Photo Copyright Chris Jordan.
Given that last week in the USA was “National Bike to Work Week”, and given that I basically did the opposite of biking to work by flying massive jets all over the world, I feel more than compelled to steer our attention to the environment for a moment. Enter: Chris Jordan. I don’t know this man, but I need to meet him in the next 5 minutes. Chris Jordan makes great art. Some of it is environmental in nature, other parts seem to address mass culture and consumerism in general. From his artist statement:
Exploring around our country’s shipping ports and industrial yards, where the accumulated detritus of our consumption is exposed to view like eroded layers in the Grand Canyon, I find evidence of a slow-motion apocalypse in progress. I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity.
The pervasiveness of our consumerism holds a seductive kind of mob mentality. Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits…
More work, links to Chris’ most recent projects and other things that get me really excited about his work, after the jump. Click the ‘continue reading’ link below…
This is powerful stuff, but I can’t do it justice here on this blog. It’s best represented by this link to his site. Please visit it now, and scroll all the way down. You’ll be VERY impressed. Evokes plenty of Gursky thoughts in me as well…and I love Gursky.
Pulled back shot… Copyright Chris Jordan.
Detail of same shot… Copyright Chris Jordan.
And I guess Chris has been getting lots of press, but I somehow missed it. I got this tip from my awesome pals at the Build Blog.
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