"It doesn't really exist; it's just basically lots of different stages between the two pieces, and you end up with, like, a third shape that doesn't exist but is suggested to you by the image"

Sean Booth’s observation reveals an intriguing aspect of perception and the subtlety of transitional forms. He describes a process, likely visual but also metaphorical, wherein two distinct entities do not blend in a simple linear way but instead pass through a sequence of intermediate states. These stages are not always clearly defined or tangible, rather, they manifest as a fluid transition, with each successive step subtly different from the last. The mind, seeking coherence and completeness, perceives not just the two original pieces but a third, illusory shape emerging from the process of transformation itself.

This “third shape,” according to Booth, lacks any real, independent existence. It is an emergent phenomenon, a mental construct prompted by the sequence of images or states encountered during the morphing process. Instead of witnessing only an A-to-B transition, viewers experience a kind of phantom form, a shape suggested rather than explicitly shown. The mind stitches together the intermediary moments and infers a new entity, created purely through the act of observation and interpretation.

Such an idea resonates beyond just physical images. It captures the way humans interpret ambiguity, fill in gaps, and generate meaning from context. The imagination creates a synthesis, a hybrid outcome that was never directly presented. Booth’s insight highlights the complexity of perception: how what we see is shaped as much by suggestion and context as it is by concrete forms.

This phenomenon occurs often in music, art, and even in conversation, where in-between states foster creative ambiguity, opening up space for new ideas and interpretations. The “third shape” is a hallmark of effective art, it hints, implies, and invites participation from the observer. Through the interplay of fragments and transitions, something novel comes into being, sustained by suggestion and the active role of perception rather than by explicit, material reality.