July 11, 2020

Pending—The Space Between

There is really nothing more to say—except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.  Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate in Literature (1993), Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016)                                                                            

Human misery must somewhere have a stop; there is no wind that always blows a storm.—Euripides, Greek Tragedian, 430 BC                                                                                    


The Japanese have a concept called “Ma—the space between”—a pause in time— creating space to allow for reflection—a promise yet to be fulfilled. There is no Western term for this concept.                                                                                                                           

Pending, a preposition that defines the waiting period before a decision or conclusion fulfills a psychological definition, but not an intrinsic meaning for the power to shape time and space.

Since the beginning of this decade we have found ourselves in this space between: the silence between notes that form music—a door that is open to light—a truth to be considered—a life that is pending:



Jeff Key’s work from the “Vessel Series” can be seen at: