So, finally, I'm done with the fourth picture featuring Justin Bieber on drugs. And it is a detailed and weird one at that. A really special one too, because Salvia Divinorum (or Salvorin A and B) was the substance that got me into this mess, as it was while reading on online forums about smoking salvia and listening to the song "U Smile" slowed down 800% that I got the idea of linking Justin Bieber with drugs and started on the series. The weird thing though, is that all of my pictures are more compatible with the music of Animal Collective, even though I specifically had this song ("U Smile" slowed down 800%) in mind the entire time. But I guess that's not a bad thing, since they're my favourite band.
Anyhow, the effects of Salvia Divinorum are described as reality melting into waves, flowing all through the environment you're in and washing into your body and mind. You will also feel like you're a part of your surroundings, that you're not like a separete induvudal anymore but one with the room you're in, the city, the country, the earth itself. Everything is a part of you and you are a part of everything. At high doses it's said that you can experience merging with the whole universe and, for a second, understand "everything" (whatever that means). It's also described as having a comicbook like effect on your vision, and some experience the world as monochrome while under the influence of this plant (this monochrome business I chose to ignore, since the picture wouldn't fit in with the others in the series if I hadn't).
The plant itself is kind of curious. It's a feeble-looking thing that can't reproduce itself, since it's seeds are infertile, and it has to be propagated through cuttlings. It rarely flowers, and has an integrated defect that makes the leaves form black patches of dead matter all over no matter how good conditions it grows in. The only reason it's still living today is because of human cultivation; if the Mayans had not found out about it's "divine" effects when smoked and started growing it, it would have died out over a thousand years ago.
As I just finished this picture I'm not so sure about it yet. I haven't placed it among the others to see if it fits in, (I mean the colors are quite different from the other Justin-pictures), and it has some kind of elf-like fantasy quality that I'm not sure I appreciate. But I guess it is as it always is when I make pictures - I start with an idea, and then I back off and let the picture paint itself. Ultimately, this is how the picture wanted me to do it, and I guess I just have to accept that.
One noteworthy thing in the picture, and something I'm kinda proud of, is the amount of detail I put in on mr. Bibers haircut (this is only visible when viewed in the large version of the picture you can view by clicking on the picture once, then right clicking on the enlarged picture and choose "show picture").
Finally I should probably mention is the purpose of the picture (or any of the other pictures in this series), which is something that's kinda hard to explain. I did not make this to get kids into drugs or anything like that. I'm not for or against the use of hallucinogens, but I find the concept interesting. The thing I would like my pictures to promote is self exploration. If you can feel like you're one with the universe, wouldn't you like to do so? And shouldn't there be a way of feeling this without the use of any substances?
I think so. Or at least I really hope so. I believe everything is beautiful, not good or bad as we commonly put it, but more like the way you feel while reading a good book, watching a great movie or looking at a well made picture. It may horrify you, make you sad, make you happy or whatever, but that's beside the point. The point is that it actually makes you think or feel, and that's really all you have to do. That is why life is so beautiful.
Here's the song that inspired it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QspuCt1FM9M
Some interseting reading on Salvia Divinorum:
http://pearlsofwar.blogspot.com/2010/11/salvia-bardo.html
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_Salvia_divinorum.shtml
By the way, the colors of the picture are actually accurate. This due to the colorful lighting in my room, which I've spent alot of time and money on to get right. I'll add a picture of my bedroom below. Note, if you will, that the big floor lamp that's kind of green in this picture actually changes between 768 different colors, and is usually set to blue or purple, and that my black light is not shown in the picture.
