When I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer – say traveling in a carriage,

or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep;

it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly.

Whence and how they come, I know not; nor can I force them.

Those ideas that please me I retain in memory, and am accustomed, as I have been told,

to hum them to myself.

Posthumous Portrait of Mozart by Kraft 1819

All this fires my soul, and provided I am not disturbed, my subject enlarges itself,

becomes methodized and defined,

and the whole, though it be long, stands almost completed and finished in my mind, so that I can survey it,

like a fine picture or a beautiful statue, at a glance.

Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once.

What a delight this is I cannot tell! All this inventing, this producing takes place in a pleasing lively dream.

Still the actual hearing of the tout ensemble is after all the best.

What has been thus produced I do not easily forget, and this is perhaps

the best gift I have my Divine Maker to thank for.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart is talking about going off-line; disconnecting from the pressure of producing his next piece.

When we are off-line, creative flow is more possible. We allow more opportunities to synthesize.

Being off-line may include dreaming, taking a walk, going to a museum or gallery;

a myriad of activities we may do alone.

Sometimes when the weather is bad, I may take walks through the bookstores

where there are tens of thousands of visual stimuli.

We incubate when we allow ideas to develop at their own pace.

it is like sleeping on an idea.

The best ideas come to me when I am in that moment of somnolence just before I fall asleep.

I keep a pad by the side of my bed. I write my ideas down less I forget them.

share this

.

.

Speculating on the positive nature of negative space, an erudite person said,

.

There is nothing there there,

which is where there is.

The Positive Nature of Negative Space

.

.

MC Escher – Metamorphossis – 1967 — 1968

.

.

Figure/ground, also known as positive and negative space, is at work in all facets of graphic design. In the design of logotypes and symbols, the distillation of complex meaning into simplified but significant form thrives on the taut reciprocity of figure and ground. In posters, layouts and screen design, what is left out frames and balances what is built in. Similarlly, in time-based media, including multipage books, the insertion and distribution of space across time effects perception.

From Graphic Design: The new Basics by Ellen Lupton and Phillips Jennifer Cole

.

.

Nothing is Everything

But Everything is NOT nothing.

.

.

---

.

.

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 within 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 home.

Lao Tze

.

.

---

.

.

It was Johnny Mercer who sang these lyrics in the 1940′s:

You’ve got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

And latch on to the affirmative

Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between

.

The lyrics ring true when they refer to personal relationships and attitudes towards life, however take a moment and extend the meaning to photography and other means of visual storytelling.

.

Messing with Mr. In-Between

.

In Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud clearly observes the importance of the space between frames. The space between frames is called the gutter. It is highly charged seemingly negative space. However the space contains energy. The creator of a story in  sequential art forms such as comics and graphic novels know that the gutter may suggest time among other things. For example, frame one may show a cave family warming in front of a fire eating some roasted critter. Frame two may depict a present day family sitting down for a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. The gutter allows a transition of thousands of years and the mind’s eye completes a story through participation with the viewer. Each viewer/reader will fill that space in with their own experience giving power to Mr. In-Between. No two readers will describe that space in exactly the same way.

McCloud says, “…comics asks the mind to work as a sort of in-betweener — filing in the gaps between panels…”

According to McCloud, when the reader/viewer fills in the gutters, he or she creates closure.

In what ways may a still photographer create closure? He or she may create a graphic novel or short story using frames. Or photographers may apply what isn’t there to create participation. Which concept will get more participation from viewers — the photograph that includes everything that you might possibly know including what happened or what is about to happen or the picture leading up to the climax of the story where the viewer is invited to complete it in their mind’s eye? The amazing collaboration between Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison consistently include what is not there.

.

.

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

Lucid Dream

.

.

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

From their Website

Counterpoint Series – New Work

.

Thinking about how to wrap up this topic, I realized that there is no way to wrap it up.

There isn’t any there there, is there?

.

The Man Who Wasn’t There

William Hughes Mearns 1899

.

I saw a man upon the stair But when I looked he was not there He wasn’t there again today Oh, how I wish he’d go away.

This verse, titled “Antigonish” was written by William Hughes Mearns in 1899.

.

.

.

share this

Collaboration is the act of working jointly. A collaboration may happen between two people or a group. In either case, it is important that each member of the collaboration brings something to the process that the other does not have, however the contributions do not have to be balanced or equal. It is vital to respect others’ contributions.

In certain political contexts (such as a state of war) the term “collaboration” (ism) or “collaborator” may refer (pejoratively) to individuals who are claimed to have been working with an outside entity, such as an occupying hostile power, against their own societies (as during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II).

It is in this context that some believe that the commercial art buying public is waging a war against photographers. If that is so, commercial photographers who are not following industry accepted business practices may be considered as collaborating with the enemy.

I agree that education of artists and buyers around copyright and intellectual property protection is very important. However it can be no less important than growing your product, marketing and sales. I believe that successful creators understand the concept of business relationships. It is difficult to build them if you see the other as the enemy.

Many commercial artists call themselves good collaborators; just look at commercial photographers’ claims on their websites. But, if you are wearing a sword at every client or prospect contact point, you will not be thought of as a serious potential collaborator.

Collaboration requires shared objectives, a sense of urgency and commitment, a dynamic deliberate process, a sense of belonging, open communication, mutual trust and respect, diverse skills, knowledge, and intellectual agility.

All parties work together and build consensus to reach a decision or create a product, the result of which benefits all parties. Competition is a possibly insurmountable roadblock to collaboration, and the relationship among parties must continue beyond the accomplishment of the task in order to assure its viability. The goal is dynamic. (pertaining to or characterized by energy or effective action; vigorously active or forceful; energetic)

share this