tyler, and the friend Bob, whom Jack meets during his insomniac foray into the seedy underworld of the self help meeting. The film itself seems to cry out for a psychoanalytic reading. Its thinly veiled references to Freudian concepts and subliminal tricks aside, it also makes the inner world of the protagonist its landscape and backdrop. In a film dominated by a psychological and psychical problem, psychoanalysis seems an excellent tool for delving more deeply into the symbols and attitudes of the piece. I have chosen both Kleinian object relations and Julia Kristeva’s understanding of abjection to help illuminate some issues in the film. Object relations helps to make clear both the divergence of personality and the emergence of a ‘repaired’ protagonist at the end of the film as Jack first creates and then destroys his alter ego. Kristeva initially explored abjection theory via literature in Powers of Horror (1982), but Barbara Creed’s Monstrous Feminine: Film, Feminism and Psychoanalysis (1993) opened wide the door for applications of the theory to film studies. Creed uses abjection to explore issues of gender in the horror film, focusing on the role and depiction of women as abject. Here, I have adapted some of her ideas and intend to explore the role of abjection in the male identification process. In this film fighting operates as both reality and metaphor, on both the physical and psychical levels, encompassing the internal and external fight within the mind and body of the protagonist. Jack’s main problem is a lack of concrete identity and self-realization. Numbed by his willing and eager participation in consumer culture and his tacit compliance with the gritty underworld of his job as an automotive ‘recall coordinator’, his life’s work is estimating the cost effectiveness of saving lives by calculating the cost of death. In Jack’s world, meaning is derived solely through the external—external products he consumes and collects. Jack’s consumer-based emasculation is expressed when he states, “Like so many others I had become a slave to the Ikea nesting instinct.” In this sentence he clarifies his disempowerment and feminisation in one swoop. Having few, if any, relationships with human beings, meaningful or otherwise, Jack never reaches a level of social maturity. His only solace comes from visiting anonymous help groups for the terminally ill. Although Jack is physically fine (aside from his insomnia) a part of him is clearly dying, as his sense of who he is in a postmodern culture is hopelessly mediated by advertisements that tell him what to be. In the absence of a father, Jack appears to have had no real role models. Made ‘soft’ by his mother, Jack exhibits a not so subtle misogyny that is illustrated through his relationship with fellow ‘tourist’ in the self-help circles, Marla Singer. Jack’s identity issues unfold via various conflicts, each of which is enmeshed in the club he starts that revolves around the physical pain of hand-to-hand, man-on-man combat. Jack’s conflicts with himself, others and society at large are all compressed within the theme and practice of fighting and the fight clubs he institutes. Fighting for Jack (and the others who join) seems the answer to life’s immediate problems. This essay looks deeply into Jack’s identity conflict, viewing it as a moment of psychic crisis in which Jack creates an alternate personality deeply steeped in and connected to the ‘abject’ in almost every way. Thus, Jack forces himself to confront the abject in himself and the world around him, dealing with abjection on several levels all with a view to expelling it to restore the ‘clean and proper’ boundaries necessary in the ‘whole’ self. Viewed though the lens of psychoanalysis, particularly Klein’s work on object relations and Kristeva’s work with abjection, allows a reading in which the film expresses the need for and accomplishment of a self-activated encounter with the abject in order to redraw ‘clean and proper’ boundaries of self. This film’s tag lines, ‘Mischief, Mayhem and Soap’—illustrate both the presence (Mischief, Mayhem) and function (Soap) of the abject—the interaction with the abject will lead to a ‘clean’ subject—a proper subject, a restored subject. Before continuing, a brief discussion of abjection and object relations and the ways in which they are utilized in this essay is essential here. One of Klein’s major propositions is that “the neonate brings into the world two main conflicting impulses: love and hate” (Mitchell 19). Each of these conflicting impulses must be dealt with, usually by either “bringing them together in order to modify the death drive along with the life drive or expelling the death drive into the outside world” (19). Along with this conflict arises the conflict of a primary relationship with the mother, which is seen as both satisfying and frustrating, and then later complicated with the addition of the father. The main conflicting love/hate binary is reflective of a number of ‘sets’ of dualities that surface when looking into the mother/child relationship. Besides love and hate, there is the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ mother, the mother as symbolic of both life and death, the symbolic (paternal) and semiotic (maternal), total oneness and total autonomy. The curious ‘split’ nature of the infant’s perception of the maternal figure recalls a kind of doppelganger, a doubling of the maternal (in positive and negative incarnations), that can be seen as abject. In the film, this informs the relationship between both Jack and Marla and Jack and Tyler, as I argue Tyler and Marla serve as parental substitutes at one part in the film. This is clarified in Jack’s statements about his relationship with the two of them: “My parents pulled this exact same act for years” and “I am six years old again, passing messages between parents.” This imaginary relationship allows Jack to re-experience some of his early identification processes, while effectively trading out the gender responsibilities to the point where Tyler symbolically takes the place of the ‘mother’ and Marla the place of the ‘father’. The result of this action is an excess of male gendered experiences in which Jack in crisis (emasculated) is surrounded by phalluses. Kristeva’s work with abjection is also important here. I am especially interested in her understanding of the mother/child relationship as connected with abjection, particularly the threat the mother represents to the child as wanting to return to a state of oneness. The abject functions in Fight Club as a means for the protagonist to re-configure his own autonomy. For Kristeva, the abject is that which is cast out in order that “I” may exist. It exists at the borders of the self and continually draws the subject into it. As the subject revolts and pulls away, its resistance cues the process of defining itself as separate, proper and autonomous. When the narrative of Jack’s life refuses to make sense to him, and his experiences seem like “a copy of a copy of a copy,” Jack turns inward for help. Kristeva says that the abject is “experienced at the peak of its strength when that subject, weary of fruitless attempts to identify with something on the outside, finds the impossible within” (5). Thus Jack ‘finds’ Tyler. The abject, [represented by Bob, Tyler and Marla in the film] is that which disturbs “identity, system, order. What does not respect borders, positions, rules” (Kristeva 4). As the abject is that which blurs boundaries borders and classification, the film itself is steeped in abject images and ideas. The discrete categories of inside/outside, asleep/awake, male/female, and self/other are continually troubled throughout the narrative. The two most confused binaries are male/female and self/other. As the film is about Jack’s own experience of emasculation it is not until the male/female gender issues are resolved that his self/other issues can be resolved. Through the re-ordering of gender he is able to take his place in society alongside Marla, finally viewed as not his mother or friend but lover. Jack Versus Himself: A Cult Of One Jack is able to re-vamp his personality through exposure to the abject and the replaying of certain key object relations moments in his childhood. He engages with this ‘inner child’ to reconnect with psychically difficult moments in which his ‘self’ emerged. Jack, however, twists the typical plot of maternal and paternal bonding in ways that speak to the underlying misogyny of the film and of late twentieth century society as well. While the story begins with both male and female characters in unnatural roles with unnatural and abject body parts, by the end of the film, these ‘abnormalities’ or abject objects are erased, ejected from the text so Jack is restored to the ‘safety’ of a compulsory heterosexuality. Bob, Tyler and Marla’s characters are three examples of gender twisting expressed in the film. In psychoanalytic literature, the child bonds first to the mother (via feeding from the breast and in-utero existence) and experiences a feeling of total oneness impossible to duplicate. Eventually the child seeks autonomy and breaks from the mother and her clinging ways with the help of the father and the phallus. So in basic terms, the female is abject, representing infantile regression and oneness, and the male represents taking the proper place in the symbolic order. When the female (mother) is denied, the male accepts his natural place in culture and society. However, in this film, Tyler (the male) is the abject presence in the text, that which threatens to consume and subsume the narrator’s personality. It is Marla, the phallic woman, who interposes herself in this dyad and becomes the correct choice for Jack, allowing him to proceed into ‘normal relations.’ Early in the film, Jack is unable to envision a female partner with whom he can open up and share, instead substituting Bob—and his doubly signified ‘bitch-tits’—as a locus of comfort. In Bob’s ample bosom, Jack finds the release he is looking for, though it is unnatural in more ways than one. The feminised Bob [testicular cancer patient] comforts and coddles Jack so much that he feels the same idyllic bliss experienced by the infant at the mother’s breast; Jack feels “lost in oblivion, dark and silent and complete.” That night he is able for the first time in months to sleep: “Babies don’t sleep this well.” This illustrates Jack’s longing for the safety and security of the mother, complicated by his inability to bond with a female, replaced with his deep need for identification with a male. Continuing the twist, it is Marla who foils Jack’s moment of infantile bliss: “She ruined everything” with her presence, Jack sneers. Jack’s regression to this infantile bliss with either man or woman would be perceived as abject, (disrupting system and order) but this particular regression is at least doubly abject because of Bob’s unnatural breasts and lack of testicles. Both Bob, and to some degree Tyler, offer abjection to Jack as a way of dealing with this complexities of autonomous living. While my argument is that Tyler takes the traditional ‘female’ role in the drama, as a figure (like Bob) who lures Jack into an unnatural oneness that must ultimately be rejected, it is true that even in his position as abject ‘female’ (mother), Tyler is overwhelmingly phallic. His ‘jobs’ consist of splicing shots of penises into films, urinating and masturbating into restaurant food and engaging in acrobatic sex with Marla. Since Marla, who occupies the position of father bringing Jack into society away from the influence of Tyler, is also coded phallic, Jack’s world is overwhelmingly symbolically male. This appears to be a response to the overwhelming physical presence of Jack’s mother of which Tyler comments, “We’re a generation of men raised by women. I am wondering if another woman is really the answer we need?” During this same scene, Jack clarifies his regressive dilemma: “I can’t get married, I am a thirty year old boy.” Thus while Tyler campaigns for a world without women, Jack must decide if this is the correct way to go. Immersion in the world of uber-maleness only seems to make his life worse. It is only after he ‘kills’ Tyler and accepts Marla as a partner that he can feel successful. In another help meeting, one of the guided meditations emphasizes his regression by asking him to go to his “cave” and locate his “power animal.” This early in the film, Jack can only envision his power animal as a rather silly penguin, which, although phallic to some extent, is undercut by the fact that it speaks with a child’s voice. In the next visualization of the ‘power animal’, the animal becomes Marla—clarifying her influence over Jack’s subconscious. The threat of Marla’s sexuality is on one level explored with Jack’s counterpart Tyler, the one who dares to go where Jack will not, but their encounters are not shown in a ‘natural’ or fully mature light. They are instead equated with childhood experimentation and regressive fantasies as Marla responds that she “hasn’t been fucked like that since grade school” and Tyler proclaims the relationship is mere “sportfucking.” It is Tyler who discovers Marla’s oversized dildo proudly displayed on a dresser, of which she states “Don’t worry its not a threat to you.” This phallicized Marla refers to herself as “infectious human waste,” clearly abject. Marla’s power must be muted before Jack can truly relate to her. This is illustrated in two separate ‘visions’ of sexual intercourse—one between Marla and Tyler early in the film in which Marla assumes the dominant position, and then later near the end of the film when the same encounter is replayed with Jack taking Tyler’s place, Marla now in the standard missionary position on her back: Proper. Jack’s struggle with self is played out via his relationship with Tyler (and Marla to some degree). Once Jack has been exposed to the various levels of abject behaviour offered by Tyler and Project Mayhem, he chooses to go it alone, no longer needing the double he himself created. After experiencing and rejecting the abject, Jack redraws his boundaries and cleanses his soul. Jack Versus Society—The Personal Is Political Jack’s personal struggle becomes political—and communal. Another attempt at forming identity, Fight Club is bound to fail because it offers not autonomy but a group identity substituted for an individual one. While Jack loathes his ‘single serving life’ before Fight Club, he must come to realize that a group identity brings more problems than solutions in an identity crisis. While the comfort of ‘oneness’ is alluring, it is also abject. As Jack is able to finally refuse the safely and oneness offered by Tyler’s existence, he must also deny the safety in numbers offered by Fight Club itself. The cult he creates swallows members whole, excreting them as the “all singing all dancing crap of the world.” They eat, drink and sleep Fight Club and eventually its ‘evolutionary’ offshoot, Project Mayhem. During his involvement with Fight Club and Project Mayhem, Jack is exposed to three levels of abjection including food loathing, bodily wastes, and the corpse, each of which threaten to draw him to the “place where meaning collapses” (Kristeva 2). Jack’s first experience involves Tyler’s (a)vocation as a waiter who urinates and probably masturbates into patrons’ food. This mingling of bodily wastes and nourishment represents the most elementary form of abjection: food loathing. While Jack appears amused at Tyler’s antics in the beginning, by the end of the film, he illustrates his movement closer to self-identification, by calling for “clean food, please” signalling his alliance with the clean and proper. Bodily wastes, the internal made visible, represent the most extended contact Jack has with the abject. These experiences, when what is properly outside ends up inside and vice versa, begin with bloody hand-to-hand combat, including Tyler’s vomiting of blood into the mouth of an unwilling Fight Club participant “Lou”, causing another witness to vomit as well. The physical aversion to abject images (blood, pus, excrement) is part of the redrawing of self—the abject is ejected –via nausea/vomiting. Kristeva explains: “I give birth to myself amid the violence of sobs, of vomit” (3). The images continue to pile up as Jack describes life in the Paper Street house: “What a shit hole.” The house slowly decomposes around them, leaking and mouldy, releasing its own special smell: the rot of a “warm stale refrigerator” mixed with the “fart smell of steam” from a nearby industrial plant. While at Paper Street, Tyler decides to make soap. Soap in itself is an agent of cleanliness, but in this context it is abject and defiled by being composed of human waste. In a deeply abject moment, Jack is accidentally covered in refuse that spills from a ripped bag full of human fat pilfered from a liposuction clinic. Even at this profoundly disturbing moment, Jack is unwilling to give up his associations with Tyler and Project Mayhem. It is only after his encounter with a corpse that he changes his tune. While Fight Club attempted to blur physical boundaries via hand-to-hand combat and exchange of blood and blows, Project Mayhem threatens the psychic boundaries of self, a deeper danger. While a loud speaker drones “we are all part of the same compost heap” and a fellow occupant reminds Jack “In project mayhem we have no names,” Jack realizes he is truly losing himself, not gaining strength. Mayhem’s goal of ‘oneness’, like the maternal and infant experience, is exposed via slogans like “you are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else.” Tyler finally puts his cards on the table and asks Jack to “stop trying to control everything and just let go.” For Kristeva, “If dung signifies the other side of the border, the place where I am not and which permits me to be, the corpse, the most sickening of wastes, is a border that has encroached upon everything”(3). The corpse of Bob causes Jack to confront the boundaries of life and death, both spiritual and physical, as he opens his eyes to the damaging effects of the cult-like environment into which he has fallen. Jack’s momentary indecision morphs into action after Bob’s death becomes just one more mantra for the zombie-like Project Mayhemers to chant: “His name was Robert Paulson.” Jack’s internal and external struggles are compressed into one moment when he commits homo(sui)cide. Placing a gun in his mouth, he attempts to rid himself of Tyler forever, his final words to Tyler: “My eyes are open now”. At this point, Jack is psychically ready to take charge of his life and confidently eject the abject from the narrative of his life. He wants no more to do with Project Mayhem gang and is reunited with Marla with whom he finally appears ready to have a fully realized relationship. His masculinity and identity restoration are made blindingly apparent by the final splice in the film—the image of Marla and Jack hand in hand overlooking the new view out of the tower, spliced with the shot of a semi-erect penis—back to shot of Marla and Jack. The message is clear: Jack is a man, he has a woman, and he knows who he is because of it. While Fight Club novelist Palahniuk hopes the film offers options for life “outside the existing blueprint offered by society” (Fight Club DVD insert). On the other hand, it’s unclear how well the film pulls this off. On one hand, its lambasting of the numbing effects of blind and excessive consumerism seems well explored, it’s unclear what options really surface by the end of the film. Although many targeted buildings have been destroyed, through which the viewer can assume some or even most records of individual debt were erased, the building in which Marla and Jack stand (initially slated for destruction) remains. Perhaps this is meant to signify the impossibility of true financial equality in American society. But it seems to me that the more pressing issues are not the ones openly addressed in the film (that of money and consumerism) but rather the more internalised issues of self-actualisation, gender identity and contentment. In a postmodern space ripe for the redrawing and redefinition of gender stereotypes, this film carefully reinscribes not only compulsory heterosexuality but also the rigid boundaries of acceptable male and female behaviour. For this film, the safest route to repairing male identity and self-hood threatened by the emasculating practices of a consumer culture is a route back. Back to infantile and childhood fantasy. While it dances provocatively around the edges of accepting a man with ‘bitch tits’ and a woman with a dick, ultimately Bob is killed and Marla reclaimed by Jack in an ‘I’m ok you’re ok’ final scene: “Look at me Marla, I am really OK”. Jack’s immersion in an all male cult(ure) is eschewed for the comfort of real breasts. Works Cited Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous Feminine: Film, Feminism and Psychoanalysis. New York: Routledge, 1993. Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. 1999. Fight Club DVD edition. Dir. David Fincher. 2000. Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror: An Essay On Abjection. New York: Columbia Press: 1982. Mitchell, Juliet. The Selected Melanie Klein. New York: The Free Press, 1986. Citation reference for this article Substitute your date of access for Dn Month Year etc... MLA Style Caldwell, Tracy M.. "Identity Making from Soap to Nuts" M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 6.1 (2003). Dn Month Year < http://www.media-culture.org.au/0302/10-identitymaking.php>. APA Style Caldwell, T. M., (2003, Feb 26). Identity Making from Soap to Nuts. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture, 6,(1). Retrieved Month Dn, Year, from http://www.media-culture.org.au/0302/10-identitymaking.html