America the Wasteland...No longer the Promised Land

“O beautiful for heroes proved/In liberating strife/Who more than self their country loved/And mercy more than life” (America the Beautiful, Katharine Bates). As children in the United States, the melody and lyrics of America the Beautiful became a part of our history, engrained in our minds as teachers and parents taught us just what it meant to be an American. One of the lesser known verses of the song, written above, sheds a little light on the unselfishness of the era during which it was written. Humanity was concerned with achievement and building toward a freedom-filled future, working with others to do what was best for their community and society as a whole. The world was a simpler place to exist and coexist with both people and the environment. So what happened?
Chris Jordan’s newest exhibit, titled “Running the Numbers”, attempts to show us what happens as global warming, consumerism, and environmental destruction replace “amber waves of grain”, “purple mountain majesties” and “the fruited plain” in today’s society. Wide open fields and barren deserts have become a thing of the past as corporation after corporation expands its empire, and individuals look for new ways to expand their wealth. Simply put, American society is no longer focused on the good of humanity and building toward an environmentally-efficient future; instead, society is no longer even the operative word as individuals focus solely on their own needs and desires while building toward their own personal future. No longer do we live in a society where one individual focuses on the effect they have on their neighbor or the environment. Individualism is an integral part of American society, and Jordan’s exhibit highlights that as he tries to hammer home the point. In an interview, Jordan explains, “one of the huge problems that faces our society right now is […] the tiny incremental harm that every single one of us is doing as an individual” (Jordan interview, The Morning News, 2007 ). His photographic talent in “Running the Numbers” illustrates this very idea and puts into pictures what statistics have proven to us for years - - Americans are wasteful.
The “Running the Numbers” exhibit proves that Chris Jordan is well aware of the footprint that has trampled the United States. In trying to demonstrate this point to those not able to see it, he effectively combines his photographic genius with statistics that describe how wasteful our society has become in recent decades. He uses statistics, taken from multiple sources and seen in multiple places, as a basis for the picture he creates with his photography. Take, for example, this statistic: “One hundred million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees cut in the U.S. yearly to make the paper for junk mail” (Toothpicks, 2008). Now, a picture of toothpicks, all lined up - - not interesting nor eye-catching. However, this is where Jordan’s genius takes center stage. With that number of toothpicks, he created a beach scenery that looked peaceful, revealing no hint of the America that is slowly being destroyed with our consumption and poor habits. He understands the mindset of the U.S. society. Statistics have been around for years but no one seems to pay attention; instead, they wait until a picture of interest and beauty displays, in a different way, the numbers that have been in front of our face for so long.
Jordan’s exhibit sheds a new light on statistics as a way to motivate people into action, but to what end? His exhibit will not reach the entire world or even just the United States despite the best of intentions. His technique of repetition and the tricks he plays on the eye make the exhibit something to experience. But what impact will these pictures have on the thoughts of the American people? His pictures might be worth a thousand words, and some important statistics, but that does not mean they will spur even a thousand people into action.