Line of flight

From Capitalism and Schizophrenia

also Line of deterritorialization

A line of flight is the dynamic, creative and unpredictable (rhizomatic) connection that is drawn between one multiplicity and another. It defines the multiplicity, since any change in the number of connections (as in determinations and dimensions etc) also changes the nature of that multiplicity. The line of flight marks "the reality of a finite number of dimensions that the multiplicity effectively fills" (ATPC 9-11).

The act of flight undermines the repressive nature of the organism from which the multiplicity flees. If the organism is understood as an artificial whole imposed upon a grouping of machines or multiplicities, then the action of the flight of a particular multiplicity allows the fleeing multiplicity to be understood as a multiplicity as such, rather than merely a feature of the complete organism.

The line of flight operates on the outside of the multiplicity but is always a part of the multiplicity itself. In contrast, within State philosophy an outside is considerad a negation, what the object being defined is not, i.e. something non-identical to the object itself. Thus, a line of flight offers an escape from rigid structures of repression, organized by the State apparatus of capture. Lines of flight can very well be applied as a tactical or strategical movement away from stratification and repression:

"This is how it should be done: Lodge yourself on a stratum, experiment with the opportunities it offers, find an advantageous place on it, find potential movements of deterritorialization, possible lines of flight, experience them, produce flow conjunctions here and there, try out continuums of intensities segment by segment, have a small plot of new land at all times. It is through a meticulous relation with the strata that one succeeds in freeing lines of flight..." (ATPC 178)

[edit] Drawing lines of flight

The distinction between a line of flight and a connective line of a more arborescent type can be understood by the distinction between a tracing and a drawing: A tracing is the re-presentation of pre-existing lines, whereas a drawing creates something that does not pre-exist the act of drawing.