Ithaca College's Handwerker Gallery Will Show American Consumer Culture Through A Photographer's Lens
ITHACA, NY—“Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait” will open at Ithaca College’s Handwerker Galley with a reception on Thursday, Feb. 28, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the gallery. The exhibit will run until April 6. All Handwerker events are free and open to the public.
A round table discussion featuring Ithaca College faculty and students will be held in conjunction with the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival at 6:30 p.m. on April 3.
“In his large-format photographs, Seattle-based artist Chris Jordan explores contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics,” said Cheryl Kramer, gallery director and assistant professor of art history. “Each image documents a specific quantity of goods consumed by Americans in a given time frame.”
“Cell Phones,” for example, depicts 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the United States every day. “Paper” depicts 30,000 reams of office paper, or 15 million sheets, documenting five minutes of paper use, while “Plastic Bottles” depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the U.S. every five minutes.
“These photographs give the cold, hard facts of American consumption a tangible reality,” Kramer said. “It is this sobering reality that Jordan uses to emphasize what he calls the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming. His stated hope is to raise the consciousness of viewers so that they start thinking more about the collective of which we’re all a part.”
The Handwerker exhibition will feature nine photographs from the artist’s “Running the Numbers” and a response wall for audience reactions.
Exhibited widely in the United States and Europe, Jordan’s work has been featured in print media, blogs, documentary films, and radio and television programs worldwide, including, “Bill Moyer’s Journal.” Jordan lives and works in Seattle.
“Running the Numbers” is cosponsored by the Roy H. Park School of Communications, the Department of Biology, the Environmental Studies Program, and the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival.
The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (Thursday until 9 p.m.); Saturday and Sunday, noon–5 p.m. For further information, contact Cheryl Kramer, Handwerker Gallery director and assistant professor of art history, at (607) 274-3548.
Chris Jordan, /Cell/ /Phones/, 2007 (detail). Depicts 426,000 cell phones, the number retired in the United States daily.
Originally published in News Releases: Ithaca College's Handwerker Gallery Will Show American Consumer Culture Through A Photographer's Lens.
