Entropy and Egypt

http://www.robertsmithson.com/essays/entropy.htm and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/02/egyptian-museum-on-fire-f_n_817532.html

Here’s a Smithson quote that I also feel gets to the heart of my concerns, it’s part of his seminal writing, The Monuments of Passaic:

"I am convinced that the future is lost somewhere in the dumps of the non-historical past; it is in yesterday's newspapers, in the jejune advertisements of science-fiction movies, in the false mirror of our rejected dreams. Time turns metaphors into things, and stacks them up in cold rooms, or places them in the celestial playgrounds of the suburbs."

And finally here are my questions:

Questions about the reading itself:

Smithson mentions that entropy essential is a trending toward balance, how do you feel this relates to a creative practice’s trending toward completion? When you hit a wall in your practice or in a piece, the work tends to fall apart in pieces and you can put it together again. It is natural to have it break apart in order to observe all of the pieces. 

Having been written in the early 1970’s this conversation mentions both energy crisis and the derelict remains of floundering housing projects, are these issues specific to the cultural climate, unavoidable and ubiquitous, or a combination of the two? It is a combination. 

Smithson mentions the an intention to sculpt the sides of the Niagara Falls to make it look less “man made” and more natural, how does this relate to idea of entropy? It is absurd, 

 Do you feel that you relate more positively to work that is more idyllic or dialectic, and why? More dialectic, but dialectic work can be idyllic. The fusing of two opposing matters can be in ideal outcome. 

Questions about my work in relationship to the reading: You can see my work on my website at www.nathanskiles.com or in the Keating Annex near the president’s office.

What does it mean to skip order and start from a state of incongruity? Well, it is really a matter of opinion and perspective, who is deciding that it is out of order or not of normal surroundings. Natural order?.. 

Why swim against the current? I thought that the perfect example of this, and the most ridiculous, was in the article where they are talking about shutting down Niagara falls because the natural  erosion of the rocks looked unnatural. 

What do you feel are the essential differences between being a conservative and being a conservationist?

Why do you feel that I chose to include the quote? You thought it was relevant I suppose. 

I decided to include several readings, how do you feel that relates to my studio practice, and why do you feel I do it? I don't think that these ideas come across in your studio practice.