"The World is Your Studio": Identifying a Correlation Between the Idea of Minimalism in Art and Quantum Mutual Information

Abstract

This research project investigates the concept of minimalism in art and its connection to the theoretical practices employed to solve problems in quantum physics. By incorporating the concept of agential realism, which is derived from both quantum physics and philosophy, I aim to present a new interpretation of post-minimal art that is influenced by a formal and conceptual perspective.

Situated within the realm of contemporary painting, my artistic practice employs repetitive and undulating lines of paint, as well as site-specific works created using geometric painted-paper cut-outs. Through these techniques, I aim to explore how painting can abstractly represent time and space. The challenge of working within constraints informs my artistic process, resulting in works that systematically expand upon minimal painting and examine the containment of labour and life in a visual form.

Within this framework, a multitude of exhibition possibilities are established, and comparisons are drawn between the activity of matter on a quantum level and human responses to time and space. Physicist Karen Barad's observations of quantum weirdness and how matter behaves in the quantum realm resonate with this exploration, as they enable us to develop new ways of thinking. Additionally, ideas related to the concept of agential realism, which encompasses the nature of difference, space, time, matter, causality, and agency, are considered.

This interdisciplinary approach intersects with the fields of physics and art history, and its effectiveness is tested through distinct bodies of work.