Addiction. It’s a strange thing; an all-encompassing, all-consuming habit that leaves pain, destruction and seemingly insatiable craving in its wake. Pick your poison – there’s one for everyone. But be comforted by the fact that we are, according to the latest exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, a race of addicts
The coffee that gets you through that all-nighter, the cigarette that calms you down, and the many vodka tonics needed to get you ‘Kukui’ drunk are all perfect testament to this. High Society is a beautifully put-together mixed media exploration of the dialectic of our fetishisation and demonization of drug use; it’s a truly heady experience. And while the issue is a topical and contentious one – the illegal drug trade is estimated by the UN at $320bn a year – this is certainly a habit that permeates culture and time.
The universal impulse for the alteration of consciousness is demonstrated upon my arrival by the cabinet of drug paraphernalia which greets me. A ‘heavy fetish pipe’ (Congo, late 17th or early 18th century) and ‘Betel nut cutters in the form of a human head with the wings and tail of a peacock’ (Indian, 19th century) sit next to ‘Fly Agaric mushrooms’ and the pre-packaged plastic glasses of wine found in the aisles of your local supermarket.
We are exposed to the uncomfortable history of the opium trade through the Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping’s installation of a giant opium pipe next to a fallen statue of Lord Palmerston; and a 19th century gouache illustration of Chinese opium smokers, divided into two, contrasts the experiences of filthy rich and destitute poor. Then we are swiftly brought onto Tracey Moffatt’s arresting Laudanum, a Jekyll and Hyde-esque narrative of the effects of this Victorian cure-all. The contemporary is also represented by Keith Coventry’s photolithograph, Crack Den, while Joshua White’s LSD blotter art for Hendrix, The Doors, and The Grateful Dead is recreated, colourfully signalling the 60s drug culture.
Mind-altering drugs have often been the subject of scientific experiment, and also the source of artistic inspiration. The sombre blue, black and grey tones of the exhibition rooms reflect the contradictory lenses which illuminate our attitude to drugs: sombre, clinical, subdued, seedy, glamorous, romantic. Yet this exhibition is by no means about passing judgement. And indeed, the serious fuses with the comedic – in Mark Harri’s video, Marijuana in the UK, the artist reads Benjamin’s Hashish in Marseilles and Baudelaire’s Les paradis artificiels to cannabis plants to stimulate faster growth, and Rodney Graham’s comedic Phonokinetiscope recreates Hoffman’s accidental discovery of LSD while cycling around Berlin.
This is definitely an exhibition that should come with a health warning, but is highly recommended nonetheless. And like the best ventures, you charge in sober and hungry to imbibe, and emerge feeling just a little bit dizzy. And that’s something to be experienced rather than merely read about.
‘High Society’ is on at the Wellcome Collection, Euston Road, London until February 22nd.
