- Can nothingness communicate?
- Isotype for nothing: a circle that is empty or a white piece of paper
- A sign points back from effect to cause
- Footprints in the sand indicate someone has been there to make the imprint
- "When the object of that cause has disappeared, we see absence."
Rachel Whiteread: Ghost
- She has taken the absent space in a house and made it physical and subtracted the physical house. And so the nothingness has become something and physically represents the absence in the room
- You take an object away but the relationship of the objects around it show its presence. An example being the Heinz tomato sauce ad where it shows people using the glass bottle but it is not there, but you know it is because of how they are using it. Anton example is things like cup rings on a table symbolising the cup that was once there, or scuffs on the floor showing the movement of a person that has long gone
- The impression absence leaves behind communicates what used to be there
- Think about white space in typography
*Play with the whitespace of typography to show it presence regardless of its absence
Signifying Nothing
- An empty chair in a room full of people suggests someone is supposed to be or was once there
* Method for advertising: If you showed an empty plate it shows a meal that was just eaten. You do not need to show the food to advertise how good it is, since its absence shows how good it was to whoever was eating it. And so you can use the absence of the food to manipulate how people think about it, communicating the advertised message
- 1960 postmodernism in New York Art School started this trend
- Images of nothing allow for imagination and open interpretation
*Earth Artifact thought: Has intelligence now slowed down compared to 50 years ago, is there a lack of need for progress? Think back to WW2 where there was a constant need for better technology and so groundbreaking weapons were produced, and then the rebuild after the war where society changed beyond recognition, particularly in the creative world. If there is a lack of need right now then is the next push for innovation going to be when the fuel crisis hits?
- If something is very plain the details become significant as they are the only elements of focus, the only clues to the theory and meaning of the piece
- A hidden object in a painting can suggest more context that is absent in the foreground of the painting
*David Carson - Stephan Sagmeister TED Talks
- Fill in the blank words task:
There for your aid. You are great. Sorry to leave it at that, but right now I'm restraining. I saw mom yesterday, shortly after she passed. I'm happy she never woke up, there was nothing but pain for her in this hour of consciousness. I wish I could have looked at her one last time.
