Gyre, 2009

When I first viewed “Gyre, 2009”, I was fascinated by its likeness to Hokusai’s famous print. Upon zooming in to get a closer look at the medium that Chris Jordan used to create this image, I was amazed to see so many different plastic items in such detail. The choice of medium, title of the work, as well as the original image that it duplicates are all clearly connected. The description below the image indicates that the amount of plastic used is representative of the amount of plastic pollution that enters our oceans every hour. Secondly, the title of the image is a reference to the multiple large collections of plastic pollution that gather in large gyres, or whirlpools, due to the movement of the natural ocean currents. The largest of these, in the northern Pacific Ocean, is approximately twice the size of the United States. According to the image’s description, all the plastic was collected from the Pacific Ocean, likely from within this gyre. Lastly, the image which Jordan has chosen to duplicate seems to be a statement against the pollution that humanity dumps into the Earth’s oceans. Just as the wave in the image is threatening to destroy the boats and, ultimately, the coastal prefecture of Kanagawa, so is the plastic pollution threatening to destroy the many creatures who depend on the ocean and its currents for life. If the sea life is destroyed, it will then affect the other creatures who depend on the sea life and will eventually trickle up the ladder to affect humanity and the planet as a whole.