Total chaos or merely grave entropy?

What in the world is entropy and just what does it have to do with art?

en·tro·py (ĕn'trə-pē) n., pl. -pies.
• (Symbol S) For a closed thermodynamic system, a quantitative measure of the amount of thermal energy not available to do work.
• A measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system.
• A measure of the loss of information in a transmitted message.
• The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity.
• Inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society.

I found this word today in one of my many e-newsletters. It was actually in reference to a statement by an earth-artist.

Which led to further inquiry. What in the sam-hill* is Earth Art? and aren't we all Earth artists? Well. No. Not exactly.

Oh. Okay. I knew about the spiral jetty- but, had never thought to consider who the artist behind it was.

Robert Smithson is the man behind this and it was an interview with Alison Sky that he made reference to the term entropy. As it turns out- time, erosion and pedestrians have taken it's toll on the spiral and now there are plans to drill nearby which would cause it to further disintegrate. Apparently, before his death, Mr Smithson had already anticipated the demise of the creation and wasn't all that concerned with the inevitable.

Oh. Okay. Intriguing. But, now I need more Earth Art!

WOW! I never thought of it before.. but a child on the beach building a sand-castle is a Land (Earth) Artist!
I really was intrigued with this sand art!
It looks like a quilt pattern- imagine if someone were to see it from an airplane. They might suspect that it was outer-space Grannies that were attempting to cover the land-masses and protect the beaches from predators!



And consider this stone river in CA.

Maybe the builders of China's Great Wall were more interested in aesthetics than actually keeping out Genghis Khan, Marco Polo and the rest of the worldly infidels? What if we interpreted in wrongly all these years, ha!

* Another word of trivia I had to google. Sam Hill (euphemism) - Sam Hill is an American English slang phrase.