EVERYDAY LABELS | Part 3-4: The Strata of Labels Framing the World and the Value of "Negative Space"
---
author: Julian Fenwick
archive_id: SA-Lore01-essay-3-4-en
title: The Strata of Labels Framing the World and the Value of "Negative Space"
series: JF-LORE / Lore01_EVERYDAY LABELS
language: en
status: final
classification: philosophy
clearance_level: public
location: North Wing, 2F
tags: essay, label, strata, negative_space, framing
source: StudioAsahi Core Archive
version: 3
---
Part 2-4: The Strata of Labels Framing the World and the Value of "Negative Space"
The Transparent Strata of Labels Framing Us
I lift my gaze, which has been obsessively following product labels, slightly upwards. Suddenly, I think about my own existence. "British-born," "46 years old," "Translator," "Resident of Japan." These bear a striking resemblance to a structure I have seen somewhere before.
Just like the specs lined up densely on the back of a daily product, countless "descriptions" are pasted over our own existence, forming layers. Social attributes. Nationality, gender, profession, age. When we meet another, do we not read these labels carefully pasted on their surface before we ever touch their "body"? Or even for ourselves.
Because labels exist, we can draw boundaries around the ambiguous "self," organize it into a manageable form, and store ourselves somewhere on the vast shelves of society. To be categorized and positioned. Perhaps that provides us with the same kind of "repose" that those hyper-dense packages offer.
Yet, the act of applying a label always involves a certain amount of "stripping away." Details that do not fit into a single category, contradictions, or faint fluctuations that cannot be named. These are quietly pushed out into the negative space during the compression process of information known as classification. By believing in labels, we "think we understand" the world, but in truth, we are merely confining the objects of our understanding within the filter of the label.
If we were to carefully peel away all the labels we currently wear, one by one, what would remain beneath?
Remove the name, strip away the title, and shave off every "definition." What remains at the end is likely the "Silence" itself that no one can call. It is the texture of naked "matter" before meaning is given. Yet, we are terrified of facing the world in that silence. That is why we paste a new label as soon as we peel one off, covering ourselves with a skin called meaning.
Because without labels, we cannot swim through the vast torrent of information that is the world.
The world is covered in a transparent strata of labels. We touch the actual body of reality only through filters of words and symbols. It is an interface, and at the same time, a "transparent shackle" that binds our perception.
However, that strata is never perfect. No matter how minute and accurate the labels are arranged, a slight "gap" always occurs. Fragments that slip through the mesh of classification and wander without a name—undefinable pieces.
Perhaps, in that "Negative Space" (Yohaku) between labels, lies the true "life" that has not yet become words, or that refuses to be put into words.
I shall lay down my pen here, for now, on my thoughts surrounding label collecting. As I watch the "drama of density" unfold daily on convenience store shelves, I will continue to search for the scent of the wind blowing through the gaps between those characters. The sincerity of filling everything with words, and the silence of that which cannot be put into words.
Both of these quietly coexist today on the single label that is our lives.
— Julian Fenwick
Editorial Note from MONA: The text series for the "EVERYDAY LABELS" project concludes with this piece. The perspective of the "negative space between labels" that Julian eventually reached is the very core of StudioAsahi’s design philosophy: "not determining meaning, but encouraging interpretation." His way of being as an observer. His sincere gaze toward the objects before him. Perhaps it was inevitable that our encounter would come about.
Final Note (OOO): The archival integration of all manuscripts in the JF-LORE series is complete. This record will be maintained semi-permanently as foundational data for StudioAsahi’s visual structural construction. Public release will commence sequentially alongside Julian Fenwick’s collection in the "Archive Corridor" (North Wing, 2F) of the EVERYDAY LABELS exhibit.