In the first two installments of my Perfect American series I illustrated how I’m a perfect American because of my impatience and wastefulness, i.e. pouring water down the drain that had been sitting out too long because it may have gone bad. On the recommendation of a friend I visited Chris Jordan’s website to take a look at his photography projects and what I discovered were not only amazing photos but also a collection of amazing art projects that visually represent just how wasteful we are as Americans. In one installment he features images that are made up of used oil barrels, discarded cell phones, etc. When first looking at the images you can’t tell they are composed of one specific item but as you zoom in it becomes clear that his medium is waste. Each image contains a specific number of items, one is made up of 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds. As you read the descriptions and take the journey as the images zoom, it becomes an eye opening experience. Another project features decaying seagull corpses. The decay reveals their stomach content which is mostly human trash, plastic bottle caps, lighters, etc. It is a stark reminder that other species stomachs are now becoming our landfills.
Here are links to these projects.
Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait
Enjoy.
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