From a series entitled Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait, Chris Jordan looks closely at statistics of contemporary American culture. How closely? Have a look at his piece, Plastic Cups (2008), one million disposable plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the United States every six hours. At first glance it looks like an intricate pattern of plumbing, or ant factory work, but look closely and you’ll see stacks and stacks of cups, weaving their way into an untraceable road leading us nowhere. Best seen live, these prints offer a glimpse into our real consumer culture, a sobering visual representation of the stats we usually only hear run down during a speech or campaign.

View the entire series of portraits here.

Watch his 2007 pop!cast here.

Peggy Shea Andrews