The space between the trees is the forest.

There is space within, without and all around us,  The discovery of zero was considered important.  Maybe that concept should be extended.

The more I look at different forms that are considered an art, where mastery is possible, the more I seem to see important spaces. 

The time between the drum beats is what creates the feel of the rhythm, my favourite beats have complicated spaces.  The space(tic-tic-space-tic) in salsa is what give the hips their sway, gives time to feel the music. 

The foo-fighters have great spaces in their music, Dave Grohl commented once that the experience as a drummer in his previous band gave him a greater appreciation for the silence between the beats.

One of the hardest lessons in martial arts is learning how to manage the time before contact with the opponent.  Many talk of this as bridging the gap, giving a feeling of constructing a passage over this space.  The great fighters I have seen do no such thing, they own the space.  Controlling and being comfortable in this space gives the clarity of mind and the speed of body to enact and react to changes in the space. 

Learning at what point to stop when creating an artwork is also a form of mastery.  The point where an artist can leave a space that is accurately filled in by the viewer requires a massive understanding not only of form and perception but of how people receive the media of the art.  The spaces between the lines of Picasso's work on glass are a great example. 

A great view is generally defined by the sense of space that it gives. An ocean view is essentially a view of the space between the water and the atmosphere.  The water in turn is another form of space between landmasses. 

Why is this suddenly so important to me?  My procrastinated learning of Korean  revealed to me that the word for ball (공) also can be used to refer to void, or air (also an artist or prince).   I feel this is a carry over from Chinese where each word had multiple tonal variations reflecting different meanings which are understood by context in Korean.  The feel it gives though is that the word for the ball refers more to the spherical space inside the ball rather than it's outer surface. 

It is the antithesis to western traditional thinking of an object as its physical presence.  Thinking of the space that makes the object gives a different feel of what the object is.  For example if you bust a beach ball, does the space of the ball still exist?  is the void within the ball still formed as it was when encased in a plastic sleeve?  What other spaces exist that make our world what it is ?  Does the space between people make a crowd? Is it the space between buildings that makes a city ?  Is it the space between people that makes a relationship ? Is it the space within us that makes us?

I feel understanding the space helps the understanding of objects in it.  Physics is an attempt to understand how things react in space.  Chaos theory is based on understanding that there is a space but not knowing how it works.  Fung shui is trying to shape the space to positively affect the objects within it.

Maybe we should dedicate a little more time to appreciate space, in all of its forms.