The art of emptiness

I am thumbing through the interior design book Arranging Things by Colin King. There’s a section titled The Art of Emptiness that affirmed my predilection for minimal design, neutrals, restraint in decor (personal fashion style) and my instinct this year to eliminate noise in all its forms.

King writes, “we often feel compelled to fill the void. The discomfort of a blank wall or surface is hard to endure. But emptiness can be expression of potential and form of beauty.”

He goes on to say, “not every corner or surface needs something. I edit, edit, and edit some more stripping away the noise to communicate the most through an economy of visual language.”

This aligns perfectly with my 2024 resolution - reduce, reduce. I am also sensing a collective energy from people in my circle to edit, pare down, opt-out of things/ideas/people that bring internal and external clutter. In the last decade, we’ve stuffed ourselves full with information, our screens, and physical stuff. It’s no surprise that there’s a swing towards culling, editing, emptying.