The story of Universal Placebos began way back in 2002, as part of a conversation Michael had with some of his students about the way ‘intangibles’ are sold in the knowledge economy. Wouldn’t it be interesting, thought the group, if you were just to ‘fess up that the thing you were selling was actually valueless, in and of itself, and that its value lay in intangibles – that what was being offered was an idea, a thought, an impulse, a vibe …?
What about just going to market with a bottle of ‘placebos’, sugar pills of the kind used extensively in drug trials, harmless but possibly not ‘ineffective’…?
Then, on the 6th of November, 2006, four people (Michael & Ludmila Doneman, Brian & Margi Bruce) had a conversation during a visit to the Bruce’s home in Mullumbimby and the placebo idea came up. Brian, a homeopath, was immediately interested because of the resonance of the placebo idea with the nature and intent of homeopathy and other so-called complementary therapies, the placebo being a refinement and simplification of the metaphysical approach to healing.
So we began to research placebos, and found that the ‘placebo effect’ was widely recognised and accepted by scientists. In other words, it is invariably the case in clinical drug trials, where a proportion of the trial group is given an inert substance – a placebo – that a certain proportion of the control (placebo) group will respond in the same way as the group taking the test drug. This was especially remarkable in trials of the new SSRI designer-psych drugs like Prozac, where up to 70% of the placebo group have reported the same symptomatic responses as those taking SSRI’s.
There is very little dedicated research on how or why the placebo effect actually works, it’s just acknowledged as always being present to some degree. Now, for the first time, the lay person can take advantage of the proven healing qualities of the placebo effect.
So these are the two directions that lead to Universal Placebos – one about the importance of the *idea* that sits behind a product, and one about the importance of the *idea* that sits behind a therapy. Together, they have given rise to the Placebo pilules, which you can buy in this site, and to this site iself, which we offer as a clearinghouse and discussion point on the placebo effect.
We are very interested in the way the placebo phenomenon raises issues about the practices of the gigantic medical-pharmaceutical industrial complex, and the role of non-mainstream and traditional medicines and therapies.
We make no therapeutic claims at all, beyond the assertion that the placebo effect is generally considered to be present, to ‘work’ for at least some of the people some of the time. Placebos are not intended as alternatives to *any* other therapy. Being totally inert, they can do no harm, except perhaps where the ingestion of a tiny amount of sugar might be an issue. If you need an operation, if you need analgaesia, if you need drug therapy for a chronic condition, by all means get the best advice you can and go ahead with it. But consider complementing any such therapy with a placebo, or to be more specific, with the spirit of faith, hope, trust and love which we recommend as part of taking a placebo.
We also want to hold this lightly, to have fun with it, to enjoy a spirit of playfulness related to the placebo and what it represents. As Australians we love a cheeky sense of humour, and we love taking pot shots at big, self-righteous institutions. In many ways Universal Placebos has succeeded if it brings you a smile.
I´ve really gotten into painting seascapes lately, so again I could not stay away from another attempt at it. I don´t know what it is about it, but i just feel very calm while doing it. I can actually hear the waves smashing against the rocks in my head, and the seagulls squeaking down through the sea breeze from above. It´s almost therapeutic.
I was very pleased with the clouds and the big wave, but again, as usual, I wasn´t able to paint it all realistically. From the wave up it looks pretty good, but from the wave down it looks way more cartoonish. But there is a progress, so I´m pleased. I´ll just have to do some more sessions, although my blue paint is really starting to run out…. 🙂
Since i´ve done a lot of painting lately, I picked up my sketching kit today and had a go at one of my favorite actors, Robert De Niro. If you look past the slight… misplacement of the right eye, I thought it went rather well.
I´m amazed by the difference some shadow making can do to a sketch. It can really make some features come alive.
After painting this picture today, I was fascinated by how few tools you actually need to paint a decent painting. Without blowing my own horn to much, I thought this was my best painting yet.
When i say few tools, I´m talking about both brushes, palette knifes and paint. T he whole picture is painted with a combination of blue, ivory black, titanium white, a small amount of yellow, and some burnt sienna. The rest of the tools, is presented on the picture to the right.
If someone is interested in reading the step-by-step procedure of how I painted the picture, which is inspired by the book The Art of Painting Landscapes, Seascapes and Skyscapes in Oil & Acrylic , here it is:
For the sky, use a blend of blue, white and a little bit of ivory black. Start from the left, and paint gradually more and more to the right, blending in more white as you go. This will make the light source from the right become more clear. For the skies, use a blend of white and ivory black, and highlight the edges of them with pure white at the end.
For the rear mountains, use a blend of blue, white and black, with an emphasis on the blue paint to start with. paint in the same direction as with the skyline, and blend in more of the black paint as you go. Remember to leave out a blank space for the crashing wave, which will be painted on later.
For the rocks to the right, use a blend of ivory black and white. Then paint in highlighted rock formations and stones to make it pop out. For the sea I used a blend of blue, ivory black and white for the dark parts, lighting the blend up more as i came nearer to the shore. This sea blend can also be used to highlight the rocks. You can also use a small brush to add some white breaking waves out on the sealine.
The front stones is based on a blend of ivory black, white and burnt sienna. You can use a palette knife to apply the paint over the rock area of the canvas, and the use the brush to form different rock shapes. The rocks can be highlighted by the sea color from earlier, a blend of ivory black and white, and a blend of blue, yellow, brunt sienna and white. This is for the lightest parts.
When you are done you can use a small brush to paint in some foam and crashing waves in the shore area. For the big wave, I used a blend of yellow and white for the foam, and the dark sea blend for painting in the dark tones of the crashing wave.
So, as you can see, you don´t need much to have a nice day of painting. On this one, I used about six hours.
If you´ve ended up reading this post, and have some input, it would mean a lot if you left a comment.