American Self Portrait... awesome

[DrZeeLit]

Just thought I'd throw out some numbers....

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

I can't really excerpt the pictures because you need to see the works from different perspectives, but the ideas are astounding and here's the opening:

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 tend to 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 $12.5 million spent every hour on the Iraq war. 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 still in its early stages, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned.

~cj, January 2007

[givemebackmycountry]

1. That's freaking amazing -

I found the guns and the plastic bags to be the most disturbing.
The prison uniforms, the saddest and most shameful.

[NV Whino]

2. Truly amazing

Thanks for posting this. I've sent it on to friends.

[DrZeeLit]

3. I wish there was a way for people to SEE these.... I believe this needs

to be SEEN...by a LOT of people.

I take my hat off to this artist.
A genius!

And ... how can we get this OUT THERE????

[NV Whino]

5. Send out the link by e-mail

I bet it's only a week or so before I get a copy from somebody who got it from somebody who....

[DrZeeLit]

4. Oh, and thanks for taking a look!

[Zoigal]

6. American Self Portraits

Thank you for posting this...absolutely incredible...

[DrZeeLit]

7. I hope more DU readers OPEN this thread... THANKS!

[DrZeeLit]

8. p.s. Could somebody LOOK at this and then RECOMMEND IT?

I really think this is important!
Thanks.

[Change has come]

9. Very important

K&R

:kick:

[Decruiter]

10. K & R! Took a while to load even with DSL, but well worth the wait!

Just Amazing!

[Alamom]

11. Thank you.....BIG reality slap. n/t

[DrZeeLit]

12. I'm hoping for momentum. Please click the link. It's AMAZING!!!

Okay.... I just hope this goes somewhere... like for 300 people to SEE it!

[myrna minx]

14. Thanks for this post.

I've emailed it out to my friends. :hi:

[progressoid]

13. Wow!

[DrZeeLit]

15. Thanks... we need more WOW.... I hope this catches on... I keep kicking...

I have hope for this artist.
And no, I don't know him.

[truedelphi]

16. Thanks for posting this! n/t

[DrZeeLit]

17. Thanks for building momentum.

[DrZeeLit]

18. Let's rally for a Tipping Point, people!

[DrZeeLit]

19. Wow, the American Portrait made the "best" thread... very cool!

[Cabcere]

20. Wow...that's incredible.

Thanks for sharing this! K&R.

[tkmorris]

21. I wish their were prints available

There are at least 3 pictures there I would purchase beyond a doubt. Really stunning work.

[mod mom]

26. WOW! nt

[DrZeeLit]

22. Yes, I wish he had prints. We need to get him some publicity. Any ideas?

[Blue_Tires]

23. ttt n/t

[Greyskye]

24. That's some amazing (and disturbing) stuff!

Highly recommended!

[DrZeeLit]

25. How is it going? Anybody else going to BE AMAZED? Please do!

[lonestarnot]

27. Wowza! Fantastic.

[annabanana]

28. Those pictures are astounding.. I was especially struck

by the 8.5' x 10.5' portrait of Ben Franklin... made up of 12.5 MILLION DOLLARS of $100 dollar bills. .

All of which is spent every hour in Iraq.

breathtaking.

[annabanana]

29. dupe

[Spazito]

30. Wow!

This series is incredible! Thanks for posting this, much appreciated!

[bridgit]

31. nice...

:thumbsup:

[DrZeeLit]

32. Anyone to recommend for GREATEST? More people should see this!!!

I can't recommend, or I would.
Believe me.

p.s. I do not know the artist or have any affiliation. I just found these works to be so amazing and compelling that I want to champion the work.