The Numbers of Life
Art Installation is Looking For A Venue
The Numbers of Life
An Art Installation by David Bloom
Each of us lives in many worlds at the same time. Our daily lives are typically shared with family, friends, and coworkers. We are residents of a neighborhood, town, or city, as we are also members of a nation. Only peripherally are we aware of what people are doing in other countries, other continents, far away from our homes.
This installation brings those remote locations into view, showing us how each of us is part of a worldwide community, one pulsing with daily lives filled with events that are simultaneously universal and individual. Through numbers, it shows the mosaic of human life from many different perspectives as they occur. These real time numbers demonstrate the constancy—the irrepressibility–of human behavior over time and place.
This installation was created to reconcile the relatively cold statistical numbers with the very real human experiences we have. Each counter represents a specific facet of human behavior—sometimes funny, sometimes sorrowful— and together, they show many plotlines occurring simultaneously. Seen together, they enact a universal dance: The goal of this installation is to stimulate thought about important meaningful life milestones as well as global realities expressed in numbers. There is a dance between the various counters with different sizes, colors and rates of movement that represent the rhythms of many things activities happening on earth at the same time.
Each counter represents human behavior and shows many plotlines simultaneously occurring. This installation shows the mosaic of human life from many different perspectives, all revealed by numbers, and as they occur. The implications of the real time numbers demonstrate the irrepressibility of human behavior. With a little imagination you come up with numerous scripts involving one to many of these simultaneous happenings.
Each wall label gives relevance and humanity to the counters. Offers a connection to the viewer. All of the counts started on January 1, 2026.