Happy Holidaze from Sackler, LLC: from April, 2020 to April, 2021, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimated 75, 673 deaths from opioid overdoses—many of these expedited by the use of Oxycontin, or from heroin or fentanyl overdoses when the victims’ prescriptions were terminated. The Sackler family, The Family That Built an Empire of Pain, leveraged brilliant marketing techniques invented by the family patriarch, Arthur (who first became rich marketing the tranquilisers Librium and Valium), then his two brothers, Mortimer and Raymond, their spawn and their corporation, Purdue Pharma, sold the medical establishment (and, in turn, an unsuspecting public) on the idea their product Oxycontin was not addictive.
In this piece, a woman, behind cracked glass, is depicted with a belly full of pills, with an arc of Sackler family mugshots flanking her to her right. Inside the pills are secret messages.
3D immersive video exploring the Sackler clan and a representative victim of the Opiate Epidemic they were instrumental in:
Materials: Antique frame with convex glass; historical photo circa 1900; Creative Commons-licensed mugshots of the Sacklers; ~400 red-and-black capsules (shipped from China)
Dimensions: 28cm x 36cm x 2cm, 0.5kg
