Chris Jordan

Pain Killers, 2007     60x63"

Depicts 213,000 Vicodin pills, equal to the number of emergency room visits yearly in the US related to misuse or abuse of prescription pain killers. http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn/#pain-killers

Skull With Cigarette, 2007     98x72"

Depicts 200,000 packs of cigarettes, equal to the number of Americans who die from cigarette smoking every six months. Based on a painting by Van Gogh. (Same Link as above)

   
            Chris Jordan's photographs are an examination of or our culture as a whole in relation to the roles we play as individuals in regards to consumerism and commodity culture(first point in relation to the textbook). His images present this idea as one large constructed image, created out of thousand of tiny images that are meant to represent this notion of the often times unrealized part we play as one person in the overall picture when it comes down to consumption within our society. All of his photographs in terms of how they were constructed, is done through a compilation of thousands of tiny digital photographs that are arranged in a fashion to re-create ( such as in the second image) bigger pictures when viewed as a whole and from a distance. The way in which the pieces are viewed and constructed are very much akin to his concept, too. When viewing the picture from a distance, you are presented with one complete image whose sum of all parts forms this beautifully rendered photograph .However, when viewed up close, the image is broken down into thousands of tiny individual photos. The first mode of viewing may be a representation of our society as a whole and it's apathetic approach to over-consumption and waste; creating a falsely constructed and possibly ignorant prospect of how we function as a society. The latter view is an up close, in your face depiction of the reality of the situation when it comes down to consumption and societal views on it; providing an overwhelming sense of consumption, coupled with statistics that Jordan provides to further substantiate  his concept. Jordan does view his projects as photographs and not digital collage.
         This would be the second point of debate that the book could provide when examining his art. Does Jordan's work fall more under the category of Digital art or photography? He labels his work as photography which I'm not in disagreement with, but it really does call into question the nature of photography. Clearly these are digitally compiled images that may not use traditional forms of photography to construct a photographic image. But does his work clearly communicate something of the real in comparison to a straight photograph? I believe that there is no question about the labeling of his work as being photographic in nature because it is just as effective in communicating his ideas about consumerism and commodity, if not more effective because of the scale in which he is capable in working with due to the digital basis of his pieces.    
        Another concept from Liz well's book that also ties into the argument aforementioned, is the section about photography in a “ techno-progressive” time line. The passage discusses the nature of the the photograph in parallel to the its cultural and technological advancements and how history has been more concerned with the technological advancements and the differences it has brought in critical discussion about photography ( in concern with film vs digital) and the cultural aspects of the photograph were lost in this focus. Kevin Robins explores the idea about these discussions about photography and the digital revolution of the medium and how it really is nothing new, rather it is an old and recurrent idea, tracing back to the time when photographs were joined with science as a way to rationalize photography. So while many critics have been too heavily focused on the changes digital technologies have brought about to photography, Robins is in disagreement with this focus, stating that digital technology isn't a break in photographic practice, it is rather a new way of practicing these old ideas. He goes on to state that if anything, digital manipulation is in a sense, the most sophisticated way of gathering and asserting ideas about the world not possible before and in a manner that is congruent with the older , positivist ways of conducting photography.