"Ma" Intentional Void Space
I have been reading and meditating on the concept of “Ma”. Explore this concept with me. Share your thoughts below!
In a nutshell “Ma” is the purposeful inclusion and use of negative space. This space is considered just as valuable to the work as any other part
of the image. In martial arts the term is sometimes used to describe the physical space between opponents. The negative space has value as it is the space in which things can happen.
Thinking about it there are a lot of “no-self” type teachings in the spiritual realm. The Buddha discussed anatta and the idea that there exists no lasting core to the human experience. The Buddha also talked about the hole in the center of a wheel, where the axle fits, being vital to it’s usefulness. I had a teacher that used an analogy of an empty cup. I’m pretty sure he stole it from Thich Nah Hahn. He would say “It’s important to come to a teacher empty, ready to be filled.” Emptiness no-self, anatta, sunyata whatever your flavor of void it is a necessity. Vital to the whole and inseparable from it.
I have been meditating on “Ma”. Specifically the space between my emotions and their effects on my actions. I want there to be greater space between my trigger and my response. I want to expand that moment so that I don’t feel carried by it. I am observing it. That much was the tip of the iceberg. From there I thought about the amount of “ma” in everything. My relationships, the cups in the cabinet, how close I hug, how someone calling makes me feel. All of it, in fact everything, possesses some amount of purposeful space. Whatsmore the amount of “ma” dictates a the characteristics of everything. Molecules, the size/value of a building, the tendency of a liquid surface to keep tension. Everything but magnets… I think.
The more I think about it the more I realize nothing is anything but.
What are your thoughts on the purposeful inclusion of negative space?