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Examples of ‘ Ma’ in the Arts
When ‘ma’ is used in the fine
arts, music and architecture,
a conscious effort is made to
use the given of ‘emptiness’.
This emptinesscan fill itself
with calm, tension or expectation.
PAINTING
A well-known Japanese work of art
that applies the concept of ‘ma’
are the folding screens,‘Pine
Trees’ by Hasegawa Tohaku. The
use of white space in the work
suggests a forest with pine trees,
even though the viewer is actually
looking at a couple of trees
portrayed with carefully
considered brushstrokes.
PERFORMANCE ART
A more Western example of art that
incorporates ‘ma’ can be found in
the work of Marina Abramović. The
Serbian’s performance art uses the
empty spaces between the artist
and the spectator, such as ‘The
Artist Is Present’ exhibit from
2010 at the MoMa. Abramović sat
silent and motionless on a chair
for 736 and a half hours, while
visitors could take a seat across
from her. This audience ultimately
totaled 1,545 people, including
her ex, Ulay, whom she hadn’t seen
for 22 years (footage that is
definitely worth looking up). A
variety of things happened during
this silence between spectator and
artist: smiling, crying, love,
fear, acceptance...MUSIC
Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu
used the silence between chords to
fill it with the expectation of
the next chord, such as in the
composition ‘Air’. His music seems
composed yet improvised at the
same time. He said of this, “What
I want to do is not to put sounds
in motion towards a goal by
controlling them. Rather, I would
prefer to let them free, if
possible, without controlling
them. For me, it would be enough
to gather the sounds around me and
then gently put them in motion. To
move the sounds around the way you
drive a car is the worst thing you
can do with them”.ARCHITECTURE
The most famous example of ‘ma’
in architecture is the Zen rock
garden at the Ryoanji Temple in
Kyoto, Japan. The rocks appear
to be grouped at random, but at
the same time, seem to have been
very carefully positioned to serve
as refuges.