Black is not Nothing
What is space? What does it mean when we talk about “space”? Are you actually conscious of it?
Space is ubiquitous no matter we sense it or not. From the aspect of experience, usually we discover “the space” by vision, the sense of touch, and so on. More specifically, since the visual is removed in darkness, the space is still existent. Our conception of black is like the knowledge about black hole. A black hole is a place in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape.” Actually no one really sees a black hole, but scientists proved the existence of black hole by scientific observation and mathematical methods. My works try to show the existence of space not by direct implication of space, like a vanishing point or linear view, but by an indirect way—the black image. “Black” is not nothing, oppositely it suggests the genuine space eliminated of other entity, and thus the “space” itself is presented by “black.”
These three photos are worked in a series, through which the issues of light and space, traditional and digital camera result are discussed.
First, it’s about “light.” Light enables the painters to observe the planes on a cube, and endows the camera to record objects. “Light” enlightens the space; on the counterpart, only in “space”, not time, light can exist. The relation between “light” and “space” is correlative. The cognition to “black” is “no light” in the RGB color model. Through this idea, when RGB channels zero in Photoshop environment, it means that no (RGB)light on the surface. As a result, we’ve got “black”. The first print is conducted by Photoshop. It shows “black” derived from concept, produced through algorithm. This “black” is the result most close to cognition among these three images because there is no reference applied to reflect “black.”
Then, it’s about “space,” the black and space. The second image is created by a film camera capturing image in a room without light. The result is a totally black view. This picture goes on the idea presented by the former one. The camera is in a room, a solid space without light. Nothing is seen, all the left, and what we’ve got is “black”. Even nothing can be seen, the room has ever existed. The only proof of the room is “black”. Thus, I assume this “black” as “pure space”.
The third image is black as well. This photo is created by exposure of a digital camera in a dark room. Like the second image, it is a record of space. However, it shows the different visual experience between film and digital camera. Traditional camera records objects by the traces of light. A digital camera digitizes everything including space, light, and any object, and changes it to data. Further, this data will be processed again and produced as an image. The second picture is the image of space, while the third one produced by the digital camera is the “data of space”. This image shows how our vision in this age is influenced by digital production because people nowadays get to know the world mainly through digital photos. Probably our concept to “space” is more close to the digital result, rather than the one in reality.
In conclusion, black image doesn’t mean nothing there. The existence of space, or any other entity, is not affected by our senses. This series work goes over three kinds of black: the black in our concept, in a room, and in digital data. Through the presentation of “black,” the existence of space is suggested. Traditionally the spaced is seen by light. However, when there is no light, the idea of “space” is more essential. And finally, digital camera reminds me to consider the prevalence of digital images which construct our knowledge to the world nowadays. Both of traditional and digital cameras rely on light to develop image. However, this work discovers a possibility of photography without light. The lack of light is not the end of photography, it is the start of existence. For me, the existence in black is space.
