Humans are the only organisms capable of making large-scale changes to the environmental soundness of the Earth. To combat climate change, people should change their behavior and spending habits, the National Geographic Channel said at an exhibition launch on April 11 in Taipei.
The Running the Numbers exhibition features giant photographs by US photographer Chris Jordan, whose work focuses on colorful and multifarious types of consumer waste.
“Mass consumption of consumer products by humans brings an enormous amount of pollution to the Earth,” Seattle-based Jordan said.
PHOTO: LIBERTY TIMES
Saying that he had always been interested in chromatology the lawyer-turned-photographer told reporters that he wished to use strong colors as a vehicle to communicate environmental protection ideas to the public.
“It is hard for people to comprehend large numbers,” he said, adding that people tend to pay attention to individual cases but ignore large problems that overwhelm them.
“For example, since many people see global warming as an enormous problem, they often [mistakenly think that] they are not able to help,” he said.
To help people put mind boggling statistics into perspective, Jordan “translates the numbers into an experience they can feel with their hearts, instead of their heads,” he said.
In each piece of Jordan’s work, the number of a certain consumer product that would be used in a given time frame is illustrated — for instance, 15 million pieces of A4 paper [used every five minutes in the US], 160,000 aluminum cans [consumed every 30 seconds in the US], or two million PET bottles [used every five minutes in the US].
“Everyone holds a little piece of the solution to this giant problem [global warming], which is our behavior — and that’s where we should start,” he said.
The exhibition will run until the 27th of this month in Liberty Square.(MEGGIE LU, STAFF REPORTER)
人類是唯一能夠大規模改變地球環境的生物；國家地理頻道十一日在台北舉行的一項展覽中提到，為了對抗氣候變遷，人類應該要改變他們的行為和消費習慣。
「數大不是美」展覽展出美國攝影家克里斯．喬丹的巨幅攝影作品，他利用色彩繽紛和五花八門的消耗性垃圾進行創作。
西雅圖攝影師喬丹說：「人類消耗的大量廢棄物為地球帶來龐大的污染。」
從律師轉任攝影師的喬丹表示自己一直對色彩學有很大的興趣，他受訪時表示，他期望能用強烈的色彩作為傳播媒介，向大眾傳遞環保意識。
他說：「民眾很難理解龐大的數量。」他解釋說，民眾容易關注個案，而忽略讓他們不知所措的嚴重問題。
他說：「舉例來說，很多人知道全球暖化是一個嚴重的問題，但他們常誤以為自己對此無能為力。」
為了協助民眾審視這些令人難以想像的統計數值，喬丹說：「我將這些數字轉換為民眾可以用心感受而非用腦袋計算的體驗。」
喬丹的每一件作品中，都說明了在某特定時間內某種消耗品的使用量；舉美國為例，每五分鐘就會消耗一千五百萬張A4紙張、每三十秒消耗十六萬個鋁罐、每五分鐘消耗兩百萬個塑膠罐。
他說：「每個人都能靠著改變生活習慣，為解決『全球暖化』這個重大問題盡一份心力；而這就是我們該著手開始的地方。」
這項展覽即日起至本月二十七日，在台灣民主紀念館展出。（翻譯：袁星塵）
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