"negative space" is such a silly term. space is already empty. when you negate it, it should become filled instead of staying empty!

@jn ha, I just listened to this

also "negative" doesn't mean empty. a negative number is as nonzero as a positive one.

@noiob of course negative doesn't mean empty on own, it means turned to the opposite.

but when i think of space, it's empty; when i turn that notion to the opposite, i end up with something filled, non-empty. "negative space" as commonly conceived, however, is still empty.

@jn is it empty?

@noiob ah, trick question, because it's an ambiguous image, representing two different physically possible scenarios.

- if the yellow part is a vase, it's not empty. there's an object there, a vase
- if the black parts are faces, the yellow part is empty

In either case, the empty surfaces match the definition quoted on WP: "[...] negative space is the empty space around and between the subject(s) of an image."

There are two different ways to decompose this image but my initial concerns stand.

@jn I'm not trying to trick you, I'm trying to point out that maybe in design language has different meanings than in the "real world". Specifically the subject of an image is often referred to as "positive space"