14 DAY TRIAL // The Oscars 2014 were this Sunday at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, but one artist by the name of Plastic Jesus decided to use all the media attention to shine some light on the issue of drug addiction. He’s doing so by means of a statue that looks very much like the Oscar, with the only difference that it has a syringe in one of the hands.
You can see it in full in the photo above. Called the heroin Oscar, this piece of art was inspired by the untimely death of the actor Sir Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died last month of a drug overdose after years of sobriety.
There is no doubt as to the purpose of that syringe (which is real, by the way, except for the needle), since the statue also has a belt on one of the arms into which it plans to inject the contents of the syringe.
A note at the bottom of the statue, which is actually an altered shop mannequin painted in gold, reads “Hollywood’s best kept secret.” The implications of it are obvious.
It was initially set up on the Hollywood Boulevard, but it has now been moved to Melrose Avenue, LA Weekly reports. Reports online note that Academy officials put pressure to have it relocated because they didn’t appreciate having it there before the big night. However, they’re pending confirmation.
In a statement to the aforementioned publication, the artist says that, despite of how this might look, the purpose of this piece of art is a noble one, that of raising awareness on drug abuse and “remove the stigma, and enable people to get help and support.”
“Hard drugs are still seen as a taboo subject, with people using in the privacy of their own home or hotel room and afraid of the consequences if the world finds out about their addiction. My piece is intended to say ‘let’s be aware of the issue, remove the stigma, enable people to get help and support’,” Plastic Jesus continues.
Last week, official confirmation came that Hoffman’s death was caused by an overdose of heroin. He was found with a needle sticking out of his arm at his New York apartment and, before relapsing a short while before his death, he had been clean for about 23 years.
Plastic Jesus insists he’s not looking to tarnish Hoffman’s memory but rather to use his tragic death to prevent further tragedies of this kind.