Art Blog #158

Negative space in photography - Photography by Paul Connor

'Ma or Negative space in photographs and everyday life'

by Paul Connor

'The existence of ma in an artwork has been interpreted as "an emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled'

from excerpt below

'In Japan there is a concept or an appreciation/identification of the importance of negative space. Negative space is the 'stuff' that is around 'material stuff' ie is non-material.

Now scientists understand that space is not empty but full of material but this material is subtle or subtler and not on the gross level of materiality.

It has struck me, looking at the philosophies of the East and the West, that in the East there is a greater focus on non-materialism and in the West a greater focus on materialism. In the West, people like 'stuff' and the more stuff they have and the larger that stuff is the better it for them.

In the East, as an example, there is just as much importance/emphasis attached to inaction/inactivity in regards of meditation, yoga, mindfulness and contemplation and in death as well as life.

Where in the West, life/action is everything and death/inaction is nothing...

An oversimplification of the differences between the philosophies of the East and the West, no doubt, but a hint that life is seen, to some, as the manifestation of action and holds great importance

and death is seen as the manifestation of inaction and is therefore not discussed, the topic not approached.

Death to many ancient civilisations was seen as the precursor to life. Ie Inaction was seen as providing the conditions for new life to come into being.

In the Dao De Jing by Lao Tzu it states that 'from the Dao, all life is created or manifests' - The Dao, therefore is seen as an essence, a void that contains infinite possibilities or potential. This 'pool' of inaction contains the knowledge that transforms into the potential for action.

Further reading of the Dao de Jing - https://youtu.be/o2UYch2JnO4

The reason I am discussing death (in this context an interpretation of lack of life) is that there is an inherent link between how a society views death and what is important in life.

If materialism (what we have/own/do/see/feel/taste/think) are paramount then its an obvious link that the eradication of these abilities is discarded as nothing.

The idea therefore that 'the material' in the Universe (Buildings/people/trees/rivers/etc) are the only thing that matters is natural but close minded when all those depend on so called 'the non material' aspects of the universe for its clarification.

Material and Non Material Universes in Ancient thought

Ancient civilisations posited a view that there is a Material Universe (MU) and a Non Material Universe (NMU) that interact and are connected. The MU would be our universe, as the example.

The MU is seen to have the ability to act yet a lack of knowledge and the NMU has total knowledge yet the inability to act. This is due to the fact that material is required as a prerequisite for action.

As an example of this, day and night would be symbolic of material and non material, day would be seen as when action takes place and night when inaction is the preferred route.

The Sun would be symbolic, therefore, of active consciousness, the moon symbolic of active unconsciousness.

In a material world, action is preferred, required and lauded and inaction is seen as a negative. Doing is seen as something to admire, just being is seen as something to be scorned.

Going back to the MU and the NMU's, as stated, these two act together, in balance and in harmony, the emphasis is that one does not exist without the other. Material/form is only identified/recognised if there is a backdrop of non-material.

So, a digression, how do the MU and the NMU interact - the short answer is through more subtle forms of action - synchronicities, dreams, visions, animal behaviour and psychic experiences and these 'messages' can only be received if there is 'ironically 'a lack of material action' ie noise etc.

The 'there would be no sadness if there was no happiness' 'no day if there was no night' 'no sweet if there was no sour' are practical applications of the importance of opposites and of negative space to the material world.

The except from the Dao De Jing is far more eloquent:

Thirty spokes meet in the hub, though the space between them is the essence of the wheel;

Pots are formed from clay, though the space inside them is the essence of the pot;

Walls with windows and doors form the house, though the space within them is the essence of the house.

The Dao de Jing focuses and emphasises the important role that inaction, inactivity and passivity has in everyday life. This negative space, this non material element described is a fundamental component in photography as well.

Negative space in Photographs.

So, eventually, to photographs, in my experience most viewers react to a photograph for its content ie the butterfly, the tree, the lake, the child etc and never appreciate the negative space/the non material element of the photograph that allows the content to stand out/shine.

The photograph below is, for me, a perfect example of material in balance with non material ie content and space in harmony. The parts of the photographs that are 'empty' are as important as the parts of the photography that are 'full'

There is the juxtaposition of:

- black and white,

- content and non content,

- earth and sky,

- jagged and curved

- a depth of near and far.

- Positive space (the material) is balanced with Negative Space (the non material).

Of course this is not the best example of this phenomena but reflects or highlights the importance of a much overlooked aspect. A photograph is in itself an example of recognising the importance of negative space as it is a 'hard copy version' (material) of a 'soft copy event' ie the photograph only exists if the event happened.

The reason for this study is to emphasis an ancient civilisation recognition of a natural phenomena and the importance of the non material aspect has to the material aspect of the universe and in, a much lesser degree in photographs, that I feel, has been overlooked and that these two aspects are dependant and interconnected in all aspects of life, death, nature and the the universe we see.

That, without one there is, simply, not the other.

Negative space is not only important but makes up 99.9% of everything in the known universe and therefore 'the stuff' (material element) is not only inconsequential but literally No thing (nothing) in comparison to its counterpart'

Thank you

Words and Photography by Paul Connor

Meaning of Ma - Courtesy of www.wikipedia.org

Ma (間) (lit., "gap", "space", "pause") is the term for a specific Japanese concept of negative space. In traditional Japanese arts and culture, ma refers to the artistic interpretation of an empty space, often holding as much importance as the rest of an artwork and focusing the viewer on the intention of negative space in an art piece.

Though commonly used to refer to literal, visible negative space, ma may also refer to the perception of a space, gap or interval, without necessarily requiring a physical compositional element. This results in the concept of ma being less reliant on the existence of a gap, and more closely related to the perception of a gap. The existence of ma in an artwork has been interpreted as "an emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled", and has been described as "the silence between the notes which make the music".

Examples of ma appear in Dao De Jing:

Thirty spokes meet in the hub, though the space between them is the essence of the wheel;

Pots are formed from clay, though the space inside them is the essence of the pot;

Walls with windows and doors form the house, though the space within them is the essence of the house.

Courtesy of www.connorcontemporary.com