Running the Numbers - An American Self-Portrait

Okay, see, my husband came back home and then I don't post anything for almost two months! But then Tripp sent me a link to this artist's site and I think his work is so awesome and such a great representation of all the things I write about here that it spurred me on to finally write a new post.


So this artist, Chris Jordan, has created these massive images that visually reinforce just how much we as Americans consume on a regular basis. And I don't just mean food or clothing. The first image on his site is of 213,000 Vicodin pills and it depicts the number of emergency room visits in America each year due to misuse or abuse of prescription pain killers. And when you read the number 213,000 or think of it in your head, it's just too big to comprehend, really. So seeing it represented concretely really takes the message home.

There's another image of 2.3 million folded prison uniforms, that's how many people were in the American prison system in 2005. 2.3 million people. That's pretty much everyone you know, and then everyone they know, and then everyone they know....I mean it's more than we as humans can wrap our brains around.

He also recreates the famous Seurat painting using 106, 000 cans, the number of cans used in America every 30 seconds. 106,000 cans every 30 freaking seconds! This is why I hate all you people that don't recycle. Bastards.

So, it's a cool site. I can't tell from the site if he's showing his pieces anywhere in the U.S. currently. If anyone has heard of this guy and knows if he is indeed showing his work somewhere, please do tell, I would definitely like to see these images as they were meant to be seen - big and in your face.