The entropy of a closed system can only increase, and will never decrease

Date
2010
Authors
Atkins, Michael
Supervisor
Braddock, Chris
Item type
Thesis
Degree name
Master of Art and Design
Journal Title
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Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

The aim of this practice-based art project is to explore the necessary absurdities of the established systems of scientific exploration, and how those absurdities are amplified when that exploration is undertaken by a layperson. I am presenting the resulting data in its raw state, with no condensation, or concession to user-friendliness. The way that this information is being unpacked and expanded mirrors the second law of thermodynamics, which mandates the expansion of entropy (in this context entropy can be read as information) in a closed system, which can never decrease, and will only increase. In doing this, I am attempting to take those absurdities to the level of the sublime, so that the effort that the pieces require is felt when one views the piece. In order to access that sense of the sublime, it is important that everything I do, I take to its maximum logical conclusion. For that reason, I use computers extensively because I am able to get much more done, and therefore "everything that I can do" will be much closer that that sublime infinite. The proviso to computer usage is that I cannot do anything whose processes I do not understand, so that the computer does not rob me of the need to exert mental effort, and so that the viewer can still get a sense of that effort.

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Keywords
Entropy , Art , Conceptual , Computer , Codes , Installation
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