Research and Critical Reflection 2
In my critical reflection, I will describe how entropy is figuratively portrayed in my work, examine how I turned the law of entropy into a visual language, and incorporate ideas about entropy into my designs. And reflect on new approaches and developments in my artistic process.
Entropy is a term coined by the German physicist Clausius in 1850 to describe the degree of uniformity of energy in space. The more uniformly energy is distributed, the greater the entropy. For an isolated system, entropy is at its maximum when energy is perfectly uniformly distributed.
Time and entropy share the characteristics of being unidirectional and irreversible. Everything evolves from its initial state to its final state, but cannot spontaneously change from its final state to its initial state. In other words, everything has a constant tendency to become more entropic while also becoming less entropic. Entropy and inverse entropy are complementary; the higher the entropy, the lower the inverse entropy of the system: the lower the entropy, the higher the inverse entropy of the system. Schrödinger famously proposed in his book, What is Life, that the organism feeds on negative entropy.
Reflections on my artworks
What is the object of inverse entropy that occurs?
When I was researching the concept of inverse entropy, I observed some regular and orderly phenomena in life and saw the ripples in the lake appearing and disappearing again and again, and the idea of inverse generation came to my mind.
What creative medium is used to represent the reverse visual effect?
At the beginning of my quest to create this project, I was trying to develop an image digitization of entropy in this unit, so I tried to represent the ripples in an anti-entropic environment with a flat digital drawing. I was interested in creating a virtual reality image and wanted to go further and represent the form of water in reverse motion in the image and make this form three-dimensional, so a new attempt was made to create a 3d dynamic effect using modeling software. What helped me a lot in this process was that I could quickly construct the picture I imagined in my head and visually change the lighting, perspective and color through modeling.
How is the concept of inverse entropy reflected in the work?
In Ripple I, I attempted to use static, flat images to depict the appearance of reversal. In Ripples II, by simulating the colour of water ripples in real life and creating an infinite reverse cycle, the viewer is given the impression that it is real and not real, and thus wonders whether entropy can exist in real life. To demonstrate that entropy is an invisible force and that reverse entropy is a positive energy, I incorporated more elements from real-world situations to Ripple II: purification, such as plastic soda bottles and floating objects. Viewers may wonder whether the water's transformation from murky to pure is the result of natural forces or human-caused purification. In Reverse splash, the moment when the splash blossoms and disappears in the pond is simulated by capturing a life scene. An observational animation is used to show the unique image of the water splash as it moves in reverse.
Ripples II
Between 1994 and 2004, the artist Mona Hautoum created two distinct installations that share the same principles but have different sizes. A metal arm with teeth on one side moves continuously to form a groove, and a metal arm without teeth moves continuously to smooth out the groove. Something is made and something is destroyed every second. As time passed, they were continually made and then vanished. The work is called +and - . Every time a quantity is added, an equal amount is subtracted. My understanding is that a cycle or repetition characterises daily existence. This installation incorporates the idea of entropy. For instance, if we don't frequently clean our rooms, we will be covered with dust. Plants sprout in spring and lie dormant in winter. Humans need to eat every day to mitigate the increase in entropy.
Mona Hatoum，+ and – (1994), 8 x 30 x 30cm
Mona Hatoum，+ and – (2004)，(27 cm) high x (400.1 cm) diameter.
In Entropy and The New Monuments, Robert Smithson wrote: "The work of many artists has provided tangible visibility to the second law of thermodynamics, bringing the figurative form of entropy to life in the form of works of art.
His works show us that energy growth in the universe is much more difficult than energy consumption. These artworks also show the future end of the universe, when all energy is exhausted, and everything returns to nothingness."
This artwork makes people aware of the increasing entropy with the passage of time by observing the changes in man-made scenes.
Under the invisible force of entropy, this work of art takes on different states as it changes over time and eventually perishes in its natural environment, thus demonstrating a process of slowly increasing entropy.
Robert Smithson，Spiral Jetty (1970)
Ripples II: purification
Another American artist, Michael Heizer, completed his work Double Negative at the same time. In contrast to the concept of Robert's construction, Heizer excavated and cut two huge gullies to create an imaginary line. This work also illustrates the earth artist's view of art, creating it through the combined forces of man and nature. With the growing awareness of the dangers of pollution and over-consumption, Heizer seeked to re-establish the relationship between man and nature, thus drawing greater attention to nature and the relationship between man and nature.
Michael Heizer,Double Negative (1969-1970)
So, I researched a piece about the impact of Coke plastic bottles on water pollution. Coupled with this iconic source of plastic pollution, I modeled a scene of a Coke bottle floating in the water. Through a triptych composition, the contaminated water is placed in an inverse entropy environment, where it is continuously cycled from turbid to clear, returning to the original state of the water body. In the process of improving the animation, I wanted to express the regression of time and use the change of the image to show the increase of entropy to the decrease of entropy, to build a tangible image of entropy in water. In this improved animation of mine, I tried to convey some thoughts to the viewer from my animation: reverse entropy is a positive energy, against which entropy increases. And there is no explanation in my animation whether this is a purification by human action or a force of nature; either way, positive energy needs to be provided to maintain order, i.e., entropy reduction.
When you photograph a splash, you’re freezing a moment and it becomes something else. I realise that a splash could never be seen this way in real life, it happens too quickly. And I was amused by this, so I painted it in a very, very slow way. --------David Hockney
Reverse splash
The way in which David Hockney depicts the water splashes brings to my mind: the splashes bloom in the water in a single burst, obscuring the figures and allowing the viewer to focus on the transient image. Hockney's painting is evocative, with the static background underscoring the dynamic nature of the waterworks. The two different-sized splashes in the image remind the viewer that perhaps there are two people playing in the pool at this time. Therefore, I have borrowed from this approach. In my animated scene, the pedestrians' footsteps are concealed and played in slow motion to simulate the form of the water splashes in an anti-entropic environment.
David Hockney,
A bigger Splash,
1967
David Hockney,
A Splash,
1966
During this unit, I have become clearer about the direction I want to take. I had planned to present this theme in oil painting, but after continuous exploration and experimentation, I chose to use digital technology to present the final visual effect. Finding a creative direction that suited me as I slowly practiced was a pleasant surprise.
Reference
Robert,S(1970) Spiral Jetty, Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt’s film on Spiral Jetty Available at: https://holtsmithsonfoundation.org/spiral-jetty-film
Mona,H(2004) +and - Available at: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/101550
Michael, H(1969-1970) Double Negative Available at: http://doublenegative.tarasen.net/double-negative
More about Coke bottle pollution Available at:https://theclimatecapitalist.com/articles/coke-worlds-worst-polluter-again
David, H(1967) A bigger Splash Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/bigger-splash-painting-after-performance/bigger-splash-painting
Erwin,S, What is Life? Cambridge: University Press.1944