Flourishing Through Entropy: A Dialectical Reimagining in Virtual Reality Ecological Art

Abstract The author argues that flourishing and entropy are dialectically intertwined processes, where entropy—understood as a redistribution or “turning toward” loosening of order—enables collective flourishing in ecological and artistic contexts. This perspective challenges anthropocentric traditions in Earth art by exposing their extractive logic and reimagining them through an entropic lens. By contrasting the exploitative monumentality of Earth art (exemplified by artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer) with the entropic material ethics of Mono-ha (exemplified by Lee Ufan), the article situates the interactive VR artwork Toward Entropy (2025) as a practice-based philosophical argument rather than a mere simulation. The article positions virtual reality environmental art as a speculative platform for cultivating moral imagination and sustaining flourishing amid planetary change.