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Negative Entrophy - A glass sculpture and installation

This sculptural installation (Installation built in situ 4mm float glass, nylon monofilament, Perspex, steel and wood) was produced for the ‘Kith and Kin – New Glass and Ceramics’ exhibition at the National Glass Centre curated by Peter Davies and Kevin Petrie. The piece emerged from Rennie’s research into 3D modelling using the ‘Rhino’ modelling software and water-jet cutting of glass. The work pays homage to the idea of negative entropy, akin to a sliver of time and reminiscent of a ‘Gaussian Curve’, mirrored in 3 dimensions. The elements at the edges of the structure are random disordered and chaotic. These elements are gradually focussed towards the centre becoming ordered as a structure emerges. This structure is then dissipated returning to disorder at the opposite side of the form. The work is non-directional, its symmetry allows it to be viewed similarly from either end. The wires form an analytical grid or an intrinsic fabric, which both suspends and partially obscures the structure. Rennie’s work shifts glass art from its usual plinth based presentation to occupy a more ethereal space.

The piece was accompanied by a new printed artwork for the ‘Kith and Kin’ exhibition at the National Glass Centre (Nov 2011-Feb 2012).

An Arts Council England assessment of the exhibition commented on the immediate impact of Rennie’s piece as well as the possibility for ‘further rewarding scrutiny’.

Rennie discussed this work and his research of archetypal thought experiments such as Maxwell's Demon to describe concepts, focusing of Erwin Schrodinger's coinage of the term "negative entropy," at the ‘Kith and Kin New Glass and Ceramics Symposium (10 Feb 2012).

Aspects of this work have been published in the 'Craft Design' chapter of 'The Design Student's Handbook', edited by Jane Bartholomew and Steve Rutherford, Pearson Education Limited, 2013, ISBN 978-4082-2028-3.