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1

Sustainability, the arts and big numbers: The challenge of researching

children’s responses to Chris Jordan’s images

Abstract

Through the multiple languages of the arts, many ideas about sustainability can be explored

with young children. This paper discusses the ethical issues involved in the implementation of a

research study that uses artist Chris Jordan’s confronting images about sustainability. Jordan’s

images typically depict tens of thousands of objects such as plastic cups, garbage and threatened

species. The specific purpose of this paper is to explore the ethical tensions around presenting

such images to children. Confounded by images of large numbers and confronted by traumatic

images of dead birds, how might children access the enormity of the sustainability issues

explored in Jordan’s work? Researchers and educators have a responsibility to ensure children

are not harmed through our work with them so careful planning and ethical practices are

essential. However, there are strong grounds for presenting such powerful images as educative

tools and for generating useful conversations with children about mass consumption, pollution

and unsustainable practices. Conclusions are drawn that the ethical challenges and risks in using

Chris Jordan’s images are worth taking in order to create new ways of discussing sustainability

through the arts.

Keywords: early childhood education; education for sustainability; education for

sustainable development; mathematics; ethics; art education

Résumé

À travers les multiples langages des arts, de nombreuses idées sur la durabilité peuvent être

explorées avec de jeunes enfants. Cet article discute des enjeux éthiques qu’implique la mise en

œuvre d’une recherche faisant appel aux images dérangeantes de l’artiste Chris Jordan sur la

durabilité. Les images de Jordan décrivent typiquement des dizaines de milliers d’objets comme

les gobelets en plastique, les ordures et les espèces menacées. L’objectif spécifique de cet article

est d’explorer les tensions éthiques concernant la présentation de telles images aux enfants.

2

Troublés par des images de grands nombres et confrontés à des images traumatisantes d’oiseaux

morts, comment les enfants pourront-ils percevoir l’énormité des problèmes de durabilité

explorés dans l’œuvre de Jordan ? Les chercheurs et les éducateurs ont pour responsabilité de

veiller à ce que nos travaux avec les enfants ne leur fassent pas de mal ; une planification

prudente et des pratiques éthiques sont donc essentielles. Il y a toutefois de solides raisons pour

présenter des images aussi puissantes comme outils éducatifs et susciter des conversations utiles

avec les enfants sur la consommation de masse, la pollution et les pratiques non durables. On en

tire comme conclusion que les défis et risques éthiques de l’utilisation des images de Chris

Jordan valent la peine d’être pris afin de créer de nouvelles façons de discuter de la durabilité au

moyen des arts.

Resumen

A traves de los lenguajes del arte, podemos explorar una gran cantidad de ideas, con niños

pequeños, acerca de la sustentabilidad. Este articulo aborda los aspectos éticos comprendidos

en la implementación de un estudio de investigación que utiliza las impactantes imágenes del

artista Chris Jordan acerca de la sustentabilidad. Las imágenes de Jordan generalmente,

representan decenas de miles de objetos como vasos de plástico, basura y especies en peligro de

extinción. El objetivo específico de este artículo es explorar las tensiones éticas acerca de la

presentación de dichas imágenes a los niños. Nos preguntamos, ¿cómo podrán los niños tener

acceso a la gran cantidad de imágenes relacionadas con temas de ssustentabilidad que se

exploran en el trabajo de Jordan si dichas imágenes son innumerables y muestran traumáticas

representaciones de pájaros muertos? Los investigadores y educadores tienen la responsabilidad

de asegurarse de que los niños no sufran daños a través de nuestro trabajo con ellos, por lo

tanto, es esencial planificar cuidadosamente e implementar prácticas éticas. Sin embargo, la

presentación de dichas imágenes tan potentes como herramienta educativa tiene una base sólida,

así como la de generar conversaciones útiles con niños acerca del consumo masivo, la

contaminación y las practicas no sustentables. Se concluye que los desafíos éticos y los riesgos

presentes en el uso de las imágenes de Chris Jordan están justificados para crear nuevas maneras

de conversar acerca de la sustentabilidad a través de las artes.

3

Introduction

This paper discusses and problematizes a proposed study of how children respond to

artworks that present topics associated with sustainability. I discuss the ethical

considerations that have been necessary to design a research approach that will involve

children exploring complex ideas about overconsumption, pollution, the destruction of

nature and issues of social justice; key aspects of a broad view of sustainability. In this

paper, I argue the value of engaging young children in these potentially challenging

conversations about sustainability, and advocate for the arts as a tool for stimulating

such conversations. The particular focus in this research is the art of American Chris

Jordan who creates large digital images about consumption, pollution and social justice.

My curiosity about how young children might respond to Jordan’s images depicting

mass consumption of throwaway materials and their effects of pollution on marine

wildlife provides the impetus for this research.

For the purposes of the research described here, I take a broad view of sustainability.

This view considers the social, political and environmental dimensions of sustainability

that takes discussion beyond the traditional, and prevailing, approaches within early

education that is grounded in nature-based environmental education (Elliott, 2014; Hill,

McCrea, Emery, Nailon, Davis, Dyment & Getenet, 2014). Such approaches are highly

valued in traditional early childhood contexts, exemplified by the early nomenclature of

preschool education, where kindergarten translates to children’s garden and

experiences in nature are an assumed feature of young children’s educational

experiences. Ward (2014), however, maps literature that draws attention to the gradual

reduction over time of children’s experiences with nature in early childhood contexts.

Despite this long, if patchy, history of nature education in early childhood, until

relatively recently early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) has not enjoyed

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the same profile given to environmental research involving older children and adults

(Evans, Brauchle, Haq, Stecker, Wong & Shapiro, 2007; Davis, 2009).

ECEfS has emerged as an international field of research and practice (Hill, et al.,

2014; Davis and Elliott, 2014). By way of example, Davis and Elliott’s (2014) edited

text presents a diverse array of international studies investigating young children’s

engagement with education for sustainability (EfS). Many of these studies describe

children’s learning about sustainability beyond environmental and nature-based

approaches (See, for example, Hagglund and Johansson, 2014; Miller, 2014; Phillips,

2014). Increased recognition is being given to the importance of encouraging young

children’s agency and advocacy for sustainability, including social, political and

environmental dimensions (Davis, 2015).

Responding to issues of sustainability through the arts

At the same time that ECEfS has increased its presence in international research and

practice, new ways of thinking and communicating about sustainability have also

emerged. Traditionally, research and practices relating to EfS have been located

predominantly within the fields of science and geography. There is increasing

acknowledgement, however, that the arts provide a range of languages through which

ideas about sustainability and related social issues can be understood and expressed

(Everett, Noone, Brooks & Littledyke, 2009; Leavy, 2009; McArdle, Knight and

Stratigos, 2013; O’Gorman, 2015). Lannis Temple (1992) compiled a collection of

children’s drawings and written messages from across the world to highlight young

people’s special places and concerns about the natural environment. Engdahl and

Rabusicova’s (2011) research explored children’s comments and understandings about

sustainability through their responses to a drawing of children “cleaning” the Earth.

More broadly, a growing body of artistic work addressing issues associated with

5

sustainability continues to emerge in the public domain (Curtis, Reid & Ballard, 2012;

Steiner, 2007; Song, 2012). Much of this work is thought-provoking, and some of it

confronting. Through music, dance, drama, visual and media arts, artists across diverse

cultural contexts are communicating challenging ideas that explore the social, political

and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Some of these artworks include digital

media such as film and photography.

Arts education and EfS have much in common; not least their shared potential

for critical thinking, imagination, problem-solving and transformation (Ewing, 2012;

Gibson & Ewing, 2011; O’Gorman, 2015; Wright, 2012). In this paper, I also argue that

both Arts education and EfS can present ethical and moral challenges for educators who

provide opportunities for children to respond to complex and confronting ideas and

images.

Arts education is as much about children responding to artworks as it is about

children creating art, and this is reflected in documents such as Australia’s and the UK’s

national curricula. Rich and meaningful art viewing experiences are an essential

component of high quality arts programs in early childhood (Eckhoff, 2007) and later in

primary school education. Opportunities for children to view and respond to artworks

encourage emotional and intellectual engagement with another’s perspective; to stop, to

respond, to reflect (Albers, 1999). In this project, children’s engagement with the arts

involves them responding to the work of Chris Jordan.

The artwork of Chris Jordan

American visual artist Chris Jordan has garnered significant international attention via

his online imagery relating to sustainability. The images, which are very large, have

been exhibited in gallery spaces (Dunaway, 2009) and the artist’s website (see

6

www.chrisjordan.com). Jordan uses photography and digitally manipulated images to

communicate ideas about mass consumption and unsustainable practices, and the effects

that such practices have on the natural and social environments of the planet. Jordan’s

images typically depict thousands or even millions of objects such as plastic cups or

pieces of garbage. Some are very confronting, such as his photographs of albatross

chicks that have died as a result of their parents feeding them plastic marine debris on

Midway Atoll, a remote and rarely visited location in the Pacific Ocean, (Midway:

Message from the Gyre, 2009 to present). Dunaway (2009, p. 21) described informal

research on viewers’ responses to an exhibition of Jordan’s artwork in Colorado in 2007

in this way:

… all read the images as representing the notion of individual responsibility for the

environment, pictures that therefore called upon audiences to change their actions

in daily life

This suggests that when the images are viewed by the general public, the messages

inherent in them hold the capacity to change behaviours towards more sustainable

approaches.

When he talks about his artwork, Chris Jordan (2009) explains that people

frequently have trouble understanding the scale of statistics relating to sustainability.

Our brains are simply not able to comprehend the realities of the statistics with which

we are presented. Jordan creates complex visual representations that can be enlarged on

his interactive website to expose their component parts such as one million plastic cups

(Plastic Cups, 2008) or 925 million seeds (Stone of the Sun, 2011). We are also unaware

of the unseen effects of our unsustainable practices on the ecosystem, in places far from

view. Jordan’s online gallery, Midway: Message from the Gyre makes visible the

environmental degradation of the North Pacific Ocean. Jordan’s aim is to make these

7

vast numbers and unseen tragedies more accessible to the viewer/responder so that the

results of unsustainable practices are made visible in new ways.

In my work as a preservice teacher educator, I have found that university

students are often profoundly moved by Chris Jordan’s images. In a previous paper

(O’Gorman & Davis, 2013), I described research with early childhood preservice

teachers enrolled in an integrated arts and humanities subject at our university. These

student teachers were directed to the artwork of Jordan and others who explore

sustainability themes. One aspect of O’Gorman and Davis’ study explored the value of

integrating the arts with Education for Sustainability (EfS) and how the suite of

materials presented to the students, including Jordan’s work, shaped their thinking about

sustainability. Such approaches respond to Ferriera and Davis’ (2010) assertion that

teachers’ personal attitudes and values regarding sustainability powerfully affect their

implementation of EfS in early childhood contexts. The arts can play an important role

in shaping these attitudes and values.

However, in my work with preservice early childhood teachers and in forums

where I discuss my research, the question of whether children should be exposed to

Chris Jordan’s images is often raised. Adult audiences might be profoundly affected by

Jordan’s strategy of presenting huge numbers in visual form, and by tragic photographs

of baby albatross – but can children really comprehend those big numbers? And is it

ethical to show them pictures of dead baby birds?

Young children’s cognitive competence for understanding big numbers

For this proposed research, the question I have is whether young children’s cognitive

capacities are sufficient to understand the data represented, and at the same time

respond emotionally to what may be considered confronting images. The preservice

early childhood and primary school teachers with whom I currently work will be

8

teaching children aged from birth to twelve. While I have experienced to some degree

the effect that Jordan’s images can have on adult university students, I am yet to

understand how children in early childhood and primary school age groups might

respond to them. It is likely that the challenge of relating to very large numbers is more

acute for young children than for adults (Baroody & Coslick, 1998; Diezmann &

English, 2001). In order to comprehend Jordan’s images, children do not need to

know/understand the numerosity of the representation – “how many” – but merely to

understand that the numbers are increasing as the viewer zooms into the online image,

and that there are very large numbers of items being represented. When zooming in,

they need to understand that the number they viewed originally has increased and is

therefore very much more than the original. They also need to understand that the

original contains the final image.

Infants as young as 6 months old can differentiate between representations of

relatively large numbers, for example between dot patterns of 8 and 16 (Starr, Libertus,

& Brannon, 2013; Xu & Spelke, 2000), particularly when the sets differ by a large ratio

(in the case of 16 and 8, the ratio is 2:1), but not when the ratio is small (e.g., 12 versus

8 dots, ratio 3:2) (see for example: Starr, Libertus, & Brannon, 2013; Xu, Spelke, &

Goddard, 2005 ). Five year olds are able to compare numbers with dot arrays of even

larger numbers and smaller ratios (e.g., up to 58 dots and the ratio only 1.25) (Barth, La

Mont, Lipton, & Spelke, 2005). Of course, these numbers do not even come near the

enormity of the numbers represented in Jordan’s work, but the fact that the ratio

between the number of items in the original image versus the number in the final image

is large might mean that young children can interpret the work, particularly as one

becomes many.

In his work, Jordan attempts to present the severity of situations by representing

9

one becoming many visually, rather than merely reporting large numbers as

digits/symbols, e.g., 5 million or 5 000 000 (Jordan, 2009). Jordan himself states that he

wants his work to be “as transparent as possible”, and that he is “trying to say my thing

in a way that a fourth grader can get, but embracing complexity and subtlety at the same

time, without oversimplifying” (Jordan, 2012, p. 253). Whether his work can be

understood by a “fourth grader” or younger children is possibly in doubt, thus the

importance of our in-progress research. While much of Jordan’s work might be more

suited to adult comprehension, our interest in investigating children’s comprehension of

the images underpins this project.

Potentially, children’s interpretations of Jordan’s work may also be confounded

by their developing understandings of nearness and farness and the notion of “zoom in”

and “zoom out” on the computer screen – dynamic spatial skills. Such understandings

are additional requirements for comprehending many of Jordan’s images, as they are

best viewed on a computer, allowing the viewer to interact with them by zooming in

and out to see the detail of the image in relation to the whole. Toddlers and very young

children interact with computers; in particular, they easily navigate interactive iPad

applications (Dezuanni, Dooley, Gattenhof, and Knight, 2015). Research relating to

Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) has shown that toddlers and young children

interact easily with the technology of computers and mobile devices. As HCI moves

into the area of “ecologically engaged art” (Jacobs, Benford, Selby, Golembewski,

Price, & Giannachi, 2013), studies have revealed that this art form brings rich sensory

and aesthetic experiences to environmental issues. The investments that children make

in exploring images on a screen might engage both cognitive and emotional aspects. It

is expected that in responding to Jordan’s images, emotions and cognition are both

involved.

10

Research considerations in using confronting images with young children

The planned research project that will use the artwork of Chris Jordan will use

involve individual interviews with approximately ten children and ethical clearance has

been obtained from a university ethics committee. Children will be recruited from a

self-subscription email list distributed to approximately 1200 university staff, who will

be asked to consider the involvement of their children and themselves. Ethics clearance

and issues of parental and child consent, as well as organisational agreement has

required careful consideration of ethical issues.

One of the key ethical issues encountered in this research project involves

presenting children with images that are potentially distressing to them, for as noted by

Hagglund and Johansson (2014), when young children are viewed as having certain

rights, and are considered as agents of change for sustainability, it is likely that “certain

questions and dilemmas” (p. 40) may emerge. Thus, in preparing for this research,

pertinent ethical questions and dilemmas have been encountered. There is a commonly

held view that childhood is a unique period and that young children should be protected

from images they may find confronting. However, in twenty-first century life children

are pummelled with visual messages, both positive and negative, in print media,

television and the internet. The need to respond to pictures and symbols is deeply

woven into our being, starting from a young age. Increasingly, humans gain knowledge

from various forms of imagery found in a complex range of symbolic media (Troseth &

DeLoache, 1998). Children are frequently exposed to confronting imagery in these

media contexts.

Given the tumult of information to which many children have access, it is little

wonder that news of destructive floods, tsunamis, storms and other climatic events can

cause children to experience anxiety and fear (Australian Psychological Society , 2017).

Studies of grief and trauma among children have emphasised the importance of

11

communication and education in resolving children’s anxieties (Boon and Pagliano,

2014; Wong, 2010; APS). The Australian Psychological Society has recognised that it is

vital to teach children about the natural world, and associated problems such as climate

change; an educative process which involves easing children’s anxieties and

encouraging the application of real-life solutions. Empowering children to face disasters

and challenges has important consequences for sustainability and emergency

management (Boon and Pagliano, 2014).

Children are increasingly positioned in the ‘new’ sociologies of childhood

literature as capable and competent agents in their social worlds (Prout & James, 1997),

able to deal with difficulties and complexities from which, in the past, they may have

been shielded. In addition to views about children’s capacity for agency there is a

perspective that children have the right to learn and to actively contribute to imperatives

such as sustainability (Hagglund and Johansson, 2015). If we take this view seriously,

then children have the right to see evidence of how humans impact negatively on the

natural environment, so that those children can contribute to solutions to these complex

problems.

Children’s ability to understand environmental issues and react to seeing or

hearing about environmental problems may vary due a number of factors including their

exposure to media coverage and adult conversations regarding climate change and

natural disasters, their sense of security, and their level of environmental knowledge. It

is important that, while we acknowledge children’s agency and rights, children are

supported during their consideration of environmental threats so that challenging issues

can be interpreted at a suitable capacity level (Australian Psychological Society, 2017).

Of course the definition of a “suitable capacity level” is open for debate.

12

As we consider again the artwork of Chris Jordan, and specifically his images of

dead albatross chicks, salient questions emerge. What would be a “suitable capacity

level” for children’s exposure to these images? What is it about these images that causes

some adults to hesitate when asked if we should show them to young children?

Traditionally, early childhood contexts and schools have featured the inclusion of nature

tables that may display dead (or dying) insects and sea creatures, along with animal

skeletons of various types. In addition, museums encourage schools and early childhood

centres to borrow taxidermies of fish, reptiles and mammals. Early childhood teachers

taking their classes on a walk in nature would consider the discovery of a dead bird as a

scientific learning opportunity for children; a chance to hypothesise about the cause of

death and to appreciate a close examination of the anatomical features of the animal.

And yet, we are not so sure about the ethical implications of showing children images of

dead baby albatross with plastic in their bellies on Midway Atoll. In this paper, I do not

seek necessarily to provide an answer to these questions; my aim is rather to provoke

thinking about why adults might approach a dead animal on a nature trail and one of

Chris Jordan’s photos of dead albatross chicks differently, and with greater caution.

Could it be that when an adult discusses the dead animal found in nature or on the table

in the preschool, the discussion is mostly from a scientific perspective, whereas we

think differently about an image of a dead bird presented in a gallery on an artist’s

website? Why might this be the case?

The answer to this last question lies, I believe, in the ways in which the arts

require us to approach the image of the dead animal in ways that take us beyond

scientific hypothesising. Vincent Lanier’s (1968) influential theory of art education

suggested that when a viewer, or responder, is interacting with an artwork, he or she

sees the work through a series of filters. Each of these filters represents a factor that

13

influences how the viewer sees the artwork, thinks about the artwork and ultimately

responds to the artwork. Filters might include the viewer’s perceptual skills, knowledge

of symbols and the relationship of the artwork to their life. A further filter that may

impact on the viewer is the context of the image itself; where it is actually presented. A

photograph of a dead bird in a scientific context may prompt responses of a certain

scientific type. A photograph of a dead bird in an art gallery, including a virtual art

gallery, will be viewed differently as a result of its context. The image’s location in a

gallery prompts the viewer to consider the message that the artist-photographer is

communicating. A fundamental goal of the arts is to make and communicate meaning

(Wright, 2012), so when the viewer encounters Chris Jordan’s images, they might

ponder the messages about sustainability and environmental damage that the images are

presenting. The message contained in the images of the dead albatross chicks is clear:

This is what happens when people let their plastic enter the oceans - innocent baby

birds choke to death. This message is both graphic and distressing, and yet the

communication of it to as wide an audience as possible holds the potential to prompt

necessary change.

Ethical practices in the implementation of this research

Although somewhat unsettled by the possibility that this project held the

potential to traumatise its young participants, I have proceeded with the research plan.

Discussions with my university’s ethics advisor helped to establish procedures that

would minimise the possibility of children’s negative reactions to engagement with the

images on Chris Jordan’s website. My approach is to work with each child participant,

introducing them to Chris Jordan’s online art gallery, encouraging them to browse and

interact with the images, while documenting through screen capture, video and audio

recording their browsing and conversation with the interviewer. A parent or guardian of

14

the child will also be present, and will join in the semi-structured conversation about the

images. Some of these images will deal with big numbers, while others may include the

dead albatross chicks. The research conversations with the children will focus on how

the children access the enormity of issues such as overconsumption, marine pollution

and sustainability through the art of Chris Jordan.

The potential for children to be perplexed by the large numbers represented in

Jordan’s images has been less of a concern than the possibility of trauma resulting from

viewing the dead albatross chicks. Nevertheless, involvement of parents or guardians in

the research interview was felt to be an important component of the data collection

process, for several reasons. The presence of parents enables the close monitoring of

child participants’ emotional state so that data collection can be stopped should the

images cause distress. In addition, I believe that there is great potential for

conversations about sustainability to continue after the data collection interview has

taken place. Having noted the way that adults are profoundly affected by these images

in my work with colleagues and preservice teachers, I am hopeful that this research

presents opportunities for adult as well as child learning about sustainability through the

arts.

Considerable thought was also given to the preparation of child and adult

consent forms for this research. In order for consent to be fully informed, the participant

information and consent form for parents will contain a link to Chris Jordan’s website

so that parents/guardians can view the online images prior to giving their consent for

their child to participate. We are also asking children to provide their own written

consent to participate in the research, though the child participants will not have viewed

the images prior to the research interview.

15

A further strategy employed to address the ethical implications of this project is

to give children control of the images that they browse on Jordan’s website. Initial plans

had involved presenting selected images to the children for their response. I have now

adapted this idea such that the children themselves, while being encouraged to explore

each of the galleries presented on the website, will control the level of engagement with

the various galleries and artworks. The choices that children make as they browse and

discuss the images will, in and of themselves, be worthy of consideration.

Final thoughts and provocations

I approach this research holding firm to the view that children are capable and

competent. My intent is to add to conversations about the capacities of children from

five to twelve years of age for environmental advocacy, social advocacy and change

agency. However, I caution against a stance that asks children to solve the current

problems of the world; problems that are not of their creation. It is not my sole objective

to provoke, through engagement with complex and confronting imagery, children’s

actions towards solving the problem of sustainability. As Sobel (1996) suggests,

children ought to “come to love the world before being asked to heal its wounds.”

Considering children as capable agents of change does not mean that they should be

handed the responsibility for solving the problem of sustainability and repairing the

damage done by previous generations (Davis and Elliott, 2014b). That said, I conclude

this paper with provocations for the field, for both my research colleagues and for

practitioners working with children in early childhood contexts and schools.

This paper has outlined the possibilities and risks of children’s engagement with the arts

and with broad views of sustainability, including environmental, political, social and

natural dimensions; as represented in the artwork of Chris Jordan. I have explored the

16

tensions between acknowledging children’s capacity for engaging with visual images

and sustainability themes – particularly relating to human impact on wildlife – and the

acknowledgment that researchers and educators have a responsibility to ensure children

are not harmed through our work with them. However, with careful planning of research

and teaching encounters and acknowledgement of children’s choices and agency, there

are surely strong grounds for presenting such powerful images as educative tools. In

addition, careful consideration of the reasons why we, as adults, baulk at the possibility

of children seeing these images may generate useful conversations about the power of

the arts as a tool for exploring sustainability. I argue that if educators aim to support the

wellbeing of children and societies, then the challenges and risks outlined in this paper

are worth taking. Attending to the natural world and human impacts on it, in new ways

through the arts (O’Gorman, 2015) are strategies, among others, that lay the foundation

for attention, appreciation, love and a desire to protect.

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