Round 02: Ma (Negative Space)
(theme chosen by chimneysmoke ♥)
ma: a Japanese word which can be roughly translated as "gap", "space", "pause" or "the space between two structural parts".
welcome
about/rules
posting guidelines
VIS ◆ UAL
ICONS
boxed | endearest | erzsebet | erzsebet
fiendie | fiendie | fuuurs | kawaii_chicken
likealight | longerthanwedo | messdestruction | motorized
motorized | pandavirus | schmiss | vetica
TUMBLR GRAPHICS
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beautiful-unfolding | brofrost
appleindecay | norman-reedus
PICTURES
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Akos Major
Biwa Lake Tree, Study 3, Omi, Honshu, Japan, 2003 by Michael Kenna
Olivia Thirlby by Flaunt Magazine
jernspoke
VER ◆ BAL
WORDS
unrequited
absence
out of time/space
infinity
jarring
expand/contract
compass
freeze frame
caesura (dramatic pause)
separation
chasm
POETRY
In Just
e. e. cummings
Solitude
Caroline Caddy
The Stars
Kelly Grovier
Excerpt from Disappear
Conchitina Cruz
QUOTES
"Sometimes it is the person closest to us who must travel the furthest distance to be our friend."
Robert Brault
"You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you."
Frederick Buechner
"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next."
Gilda Radner
"It had never occurred to me that our lives, which had been so closely interwoven, could unravel with such speed."
Kazuo Ishiguro
"Spiteful words can hurt your feelings, but silence breaks your heart."
Unknown
KINES ◆ THETIC
MUSIC
Click to viewYOUTUBE | LYRICS
YOUTUBE | LYRICS
INSTRUMENTAL
YOUTUBE
YOUTUBE
VIDEOS
YOUTUBE
Final montage from Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse [1:30 onwards].
YOUTUBE
Piano battle from the movie "Secret".
THEM ◆ ATIC
MA (NEGATIVE SPACE)
ma: a Japanese word which can be roughly translated as "gap", "space", "pause" or "the space between two structural parts".
I found this excerpt from Lao Tse's writings very useful in understanding what Ma means (can also be found on the Wiki page):
Thirty spokes meet 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 it
is the essence of the pot.
Walls with windows and doors form the house,
but the empty space within it
is the essence of the house
I understand Ma as "the space that defines". From the above poem/extract, what is a wheel without the space in between the spokes? What is a pot without the shape of air within it? What is a house if we discount the space inside? I interpreted Ma also as a disjoint, a disconnect, that separates individuals/parts/structures. So while in a way this theme is similar to Juxtaposition in the sense of contrast, please bear in mind the idea of space, of an in-between that is very important.
What does this mean then? Do you have to write about relationships or use negative space in your graphics? NAH I AIN'T THAT CRUEL. Maybe it's a lonely person, whose loneliness defines them. Maybe you could take inspiration from a few of the above icons and blend/block caps that would shock the viewer. Maybe it's about someone like Captain America, who's in the wrong time.
Feel free to ask me anything, whether you need more info or just want to bounce ideas off of me :3
Definitions: Wikipedia, Wiktionary. Have your own definition/interpretation? Use it!
thank you to chimneysmoke, etacanis, and theotherayn ♥
about/rules
posting guidelines
have fun!
Round 02 ends 26 July 2012, 2359 UTC.