Consider this image for a moment.
It’s something one may encounter in passing, as part of the design of a larger object. Or it could be a work of art standing on its own. The “is it art?” question is unimportant. What is important is to take time to observe it on its own.
We have two basic shapes. A small circle inside a larger square. The circle is off-center. It makes the white space inside the square seem larger than it would be if the circle were centered, even though the area of the space is exactly the same.
What makes this so captivating, at least to me? It is the simplicity, it’s just enough, and not too much, to arrest the mind and focus on the geometric components. It could be a word in a language I don’t understand. It could also be music, either mostly silence or mostly a continuous, nearly pure tone.
Once one starts looking for these simple components, they can be found anywhere. This was a Wordless Wednesday from last year:
Once again, the relative emptiness other than the sphere and cube holds the focus, and indeed works as an object for a contemplation meditation. The texture of the sphere and the bit of shmutz on the surface of the cube provide one level of additional qualities to observe.
So if one were to add another single object either to the two-dimensional illustration or the three-dimensional photo, what would it be? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
[Also on Substack]
I don’t have an artistic eye so no idea what to add. 🙂
Maybe a round of sandwiches cut diagonally. Or a cup of tea with a saucer.
A doughnut with hole would be kind of cool, too. But as it is selfie sunday, really a cat shape should be in there . . .
Have a wonderful thoughtful week
ERin
A cat shape is definitely one of my thoughts, too 😺
Although I tend to often go “overboard” when playing with my photoshop, it is usually the images that are the simple ones that are the best in the end. Also gravitate to poems the same way. Suddenly the image you shared reminded me of a favorite (albeit considered a children’s author), Shel Silverstein, and the simple storybook, “Looking For My Missing Piece”, the art and words.
What a wonderful way to connect the image to the poem and storybook. It’s like how I connected the musical sounds to the image 😺
For some reason, I wondered what it would look like if an eye were peeping out of the circle, as if someone/some animal were behind the square. It felt like it would make the whole thing seem more three dimensional.