Tamara Staples: Side Effects May Include addresses the struggles of mental illness sufferers with a focus on medication. In 2012, Tamara Staples’ sister committed suicide by using drugs that had been prescribed for her bipolar disorder. After her death, Staples asked her sister’s husband to send her the contents of her medicine cabinet. There were 114 medications in all, and in some cases a variety of brands within that count. Staples sorted the thousands of pills, arranged them in patterns and photographed them. The deceptively alluring and decorative display immerses the viewer in a cacophony of images that slowly and powerfully reveal the tremendous scope of the polypharmacy epidemic in this nation.
Institute of Contemporary Art San José
A contemporary art museum in downtown San José.