Complete the Image

Adding to Thursday’s post, What Fractures Bring, here’s a quote on sabi 寂 from one of my all-time favorites, Elements of Japanese Design, emphasis mine:

The Western compulsion is to divide space into equal parts, square everything off, and attempt to achieve perfect mathematical balance, leaving no surprises and nothing for the viewer to add. The Japanese way is to use asymmetry and austerity to achieve surprise and delight elicited by the unbalanced, by the apparent randomness of things that allows the viewer to complete the image.

+1 for Engagement through apparent randomness.