Ardi Gunawan Indonesian, b. 1983
At the heart of this painting is a study of entropy, filtered through the lens of Disney—more specifically, Donald Duck. In the original source, Donald encounters a cow, but I’ve replaced the cow with an orangutan to localize the scene. The orangutan functions as a synecdoche for the environmental crisis—an icon of ecological collapse.
Entropy, a concept from thermodynamic physics, describes the inevitable progression of a system from order to disorder. It refers to a tipping point where the energy of a system becomes irreversibly scattered—no longer able to return to its original state. But in this image, that critical point is suspended—frozen mid-air. It teases the viewer with the question: Has disorder arrived, or is it still coming?
By pausing the moment just before collapse, the work invites the eye to oscillate—moving back and forth, looping endlessly in a mental feedback system. In that loop, there is an energy of constant negotiation, of trying (and failing) to reverse or delay disorder.
This painting explores the paradox between seriousness and play—the tension between scientific discourse and pop-cultural imagery. It’s an experiment in learning about serious systems (like entropy or environmental decay) through the aesthetics of the cute. Or maybe, it’s an attempt to make the cute carry the weight of serious science."