ENTROPY
Facial expressions are perhaps the oldest form of human communication—before words, before language, we understood each other through the shifting contours of our faces. I was drawn into the intricate layers of Seth Bullough’s work, captivated by the raw simplicity of his message. His portraits, rendered in thick black lines, smudges, and tears, revealed something elemental—an emotional language that transcends words. His process fascinated me: the lifting of color through tape, the act of removal as much as addition, the building of layers upon layers. It wasn’t just about what was created, but also what was taken away.
In his work, I saw a reflection of my own process—an intuitive arrangement of flowers, guided by an unspoken sense of placement, growth, and decay. A single thought leads to the next: where does the next flower go? How will it lay? How will it change over time? Like Seth’s process, mine is one of constant editing—first a flurry of additions, then a gradual removal. I have always sought ways to take away, to distill, to let things be undone.
This act of removal connects to the concept of entropy—the natural state of disorder, the irreversible passage of time. With no effort, no intervention, things change. Flowers wilt, relationships shift, memories fade. Entropy exists all around us, shaping our experiences in ways we don’t always perceive until we pause to notice.
Floral Installation – A Study of Entropy
For this piece, I used aged bamboo poles, placing them seemingly at random. Some were hung without much thought, left to sway naturally, while others remained untouched, resting as they were brought into the space. One bamboo pole was placed horizontally, a visual anchor symbolizing order—a fleeting moment of low entropy amidst inevitable change.
I selected flowers that had already undergone transformation—dried, altered in color, stripped of their fragrance. Flowers that, in their stillness, carry the marks of time and intervention. Their presence here is not just about beauty, but about the process of change, about what has been lost and what remains.
Interactive Art – Entropy in Relationships
To explore entropy in human connection, I curated three songs, each downloaded onto an MP3 player. Viewers are asked to select a song at random—without knowing what they will hear—and take a seat in one of two chairs placed in the center of the installation. Facing each other, they listen.
This moment, silent but full of sound, is entropy in action. A single, unplanned choice alters their experience, shaping their perception of the person sitting before them. Without realizing it, they have entered a moment of transformation—one they may not be able to articulate, but one that exists nonetheless.
With this work, I invite the viewer to witness entropy not as destruction, but as a quiet force—one that shapes our relationships, our emotions, and the passage of time itself.
