When a negative is a positive

Lets hear it for being empty. Lets celebrate nothing. The Void.  A space. Pure emptiness.

All designers need it. Architects dissect it. Poets create rhythm with it. Car designers can’t get enough of it. Musicians use it with dramatic effect to manipulate mood.

I am of course, talking about negative spaces. The volumes created in between the ‘built’ or ‘intended’ design elements that are so often the focus of our creative energies.

Negative spaces allow buildings to have presence. They are a gift to interior designers as they encourage intrigue. They can give the illusion of form and volume to fashion garments.

The beauty of Boeing’s 787 comes from the dramatic use of curvature, framing and lighting; all elements either intentionally or unexpectedly containing dramatic volumes of nothingness.

Zaha Hadid’s sculptural qualities are as much about the voids as the solids. So too, is the work of Issey Miyake, Dieter Rams, Jonathan Ive and even Miles Davis.

Davis is a great example, he knew exactly what not to play, retaining a pure and deconstructed approach to arrangements.

This blog is a way to remind us of the importance of creating nothing. We do it every time we create a graphic, written or three-dimensional statement.

A student of Michelangelo once entered his master’s studio and noticed a huge square stone block sitting in the middle of the room.

“What is this to be master?” Inquired the student.

“A lion.” Came the reply.

“How, how master will you create a lion from this unformed stone block?”

“It’s easy.” Came the reply.

“I remove everything that doesn’t look like a lion”

How negative!