Blue Rabbit Assignment – 1st Iteration
Otis Lambert
In a world where entropy is increasingly fought against with the goal of its removal; how does that affect creation and the creative process?
In the essay Michel Mendès France and Alain Hénaut wrote for MIT Press, titled Art, Therefore Entropy, they put forth the theory that entropy and complexity are crucial to art. They begin with a basic definition of entropy, defining it as something similar to complexity. An example they give of entropy heavy work is Jackson Pollock, who’s famous splatter paintings contain massive amounts of information due to the way that paint falls on the campus in a seemingly random fashion. To dissect and order the information on the canvas would be next to impossible. There is no denying that this work is at least somewhat removed from the world of skill-based fine art; and, while to say that his paintings are lacking in concepts would be untrue, there is no denying that their primary draw is not the conceptual aspects. This all points to the power of entropy with regards art and its appreciation (obviously, this carries out to the world as a whole as well).
Interestingly, it is my observation that there has been a strong push to eradicate entropy from the world we live in. It should go without saying that this feat is hopeless, but nonetheless, the move to quantify and organize all aspects of life is reaching to unseen heights.
It is my belief that this, among other things, is responsible for the popularity of 3D printers. If I were to whittle a small turtle out of wood, even if I were the most accomplished whittler in the world, the turtle would be far from perfect. The shell would be asymmetrical, the size of the legs would be uneven, and the proportions would certainly be off, even if only by a miniscule amount. While 3D printers are unable to promise perfection (there are always some unwanted ridges), they offer an ordered shape, where every part of an object is doing exactly what was set forth by the mind, and in the same way as envisioned. Obviously for many things, this is a tremendous accomplishment. For most practical uses of a 3D printer, this is necessary feature.
For the physical manifestation of my project, I plan to show a move from the orderly to the entropic through a series of increasingly decaying layers. As Gertrude Stein observed, there are no right angles found in nature, so the base layer of my project will rely heavily on those. As the structure moves upward, the supports for these squares will be unable to do what they should, and the “intended” right angles will be forced to subside, making the upper sections of the structure into a much more natural form.
Pirelli Tire Building
To the left is an image of the Pirelli Tire building, designed by Marcel Breuer, an architect and designer who has been called a “master of modernism.” His works were large while beautiful, many of the shapes were unnatural. Fittingly (considering his title), the majority of his designs put the emphasis on function over form. While this philosophy has aided in the creation of many great buildings and more, it is exactly what I hope to move away from in my Blue Rabbit Project.
To the right is a photograph of a decayed, and since petrified piece of wood. The lines are soft and smooth, and influential to what I have envisioned as the appearance of the upper portion of my object. This natural level of entropy is symbolic of the creative process of nature, something to which human beings are intrinsically attached.
Bibliography:
- France, Michael , and Alan Hénaut. “Art, Thefore Entropy.” Leonardo 27.3 (1994): 219-221. Print.
- Ramalingam, Ben. “Benoit Mandelbrot – A True Philosopher Prophet.” Aid on the Edge of Chaos. N.p., 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://aidontheedge.info/2010/10/19/benoit-mandelbrot-a-true-philosopher-prophet/>.
- Ramalingam, Ben. “Benoit Mandelbrot – A True Philosopher Prophet.” Aid on the Edge of Chaos. N.p., 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://aidontheedge.info/2010/10/19/benoit-mandelbrot-a-true-philosopher-prophet/>.
2 comments so far
8:31 pm - 10-21-2014
You have a marvelous idea, and I love your sense of art as well especially the appreciation of chaos and spontaneous information, in my opinion modernism often looks boring lacks a surrealist touch and is just a bunch of concrete or granite rectangles so its cool to me your idea is gonna be inspired by nature natural processes and patterns of chaos and wilderness, for no artist can compete with what nature creates so props for trying to work in tune with nature not counter it like so many modern massive structures seem to do.
3:08 am - 10-28-2014
“In a world where entropy is increasingly fought against with the goal of its removal; how does that affect creation and the creative process?”
It would seem that this is the question that you aim to investigate through your blue rabbit project. Initially, I was very curious about how you intended to embody and explore this, ending with a physical manifestation, but I like the direction you’re thinking in. I think your question is loaded and very important, especially in the context of this program.
With a quick google search entropy is defined as: lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.
This seems sort of like the opposite of 3D printers’s aim, yet somehow definitely tied in. With greater potential for manufacturing and creation it seems there is also a greater chance that things will move unpredictably, chaotically. The more things are made on earth, the more there is for artists to work with but this is also reason to make art that uses very little, or nothing at all. As with the exploration of the modernists and post-modernists of the 20th century.
Now that we have entered an age where very, very, very many things exist virtually, artists are finding ways to use and work against virtuality. The idea of your final piece of work being made by a 3D printer, starting off calmly, collected and expectedly and then blooming, decaying, and taking natural form is beautiful. The idea sounds like the mourning of made matter, letting form loose. I think your images do a wonderful job of portraying the kind of juxtaposition you are writing about.
I feel like I used the word exploration a whole lot but it really seems to encompass the kind of journey we are all on right now. Your thought that one of the main attractions to 3D printing is the potential to eliminate chaos is very interesting. Perhaps it is the sensory interaction, environment and air of the printers that induces this feeling (of control?). Perhaps it is the taking of an idea and putting it into the coldness of a computer that makes it all seem more rational. I am highly interested in the area of chaos and unpredictability involved with these printers and I can’t wait to see what you do. Also I am reading that article you told me about that you also used. Thanks.