Collage Artist Obsessed with Rx and non-Rx drugs

There's an excellent article in W magazine about Brooklyn-based artist Fred Tomaselli, a collage artist whose psychedelic, obsessive, pharmaceutically-inspired work is as beautiful and awe-inspiring as it is thought-provoking.
Much of his work is collage imbued with sometimes thousands of tiny images and objects, including pharmaceuticals. Tomaselli creates universes, inner and outer, from pill constellations. Portraits of friends are "painted" using their favorite prescriptions. Marijuana leaves create a desert landscape. Tomaselli is clearly inspired by the inner- and outer space that pills, and other drugs, can represent and is open about the time in his life when he was exploring that space recreationally. Now, however, his days are fueled by caffeine, nicotine gum, and occasional nights of Ambien-induced sleep.


LINK (W Magazine)

Reading Tea Leaves to Explain Our Dreams

I recently picked up a bottle of Moby's Teany Energizing Tea with Guarana. The tea was delightful and refreshing but the label was covered in cloying marketing copy that explained how Teany is changing the world one plastic bottle of fair trade tea at a time.

Then there was this quirky little line: "Someday they will make a drug that will keep us awake forever and ever without needing any sleep. Until that time we have caffeine."

If you think of advertising as a mirror onto our own cultural wants and desires, this line seems truly eye-opening: Apparently we find it acceptable to wish for a drug that does away with our natural need for sleep, we assume that this drug will inevitably be invented, and perhaps we even hope that this drug will be as innocuous as a bottle of tea.

And to this I say, dream on.

Sarah Palin calls for change in our collective consciousness

In Sarah Palin's unapologetically rambling resignation speech last week, she mentioned one thing this world needs more of. And that is "more Trigs". Trig is her youngest son, a boy of 14 months with Down's Syndrome.

Palin said one reason for her resignation was that some "mean spirited adults" had been making fun of Trig and that it was very hard for her other children to witness. Then she said, "Um, by the way, sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we all could learn so much from someone like Trig. I know he needs me, but I need him even more. The world needs more "Trigs", not fewer."

Let's first state that all people, including those with Down's Syndrome, or any mental handicap, or even members of the GOP, are all valuable--because they're human. But what Palin is saying is that this world needs more specially-capable people.

Sarah has already done her part by having Trig later in life, which increases the odds for having a child with Down's Syndrome, but I wonder how Palin would suggest we go about having more Trigs in this world. Should we give up genetic research of mental retardation? Should we abandon the use of prenatal screenings and outlaw subsequent elective abortions? Should we encourage people with Down's Syndrome to have children more often?

Palin's call for more Trigs, beyond showing her loyalty and love for a special person in her life, is an admission (once again) that she does not value scientific progress, medical research, or personal choice. I'm glad she quit while she was ahead.

A timeline of famous prescription drug overdoses

Looking back at our pop culture's victims of Rx drugs provides an interesting glimpse into the kinds of pills that were available and popular at the time: Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland were both fond of barbiturates, an anti-anxiety med more euphoric and addictive than Valium now widely unavailable. Elvis popped off quaaludes, a highly euphoric pill of the 70s that is no longer on the market. One of the drugs Heath Ledger used was Ambien, a drug only on the market since the late Nineties. One wonders what is next for the us. Hopefully Michael Jackson's drug of choice, the anesthetic propofol, will not gain a following. Read the posts below for the timeline.

Marilyn Monroe. Died August 5, 1962

Marilyn Monroe bathed in champagne. She also used champagne to wash down pills. An autopsy found that enough chloral hydrate and Nembutal were found in the sex symbol's system to have killed 10 people.

Judy Garland. Died June 22, 1969.

As a child actress, Judy was given amphetamines and barbiturates by her management, which led to a life-long struggle with drugs and alcohol. Garland took her final trip down the yellow brick road after swallowing an what doctors said was an "incautious" amount of barbiturates.

Jimi Hendrix. Died September 18, 1970

Jimi Hendrix may be infamous for wearing an LSD-soaked bandanna while performing on stage, but what killed him was choking on vomit after washing down too many sleeping pills with booze.

Elvis Presley. Died August 16, 1977

He may be the King of Rock 'n Roll, but he was also king of the pillheads. Presley had 14 drugs in his system when he died on the throne: morphine, demerol, chloropheniramine, an antihistamine, tranquilizers, placidyl, Valium, codeine, the sleeping pill ethinamate, quaaludes and one other unidentified depressant.

Keith Moon. Died September 6, 1978.

Keith Moon was an infamous pillhead his entire career as The Who's charismatic drummer. At one point he was keeping a fishbowl of assorted uppers and downers at his bedside. When Moon tried to kick his habits he died of an overdose of the sedative Clomethiazole, which was supposed to help alleviate his alcohol withdrawal symptoms. But Clomethiazole is intended only for supervised detox due to its addictiveness, tendency to rapidly induce tolerance, and dangerously high risk of death when mixed with alcohol. Keith had 32 pills in his system. Six were sufficient to kill him.

Chris Farley. Died December 18, 1997

Chris Farley reportedly tried 17 times to kick his drug habits. But the "curse of the fat comedian" finally caught him when he was found dead, with prescription painkillers, in his apartment. Ten years later his brother revealed there were also several bags of cocaine there too. Apparently it's more acceptable to overdose on Rx opiates than cocaine.

Anna Nicole Smith. Died February 8, 2007

Anna Nicole Smith was found dead at a Florida Hard Rock Hotel. A toxicology report found Anna with human growth hormone and chloral hydrate, a sleep medication, in her system. Methadone was in the refrigerator. Recently her boyfriend Howard K Stern and her doctor were convicted of conspiring to give Anna innumerable amounts of prescription drugs. Anna was often provided cocktails of methadone, antidepressants, sleeping pills and Xanax. The attorney on the case said, "Doctors do not have a license to pump innocent and often vulnerable people full of dangerous chemicals." The don't have a license, but they do it anyway.

Heath Ledger. Died January 2008

Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment last year. And no wonder. The NYC medical examiner said Heath had taken six kinds of painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs. Bottles of Xanax, Valium, and Ambien, were found near his body.

Michael Jackson. Died June 25, 2009.

Michael Jackson is said to have been heavily addicted to OxyContin and Demerol. Other reports say he was fond of a cocktail of Xanax, Zoloft, Vicodin and Dialuid. But Michael takes the prize for extreme Rx addiction: the latest report is that his body was found to be covered in injection marks from the dangerous anesthetic propofol. Died June 25, 2009.

Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) issues statement

It's a sad and disastrous end to a complicated life. The sudden, but perhaps unsurprising death of Michael Jackson may, in part, be due to an extremely dangerous anesthetic called Diprivan (propofol). Several unlabeled bottles of the surgical sedative were found in his home and apparently his body was covered with injection sites.

Unlike the horse tranquilizer/club drug Ketamine (or "Special K"), propofol has not been adopted by any scene for recreational use. However, according to Wikipedia, "abuse ...has been reported, usually among anesthesiologists who have access to it. Despite a lack of pain relieving properties, propofol's sedative action produces euphoric effects."

The drug is so dangerous that the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) issued a statement.

"The ASA ...does not know the specific circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson's death. However, the ASA unequivocally maintains that...propofol is a drug meant only for use in a medical setting by professionals trained in the provision of general anesthesia. Though the drug is often used for procedures requiring sedation, patients can have extremely variable responses to the drug and some patients can become completely anesthetized, including losing the ability to breathe. "

It is a sad and shameful tale that a man once so admired by nearly every person on this planet would seek such complete isolation that he would resort to a drug like propofol. Hopefully, this is a trend that Michael Jackson will not be starting.

The return of Pill Pop

Pill Pop went out with a whimper two years ago. Since then Michael Jackson has died. Of course the gossip points to prescription drug use—administered by a live-in croaker—as the cause. Anna Nicole Smith was found dead inside a methadone, valium, xanax, and vicoden-strewn hotel room. Britney Spears went completely nuts and now takes antipsychotics,antidepressants, and sleep meds to keep herself in check.

It's time to get back on the Pill Pop! Watch for more coverage coming soon!