MATHEMATICS / PERCEPTION / CAT

The void
has eyes.

Nothing, with a shape.
Absence, with a pulse.

A black cat makes the invisible feel present. Explore three ways to describe that contradiction, one equation at a time.

01 — 03AN INTERACTIVE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT

FIG. 01FELIS CATUS ∈ ℝ²

x = presence
y = perception

A bounded shape. An unbounded feeling.

CHOOSE A LENS

01 / THE SHAPE OF ABSENCE

V = Ω ∖ C

Let Ω be the visible world and C the cat’s silhouette. The void V is everything left when the cat’s shape is removed.

Ω — visual fieldC — cat silhouette

Turn down the world 78%

VISIBLEVOID

As contrast disappears, the eyes become the last evidence of a presence.

VISIBLE FIELD22%

The voidhas eyes.