Running the Numbers-- An American Self-Portrait

2007053000:54

人們對於在書本或報導裡所看到的統計數字

往往覺得抽象漠然甚至很難想像其背後代表著什麼樣的意義

於是作者 Chris Jordan 企圖用鏡頭來看當代的美國文化

透過影像來檢視這些龐大且怪異的數字

以下的每一個影像都描述了某一件事情的數量

而這個系列也還在持續進行中....

看了之後實在很震撼 ~~ 而這僅僅是美國 ....

人類驚人的消耗力彷彿所有的資源取之不盡用之不竭

不禁要捏把冷汗地球只有一個啊 !!!!

(我大概翻譯了一下每一個影像的敘述若有謬譯敬請指正!)

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數位攝影師的創作
圖片：從影像看美國的消費數量

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=7

Running the Numbers
An American Self-Portrait

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 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

This series will be exhibited at the Von Lintel Gallery in New York from June 14th to the end of July. Opening reception on June 14th. More info at www.vonlintel.com.

Toothpicks, 2007
60x99"

Depicts 8 million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees harvested in the US every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs.

8百萬根牙籤 = 美國每個月印製郵購目錄的紙張所需砍伐的樹木

Plastic Bottles, 2007
60x120"

Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

2百萬個塑膠飲料瓶 = 美國每五分鐘的消耗量

Partial zoom: (部分放大)

Detail at actual size: (實際尺寸)

Cigarettes, 2007
60x82"

Depicts 65,000 cigarettes, equal to the number of American teenagers under age eighteen who become addicted to cigarettes every month.

六萬五千支香煙 = 美國18歲以下的青少年每個月耽於菸癮的數量

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Jet Trails, 2007
60x96"

Depicts 11,000 jet trails, equal to the number of commercial flights in the US every eight hours.

一萬一千個飛機的航軌 = 美國每8個小時的商務航班

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Cell Phones, 2007
60x100"

Depicts 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day.

42萬6千支手機 = 美國每天淘汰的手機數量

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Pain Killers, 2007
60x80"

Depicts 213,000 Vicodin pills, equal to the number of emergency room visits yearly in the US related to misuse or abuse of prescription pain killers.

21萬3千顆止痛藥 = 美國人每年因誤用止痛藥而跑急診室的次數

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Handguns, 2007
60x92"

Depicts 29,569 handguns, equal to the number of gun-related deaths in the US in 2004.

29,569支手槍 = 2004 年美國死於槍擊的數量

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Paper Bags, 2007
60x80"

Depicts 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the US every hour.

114萬個超市牛皮紙袋 = 美國每個小時的消耗量

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Plastic Bags, 2007
60x72"

Depicts 60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the US every five seconds.

6萬個塑膠袋 = 美國每5秒鐘的使用量

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Denali Denial, 2006
60x75"

Depicts 24,000 logos from the GMC Yukon Denali, equal to six weeks of sales of that model SUV in 2004.

2萬4千個 GMC Yukon Denali 休旅車商標 = 2004年 SUV 此一車款六週的銷售量

Detail at actual size (this is the far left corner of the lake):

Prison Uniforms, 2007
10x23 feet in six vertical panels

Depicts 2.3 million folded prison uniforms, equal to the number of Americans incarcerated in 2005.

230萬摺好的獄服 = 2005年美國服獄的人數

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Cans Seurat, 2007
60x92"

Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.

10萬6千個鋁罐 = 美國每30秒鐘的消耗量

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Office Paper, 2007
60x87"

Depicts 30,000 reams of office paper, or 15 million sheets, equal to the amount of office paper used in the US every five minutes.

3萬令辦公室用紙 = 1,500萬張紙 = 美國每5分鐘辦公室的用紙量

Detail at actual size:

Valve Caps, 2006
10x25 feet in five vertical panels

Depicts 3.6 million tire valve caps, one for each new SUV sold in the US in 2004.

360萬個輪胎的栓塞帽 = 2004年每一新款的 SUV 在美銷售量

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Ben Franklin, 2007
8.5 feet wide by 10.5 feet tall in three horizontal panels

Depicts 125,000 one-hundred dollar bills ($12.5 million), the amount our government spends every hour on the war in Iraq.

12萬5千張百元美鈔 (1,250萬美元) = 美國政府每一小時在伊拉克戰爭的花費

Partial zoom:

Detail at actual size:

Shipping Containers, 2007
60x100"

Depicts 75,000 shipping containers, the number of containers processed through American ports every day.