The Art of Looking Sideways

That is the name of a book by Alan Fletcher which discusses negative space.  I am sharing some of these thoughts found in the website Wikopedia in this post.

Negative space can be best described in the Japanese word Ma, meaning a consciousness of space,  the real element of  a composition.  The word Ma is  used in Japanese garden design which is extremely cognizant of open space, giving an eye a place to rest.  Ma is the interval which gives shape to the whole.  In the west we do not have a term for this important concept.  Ma is the thing that takes place in the imagination.

Cezanne painted and modeled space, Isaac Stern said that music is the little bit between each note and that those silences give it form.

This photograph is from the archives of my late mother, Angi Souza.

Finally, in the Tao Ching, 11th chapter, is found this:

    Thirsty spokes met in the hub,

but the empty space between them is the essence of the wheel.

Pots are formed from clay,

but the empty space between them is the essence of the pot.

Walls with windows and doors form the house,

but the empty space between them is the the essence of the house....