Abacus

While studying human migrations, equity and resource sustainability on a global scale, I came across a figure that caught my attention: 200,000. This is the daily net human population growth of planet Earth. 200,000 is not merely the number of daily new-borns, but the number of the daily new-borns minus the daily deaths. I asked myself how much it was. Was it a lot? I could not grasp it. So, I decided to draw it on a piece of paper. Just as I stack cases identified in an epidemic on an epidemiological curve, I drew 200,000 pixels to help my eyes grasp the magnitude. I found the answer that I was looking for in the first place.

200,000
2020, pen on paper, approx. 200×150 cm, photography by Therese Lærke
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200,000
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200,000
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200,000
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