Every year the Denison community adopts an academic theme that guides the exploration of issues affecting our small spot in Ohio and the world at large. This year, the college has taken on the idea of “consumption,” weaving it into the curriculum, performances, service activities, and guest lectures. In the midst of all this inquiry, we discovered Chris Jordan, an artist and activist, whose work forces viewers to face our collective actions. On the following pages, Denison Magazine presents a few of Jordan’s images as a small contribution to this year’s campus-wide conversation.
Go Ahead, Have Another
106,000: The number of aluminum cans used to replicate this painting by Georges-Pierre Seurat, equal to the number of cans used in the United States every thirty seconds. (“Cans Seurat,” 2007)
Alright already,
we can hear you
426,000: The number of cell phones retired in the United States every day. (“Cell Phones,” 2007)
All dolled up
32,000: The number of elective breast augmentation surgeries performed monthly in the United States in 2006, represented here by the same number of Barbie dolls. (“Barbie Dolls,” 2008)
In a puff
200,000: The number of Americans who die every six months from illnesses associated with cigarette smoking, and the number of cigarette packs used to create this image. (“Skull with Cigarette,” 2008)
Riding the Wave
2.4 million: the estimated number of pounds of plastic that enter the worldís oceans every hour. All of the plastic in this image was collected from the Pacific Ocean. (“Gyre,” 2008)
All images © Chris Jordan. To see more work by Chris Jordan, visit chrisjordan.com.