Entropy

Artist: Abdullah Khan

w42″ x h33″ | Acrylic on canvas

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164 separately painted layers to form this chaos vs ordered composition. The black in the background is not really black at all, but three sections each of deep blue, deep green and deep red, from top to bottom.

The whites are simply that, white, except most sections have additional layers for extra luminosity. Brush strokes are visible but with an overall fine surface finish. The cubes and stripes were initially masked to paint the dark background so it wouldn’t affect the quality of white. Each small cube on the left has three distinct sections, one face and two sides, all painted separately. Which means that due to the large amount of lines, the effect of light is quite stunning, reflecting the edges of their lines from different angles.

As a universal law of nature, things tend toward chaos and disorder when left to themselves, and energy is required to bring the system back to an ordered, coherent state. Thing is, as entropy is reduced and things get more and more organised, you tend to need more and more energy to remove the last remnants of chaos, a perfectly organised and efficient system always achievable yet ever so slightly out of reach.

Quality materials are used to ensure longevity: This painting should last for many decades if properly maintained.