Gestalt is German for shape, and it has come to mean in English “the shape or sense of the whole,” i.e., everything that lies within or belongs to a concept or image, its totality.
Taking a look at your work, squinting at it sideways, and realizing that something’s missing… Are you able to see/hear it? Can you describe what seems to be missing? A touch of blue in the lower right hand corner? The fourth line of the sonnet sounds clunky? The musical phrase sounds repetitive—or not repetitive enough? It’s too short? Too long?
That’s Gestalt.
You can read blog posts about GESTALT here.
