Entropy Is The Strongest Reality of the Universe, And You Gotta Deal With It. Every Day
If you do not take care of yourself and your art, entropy will.
Ah, entropy, the universe’s relentless reminder that everything is in a never-ending mambo with chaos and decay.
ENTROPY:
lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.
“a marketplace where entropy reigns supreme”
This concept has piqued the interest of scientists, sociologists, science fiction authors, and artists for decades.
A fascination with decay, death, disorder, and chaos has been the theme for everything from art to poetry to the big screen.
We see it all around us, in the large and the small.
The Inescapable Grip of Entropy
The earth is growing older. The life that lives upon it is changing. Continents shift, animals become extinct, order is created, and then we watch as it slowly, and without a moment of hesitation, it melts away into utter chaos and disorder.
Maybe that’s what it is supposed to do. I am not privy to the inner workings of the world, or the mystical challenges it brings. I simply look around and observe.
Whether a cactus slowly decaying in the desert, or a coastline losing an inch every decade, change is all around us.
Unstoppable, and without emotion.
The Artist Needs Chaos to Bring Order
One of the things that art has done over the centuries is try to bring order to the natural chaos it sees. As a photographer, I use a camera, a lens, and a frame to try to isolate or include parts of the world into a final image.
Exclusion is as vital as inclusion. What we leave out makes what we leave in more powerful and noteworthy. We call it composition, but it is actually an attempt to create something interesting, or beautiful, or impactful from the randomness of the natural world.
Whether it is a portrait, a still life, or a landscape, the frame is our tool for exchanging chaos for a deliberately presented piece of art.
Creativity is the natural foe of entropy.
Well, that, and paying attention to it.
Change, The Final Frontier
OK, Star Trek reference noted. Understanding that change is only constant and that it bears no responsibility to be good or bad because it is incapable of making those human judgments, is one of the fundamental realities of our times.
Some people say the world is changing for the worse, while others say it isn’t changing at all, and still others think it is all going in the right direction.
They are all right, of course.
And all of them are haplessly and totally wrong.
The world doesn't know good or bad, it just keeps changing. It doesn’t choose right or wrong. It has no moral filter, or ethical choices to make.
It just follows the rule of entropy and keeps changing.
Right in front of our eyes.
We want to judge it, but we cannot. We are neither smart enough, nor powerful enough to make that judgment. Although far too many of us believe we are. The delusions of power.
The world is perfect as it is. It has no way of deciding its own virtue.
Entropy is far more powerful a force than we could ever muster.
The Paradox of Decay
Here’s where it gets interesting. While entropy signifies the eventual decline and disorder of all things, it also serves as a powerful catalyst for creativity.
Knowing that nothing lasts forever can spur artists to pour their souls into their work, and capture the ephemeral beauty of a moment before it’s gone, to find the notes of a perfect melody, or string words together so incredibly that it can bring a tear to the eye of even the most casual reader.
I am reminded of a video by Gary Vaynerchuk. A young woman notices him getting into a cab and shouts, “Tell me something motivating, Gary”, without a beat he answers.
“You’re gonna die.”
It’s a reminder to live and create with intention, with a vigor that defies the very essence of entropy.
Cycles of Creation
Artists repurpose old materials, find new ways to express timeless emotions, and, in doing so, breathe life into the seemingly lifeless.
A real and metaphorical stand against entropy plays out every time we create something new.
Write a new song? Take that, entropy.
Make a new photograph? Stick it, entropy.
Write an article, paint a wall, create a limerick? FU, entropy.
While entropy is constantly trying to dissolve into chaos, or decay into nothingness, we fight back by bringing something new to the world.
A piece of art, a melody, a child, even the sound of a new puppy where one has never been.
Yeah, entropy, you fuck, we can change too.
We can choose to rise above the chaos, to forge order and beauty from the jaws of entropy.
So What Do We Do About It?
Well, for starters, we look at what we are doing at a macro level and a thirty-thousand-foot level.
We should have a why.
The why is where we base all of our strength, all of our efforts. Without a why, we will give up at the first sign of a problem.
Ick.
We need to be aware of how entropy can kill our art, destroy our motivation, wreak havoc with our personal lives, and present an almost insurmountable challenge if we let it win.
Of course, it will win, eventually.
But that doesn’t mean we go quietly into that good night.
No way, Jose’.
We go kicking and screaming and totally out of juice if we do it right.
The Importance of Sharing Art
Creating art isn’t enough.
We have to create excitement, interest, and magic.
For the world, and us.
It’s the magic that will stave off the darkness — or at least give it a hell of a shot.
We do that by making art and sharing it.
With everyone we can.
Again and again and again.
We write more, shoot more, sculpt more, compose more, paint more, dance more. Whatever it is that we do, we do it more and more to get the power to face entropy and laugh.
At least for a while.
At least while we can.
Especially while we can.
Cultivate a Mindset of Continuous Striving
I refer to it as “The Art of Perpetual Motion”.
In the pursuit of “something important”, it’s the journey and exploration that is most important
Sure, the destination feels good, but without the focused effort of the journey, there would be no final result, no destination reached.
Set goals for your art that challenge and expand on your boundaries. Hell, set goals that exceed everyone’s boundaries.
To get huge results, we need higher goals. Madmen and obsessed women produce the biggest results. There is no sin in dreaming bigger than most.
Their loss.
Your passion.
Embrace Entropy as Inspiration
Going back to our discussion on entropy, it’s a powerful metaphor for the creative process.
The knowledge that nothing lasts forever should not be a cause for despair but a call to action — a powerful motivator to create, share, and impact the world before the inevitable advance of decay.
A romantic, yet profoundly practical, perspective on the urgency of creation.
And the urgency, and ultimate wonder, of life.
Hi, I’m Don Giannatti, a photographer and mentor for up-and-coming photographers. You can find me on my website, Don Giannatti, and at my Substack site, where I also publish for creative people. All subscribers to my Substack have access to a free, long-form workshop on the business of commercial and professional photography.
