Saturday, December 26, 2009

Rudolf Arnheim's Cat

Gestalt psychologist Rudolf Arnheim in Parables of Sun Light (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), p. 91—

Our black cat lay on the window sill, against the black night outside. When his eyes were open, his body was visible, dimly outlined; but as soon as he closed them, the whole cat vanished, leaving only the unbroken darkness of the window.