Warm Hugs and Poison: Though radically different in methodology, father and son were both IV drug users.
The son started off with a poppy-based product, self-administering in gradually increasing doses to smother his emotional pain with warm hugs. But this concoction was poisoned with Hepacivirus C, and although the treatment protocol stopped, the virus lay dormant.
The father, a rugged man who suppressed his emotional pain with liquor, tobacco and emotional denial was also poisoned, with the long-term usage effects of colon, liver and lung cancer.
The two of them embarked on a different type of poison journey, chemotherapy. The father began with a ~300-week treatment protocol of three of the most cutting-edge cancer treatment protocols, financed by $1.5M of taxpayer and insurance money. The son joined in, with a 24-week Phase III clinical trial of Interferon administered by syringe in the abdomen, Ribavirin and a protease inhibitor, financed fully by a research institute.
When his successful treatment ended, the son communicated his full story to the father, and they shared a mutual appreciation of their chemical journeys. After his remarkable 6-year endurance feat, the father passed away on 16 October, 2014. The son’s work is featured in this show.
The lock of hair, the romantic poetry—The Dance With the Devil—cut into 24 pieces, one-per-syringe, and medical illustrations (sandwiched between the mirror and liquid plastic, and selected from a body of ~8,000 medical illustrations done by the artist 1984-1993) are from the warm hug phase, the syringes from the poison one.
The Warm Hugs and Poison video better captures the feel of the piece, which is virtually impossible to photograph! From back to front: mirror, medical illustration printed on transparent plastic, liquid plastic reservoir filled with 24 syringes (and one line of a poem for each) and hair; convex glass.
Materials: Antique frame with convex glass; liquid plastic, syringes; medical illustrations printed on transparent plastic; mirror; hair; text snippets
Dimensions: 63cm x 48cm x 3cm, 3kg