Barbie dolls (detail at actual size)
Depicts 32,000 Barbies, equal to the number of elective breast augmentation surgeries performed monthly in the US in 2006.
Tuna (detail at actual size) Tuna Jet trails (detail at actual size) Jet trails (partial zoom) Jet trails Log yard, Washington 2005 Barbie dolls (detail at actual size) Barbie dolls (partial zoom) Barbie dolls Plastic cups (detail at actual size) Plastic cups (partial zoom) Plastic cups Office paper (detail at actual size) Office paper (partial zoom) Office paper Plastic bottles (detail at acutal size) Plastic bottles (partial zoom) Plastic bottles Cell phones (detail at actual size) Cell phones (partial zoom) Cell Phones Paper bags (detail at actual size) Paper bags (partial zoom) Paper bags Light Bulbs (detail at actual size) Light Bulbs
Chris Jordan was born in 1963 in San Francisco and currently lives in Seattle.
Jordan’s work explores the complex phenomenon of American mass consumption. His most recent series, titled Running The Numbers, examines the cumulative effects of contemporary American culture through the lens of statistics. His previous series, titled Intolerable Beauty, depicted the appalling accumulated detritus of mass consumer society. Vivid color and striking compositions make Jordan's imagery engaging on a purely aesthetic level, while the message conveyed by his subject matter makes his work relevant socially as well.
Chris’s work has been widely exhibited in the United States and Europe, and his images have been featured in magazines and web logs worldwide. His prints are held in more than one hundred public and private collections.
Artist Statement:
“This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. My underlying desire is to affirm and sanctify the crucial role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.
My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned.”
-Chris Jordan, Seattle, 2007
Please note that all paneled works are offered in editions of 4 plus 1 AP, with 1/4 reserved by the artist. All other works in this series are offered in editions of 6 plus 2 APs.
FRAMING CONFIGURATION: Prints are face-mounted to 1/16” or 1/8” P-99 Non-reflective Plexiglass (1/16” is preferable; 1/8” is second choice). Prints are then backed with plexiglass also, to ensure dimensional rigidity. Then that mounted piece is backed with sintra or dibond, and braced with wood for further stability. The pieces are float mounted in a 2” deep maple frame with 3/4” face and 1/4” float. Standard frame finish is three coats of whitewash, with a coat of clear satin spray polyurethane over the top. Final frame color should be pale neutral white. Some prints have different finishes; see individual images notes for details. Signature plates are printed on watercolor paper, to be mounted on the verso.