*This blog entry is dedicated to Bobbie.
Les Baker, a photographer, had each individual take a different substance. "I took a portrait of each person while they were peaking on the substance. I then overlaid a picture or something that symbolized the substance they were on," Les said.
Warning: Drugs are dangerous and they ruin your life, so do NOT recreate this at home.
This one's my favorite, though!
Caffeine
Millions of people rely on their morning cuppa coffee to get ready for their day. Caffeine acts as a stimulant and can fight off drowsiness and make you more alert. Legal and unregulated, caffeine is the world's most widely used psychoactive substance. In the US 90% of adults consume it every day.
Nicotine
Tobacco was essential in the development of the southern colonies in early America until cotton replaced it. In small doses it can act as a stimulant, it can also act as a relaxant. it's historically known as one of the hardest addictions to break. Over a billion people world wide use nicotine.
Beer
While this is probably one of the most common substances used, it is crucial
to include it in the series. This man spent the night out at bars drinking only beer.
Hard Liquor
Picture this: A night out taking shot after shot, only to chase it with a couple mixed drinks. We all know that it leads to blurred or double vision. duh!
Crack Cocaine
The smokable version of coke, “Crack” which gets its name from the cracking or popping sound it makes when it is being smoked. He explained he was feeling more energized, more alert and more sensitive to sight, sound and touch.
Coke
Cocaine gives its users side effects including increased alertness and feelings of well-being and euphoria.
MDMA
She took a dose of pure MDMA, aka “molly”. MDMA users can experience mental and physical euphoria, increased empathy, sociability, insightfulness, and enhanced tactile sensations. It's been used in couples therapy and is also known to help treat PTSD.
Ketamine
Ketamine has been gaining ground as a new, cheaper alternative to MDMA or Cocaine. This user described the experience as watching the world turn to legos and breaking apart followed by everything getting smaller and turning flat until that flatness turns to a point.
LSD
This user noted intricate visuals and brightened colors, and a general heightened sense of her surroundings.
Psilocybin
Psilocybin has been known to make colors look more vivid, and can increase clarity in sound. Users have also reported a higher connection to nature if taken in proper settings.
THC
Rivaled only by alcohol, marijuana is the most widely used recreational substance. In recent years, marijuana has gained a lot of respect for its legitimate medical purposes. It is rapidly losing its sense of taboo and becoming more easily, legally, and readily available than ever before with Colorado and Washington’s legalization of the substance.
Adderall
During the last 5-7 years, it's become increasingly popular among college students. Its side effects include a heightened sense of motivation, focus, and concentration. Presumably, this is the perfect mind set which allows users to “pull all-nighters”, read hundreds of pages at a time, and write in depth, lengthy papers. What many do not realize is how widely this drug is also used among medical professionals. The irony!
To recap, doing drugs is hazardous. I recently lost one of my friends 'cause of them. I cannot emphasize that enough.
Comments
Gotcha.
Oh no no! You got me wrong! I never meant that you've to use drugs to create a masterpiece or whatever like that. That would be silly. If you're good at doing something, you're gonna be good with or without drugs, of course! You don't need drugs for creating something awesome.
I was just showing a relation between some very good artists and their habits, and how that kept reflected in some of their works. Is not like they woke up one morning and said to themselves 'oh, now i'm gonna get high and write a masterpiece'... It was just something that was happening in their lives and is very common for an artist to reflect their lives in their artwork. The thing that amazes me is how some people are able to take their 'monsters' and turn them into art... maybe it works like a kind of self-therapy too.
I dunno. It's not worth it. What if instead of creating a masterpiece someone jumps off a roof? I know, Dali was a prominent surrealist, who was a drug addict and had schizophrenia. Perfect.
I know, right? I mean, 'The Shining'? Please!
Williams, Baudelaire, Capote, Dickens, etc. Respect!
Agreed. 100%.
Well, probably is not a 'good idea' as you said, but I'm just talking about the fact that there are lot of masterpieces who were created under influences and sometimes even based on drugs experiences.
The 'problem' with Dalí was beyond the use of drugs... I think he didn't make use of them, but some biographers say that he had schizophrenia; apart from being just 'natural eccentric' :
Stephen King? Please, I've better taste :D
But he's okay just as 'entertainment'...
The first writers coming to my mind when talkin' about being 'under influences' are all the Beat Generation. Their masterpieces were very influenced by the use of drugs: Jack Kerouac, Allen Gingsberg, Ken Kesey and my fav one: W.S. Burroughs, who had a huge knowledge and experience on all kind of drugs (D.Cronenberg filmed a movie based on his most popular book 'The Naked Lunch', that's about a kind of diary of druggy's deliriums)
Another writers I like who were very 'influenced': Charles Bukowski (alcohol) Aldous Huxley (LSD and mushrooms) Tennessee Williams (alcohol) John Cheever (alcohol) Edgar Allan Poe (alcohol. Some people think many of his horror tales were inspired cause of the alcohol's deliriums) Hunter S. Thompson (all kind of drugs) Truman Capote (alcohol) Irvine Welsh (his most popular book, 'Trainspotting' is about a group of young drug addicts and it's based on the writer's youth) Baudelaire (absinthe, opio and hashish) Charles Dickens (opio), Hemingway (alcohol. I don't like Hemingway that much, but he was a good writer)
All these writers went thought addiction problems and their works were influenced by that. There are many others who just tried drugs occasionally. This is just about writers, but there are many other geniuses in different fields who made use of drugs (if we talk about musicians the list would be endless)
But don't get me wrong, this is NOT an apology of the use of drugs. I'm just curious about this close relationship 'artists-drugs' and its influence on the artwork of many of the best minds of the humankind. This is why I wonder if the creation of some masterpieces could have been the same (or even possible) without going through these experiences.
About that friend of yours, I'm very sorry. Drugs can ruin someone's life and also live of people around them. But who is there to blame? Drugs have no will. We take our own choices and most of the time we just f*ck it up for being selfish, or stupid, or for not being able to fight against our own 'monsters'. We can avoid our own problems blaming drugs, but that's playing the 'victim role' and not to face the real problem that is ourselves.
So, I correct myself: Drugs can ruin someone's life - WE and our fears ruin our lives.
Well, I kinda agree. I personally know someone who can hold his liquor like nobody's business. But creating a masterpiece under the influence? Not a good idea, unless you're Dali. I mean those 'melting clocks'? Girl! What was that guy on? Or take Stephen King, for example. Cokecokecokecokecoke...
I know Oscar Wilde is one of your favorite authors. Respect, by the way. Who else?
Thanks. I'll never forgive her, though. She ruined her life and she went to rehab three times. I feel for her little daughter. What's gonna happen to her future?
mmm maybe I'm not popular saying this, but I think drugs are not the problem. The problem comes when you make abuse of them. The addiction.
I admit I'm not too belligerent with drugs, maybe because most of my favorite authors and artists made their master pieces under 'influences'... I can't help but wonder if they could have created the same work without them.
But having said that, I can also get your point and I totally understand your rejection.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Thank you, my dear.
I bet Les is swollen-headed right now!
Wow! If i was a mayor i would put these pictures all around the city; sometimes a picture carries a message better than words. Wonderful pictures! Well done to Les Baker and a big like to you dear A7 for sharing them with us.:)
Oh, don't you worry. I won't. Caffeine is for the babies. And don't get me started on wine!
Thanks.
Btw, so sorry for your loss.