We, the makers of this blog, have banded together in an effort to highlight and discuss the visual arts taking place in Spokane. We feel that exploring the diverse, regional art opportunities is an important step in growing an art community. We invite you to look through our events and become a part of our discussions. Thank you for stopping in.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Chris Jordan at Whitworth University


I attended Chris Jordan’s presentation on Tuesday, October 12. Since I interviewed Chris before the presentation, I expected a longer version of what he talked about during the interview. His presentation contained many of the same eye-opening material that he mentioned in his interview, but he emphasized more on his projects than his biography. Chris Jordan began his talk by saying “There is nothing special about me.” This surprised me because I have seen his work and I do believe it is special. However, he insisted that he is not special, but just loves what he does, and it shows. It is obvious that Chris Jordan is very passionate about his work. His mission is to open the public’s eyes to different issues facing us as humans and our planet. First, Jordan spoke briefly about his upbringing and how he got to where he is today. Detachment was a key concept in his upbringing; whether it was detachment with the world around him or the detachment of him with himself. Then, he spoke about his project known as “Running the Numbers.” This lasted most of the presentation, for good reason. Lastly, Jordan spoke about his newest project known as the Midway Island project. He is planning on returning to Midway to take more pictures of the effects of the Pacific Gyre (an enormous gathering of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean). The Pacific Gyre is killing most of the albatross that live on Midway Island, and not too many people know about this. Jordan is trying to get people involved and let them know about this present tragedy. Furthermore, Jordan is planning on bringing students and a film crew with him in the spring. This way, he can show people the beauty and cuteness of the albatross that live on this island. (More can be learned at Midwayjourney.com)

Jordan’s most well-known work comes from his “Running the Numbers” project. This project is all about the idea of mass consumption and human tendencies. For example, one of Jordan’s pieces depicts 38,000 shipping containers, the number of containers processed through American ports every twelve hours. Many of the artwork in his “Running the Numbers” project is made in Photoshop. He takes a picture of certain objects in different positions, then he stitches those images together however many times he must in order to accurately show a certain statistic. This transcale imagery gives people a visual depiction to relate to the number statistics people hear. Jordan described his work as being able to put huge statistics in perspective in a way that people can understand.

As opposed to such artists like Robert Glenn Ketchum, Chris Jordan shows people the ugly side of what we are doing to the planet, and evokes change. Ketchum’s works show us the beauty of the world and makes one want to keep it that way. Both artists evoke change in community and society. However, they both choose different ways to evoke such change.

I was able to really connect with Jordan’s message about the tigers and how their depletion is increasing at an incredibly rapid rate. This piece shows what seems to be an orange frame with a black background. It depicts 3200 toy tigers, equal to the estimated number of tigers remaining on Earth. The space in the middle would hold 40,000 of these tigers, equal to the global tiger population in 1970. Personally, I would like to see this frame begin to refill. However, how could one person make such a significant difference?

4 comments:

Dillon Fabie said...

For being such a well known artist, I have to say that Chris Jordan was humble. It was refreshing to see that an artist/activist of such talent could still take the time out and come talk to a little school, such as Whitworth.

Rebecca Estelle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rebecca Estelle said...

I also attended this lecture, and found it very moving. I was astonished with the passion that Chris Jordan has for the topics that his art concerns and how effectively this shows in some of his pieces, especial in the midway series. I agree that he is very humble and I think his humility makes him more effective when delivering his message. I was really surprised when he asked us, the audience, not to clap at the end of the lecture. According to Jordan clapping signifies the end of something and therefore stops the audience from taking anything away from his lectures. I believe that he was spot on when he said this and was very perceptive to recognize this clapping phenomenon. Several weeks after the lecture and I still remember the message of his work. It was by far the best art lecture that I have ever attended.

His art is also beautiful with a deep and clear message. It is relevant to our time and can be understood by the general public, something that not much contemporary art does.

Killer Koala said...

I agree with both of you. Dillon, He was very cool, talking about shamans and his life as a lawyer. Then, completely changing his worldview with drugs. He was very enthusiastic about that part. And, Rebecca, it truly was very strange not applauding at the end of the lecture, but when you think about it, it does make sense with the idea that clapping puts a cap on his message. I really enjoyed what he had to say and his strong attempt to make change in this world. I can relate to his visual representations because I am such a visual learner. Thank you Chris Jordan.