A Night of Negentropy
Experiencing immersive arts
Written by Sarah Kirsch, Contributing Writer
Photographed by Jay (@zilingjguo on Instagram)
On Feb. 6, the Performing Arts Committee (PAC) held their most ambitious project yet: Negentropy. The word means “reverse entropy” or the opposite of randomness and chaos (Negentropy, 2021). That night was PAC’s February Community Performance Showcase, taking place at the Play Circle. The event’s goal was to create multimedia, collaborative and intuitive art, and the goal was flawlessly reached.
Visionary artist Serendipity Stage, violinist Sahada Buckley, bassist Andy Jones and dancers Tye Trondson and Aki Burayidi collaborated to make this night happen. Accompanied by a video and recorded narration, the artists influenced each other and improvised their creations. As narrated in the video, the art emphasized embracing chaos and accepting it to be a necessary part of life.
The show was the perfect mix of individuality, unity and community. Hannah Bruder, an Associate Director of PAC, said the show surpassed her expectations, “I knew the general plan and that the artists were going to come together, but I had no idea how it would all come out, especially with the color and clothing changes.” Even though the show was improvised, Hannah and I had goosebumps the entire time. As the general mood changed, the colors, music and art changed as well, opening the artists’ emotions for viewers to feel. The five artists had never worked all together until that night, and each stood out individually while blending to create beautiful art.
The narrator’s description of chaos being a necessary part of life stood out to me the most. While many usually think of chaos as unwanted or disruptive, it changed my perspective and made me want to explore the chaos in my life. The art made me think about my own negative experiences and how some have created better long-term outcomes than I ever would’ve expected. Reflecting on any experience, positive or negative, is important for growth and perspective.
Not only did Negentropy change my perspective, but it also reminded me how much I miss creating my own art. At the end of the show, PAC invited the audience to create their own collages and art with a bag of art supplies. Many audience members jumped right into creating, and it showed how art inspires more art. Sometimes, all you need is a spark to start creating; the event did just that. The artists were brought together for the performance, as was the audience.
Negentropy received much positive feedback from students, PAC members and community members. Abby Arkley, the Programming Associate Director of PAC, had an important role in organizing the event. After the performance, she said, “This was such an incredible experience; I went through so many personal emotions. I definitely felt the effects of the chaos and then there would be moments of order. And then suddenly the chaos would somehow put itself into order, and it was unreal. I was thinking of so many aspects of my life through the various performances. I just thought it was beautiful seeing everyone’s individual passion, talent- the synergy between the artists was just incredible. I took a lot out of today; I have a lot of things to think about in terms of how I approach life.”
PAC and the Wisconsin Union Directorate are hosting more upcoming events! Some to keep an eye out for are Horse Jumper of Love on Feb. 24, Pacho Flores with the UW Symphony Orchestra on Mar. 5, Tonstartssbandht on Mar. 6 and MICHELLE on Mar. 9.
Sources:
Negentropy. (2021, June 7). Simple English Wikipedia.