There’s something safe and detached about very large statistics. The 29,569 gun-related deaths in the U.S. in 2004, for example. The 2.3 million Americans incarcerated in 2005. The 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags used in the U.S. every hour. But there’s nothing like a creative visual to bring the scale of those numbers into focus.
Which is what makes Chris Jordan’s current work so interesting. Sure, it’s a bit polemical. But there’s power in actually seeing a statistic — like the 106,000 aluminum cans American’s use every 30 seconds — laid out to mimic Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
For a little more perspective, also see Ben Mauntner’s Population:One web page, depicting an individual (you) in relation to the current total population of the earth.
Thanks, as ever, to information aesthetics for both links.
Stunning work! These images would be a great educational tool for environmental groups. Any chance that they could be available on DVD? If you have locations for exhibitions, I’d love to know where they will be!