A white canvas. One black line. Nothing else.
This is Bernhard's favorite painting—by German artist Lilo Rinkens—a meditation on the empty space.
THE QUESTION:
AI and digital tools encroach on every moment. Phones are with us constantly.
What do we need to counter that? The empty space.
THE LILO RINKENS PAINTING:
German painter. Large white canvas. One black line.
Bernhard discovered her at Booz Allen (now Strategy&) in Munich. Her earlier work: letters and handwriting you couldn't read.
"The Kelly Briefe" (book with poet Wolf Wondratschek): He typed letters, she answered in beautiful handwritten letters—unreadable but full of energy.
Studio visit: Six paintings, one black line each.
"One line spoke to me immediately. It gave me positive energy."
"A play on the empty space. Just this one line. It takes time that it grows on you."
PETER BROOK - THE EMPTY SPACE:
British theatre director: "Any empty space with a person walking across is actually a stage."
Away from detailed sets → Big, empty stages.
"The actor or singer had to be even more present than ever before."
JOHN CAGE - 4'33":
American composer. Famous piece: 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence.
"Peace and quiet of nothing at all."
Performers can move, but no note whatsoever.
First performance: Audience outrage.
"An experiment on the empty space."
TRUE EMPTY SPACE:
"When you think back to your normal week, when you actually have a really empty space—where you don't look at anything, you don't listen to anything, you just focus on yourself."
Meditation apps?
"I'm skeptical because they make you believe you're in an empty space, but you're not—you have them in your ears."
True empty space:
"Just us, nothing else. We don't see, hear, taste, smell, or touch anything."
All five senses: Nothing. Just you.
ANECHOIC CHAMBERS:
US experiments in rooms with no echo.
"You felt deaf because even if a person was speaking to you, you couldn't hear them."
How long could people stay: "Just a couple of minutes until everyone wants to get out."
Why? "It's uncomfortable. We are so used to hear things unconsciously. But the empty space is different. It is silence. It's just being."
BERNHARD'S PRACTICE:
"Finding that empty space in myself and staying there for a couple of minutes is quite a challenge, to be honest."
"It's so much easier to look at my phone or go to my computer than just be with myself in that empty space."
Why it matters:
"With all the digital input we get, and that will be increasing, the empty space becomes more important."
WHY IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE:
"Things come up which we have buried really far down. Pictures that are not pleasant. But it is important to give these feelings, emotions, experiences the space they need so we can resolve them over time."
THE INVITATION:
"For this week I invite you to experiment with the empty space."
How:
The promise:
"Things will come up you never imagined and you'll come out different."
"This is one of the most fantastic human experiences we can have."
THIS WEEK:
Find 5 minutes of true empty space.No phone. No apps. No input. Just you.
Share your experience: www.bernhardkerres.com
LINKS:RolePlays.AI: www.roleplays.aiBernhard: www.bernhardkerres.com
#EmptySpace #Meditation #Silence #JohnCage #PeterBrook
