Unsettlingly shaped spiders. Sensitive sketch photography. Toads feasting at a dining room table. The Entropy art show curated by Fisher Collective on August 19 housed an ensemble of experimental artwork by young creatives.
Hosted at the Happy Goat on Hopewell Avenue, Entropy provided a communal atmosphere for local youth artists to produce unconventional pieces and talk about the artistic field’s future.
The show’s centrepiece was a blank canvas centred atop a pillar and placed near the front door. As each attendee added a personal touch of paint upon entering the cafe, the canvas slowly transformed into a complex work of art over the course of the night.
Entropy is a chemistry term for the measure of a system’s randomness. Meticulously reflecting the show’s title, the featured artwork and canvas were unpredictable. From daring monochrome depictions of the human form surrounded by bubbles, to revolutionizing traditionally spooky symbols, the mix-match of art pieces made for a chaotic night.
Entropy featured work by local artists Flynn Graham, Isabel Evans, Sierra McLean, Amelia Tran and more.
“My art is more about the colour and the texture. It’s more an abstract mess than it is anything coherent,” he said.
Graham said the strangeness of his friends’ styles was something he wanted to spotlight.
“All the art by [McLean] and [Tran] are these really surrealist paintings of everyday things, but because there’s just this looming strangeness about them, it feels kind of chaotic,” he said. “You can’t really settle in on anything.”
He added he loves the close-knit arts scene in Ottawa.
“It’s not like Montreal or Toronto, where it’s hard to get off the ground as an artist. I find people here are much more inclusive and excited for whatever it is you do, make, see [or] play,” he said.
Co-curated by Evans and Graham, the show’s setting reflected a communal feeling. A sofa placed next to an electronic music DJ booth with some of Graham’s nature photographs strung above created a bedroom-like atmosphere. Cozy detailing and decadent refreshments throughout the cafe added to the intimacy of the event.
McLean, a communication and media studies student in her final year at Carleton, said Entropy felt refreshing, as she usually presents her work at formal, less friendly art shows.
McLean said her artwork aims to make people feel less alone.
“[My art] brings people together and finds some shared experiences, whether it’s nostalgia or just the related discomfort of existing in general,” she said.
She added she’s disappointed Carleton does not offer a fine arts program.
Tran shared the same critique and argued for the sustenance of arts spaces. She grew up in Ottawa but went to Queen’s for its fine arts and education program—which is now being shut down.
“[The arts aren’t] as respected as other fields and is looked down upon as something less academic, which is completely untrue,” she said.
Though the event was calm at first, people gradually filled in. By the end, the cafe was packed, with many attendees demonstrating their appreciation for the young artists’ creations as prints flew off the vending table.
Attendee Kat Thornly shared her gratitude for the event.
“It was awesome. I really like coming out to stuff like this because I feel like it never happens. I never get to see my friends in public spaces, and also new artists,” Thornly said.
The collective randomness of Entropy brought refreshing honesty to the event.
“It was not overly polished in a way that’s disingenuous,” Thornly added. “It was literally just people putting their art up on the wall, which I like. I know [Graham] puts a lot of work into making it feel authentic.”
Featured image by Kaitlin Truong.
