White the New Black

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The Killing Season: A Paramedic's Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Opioid Epidemic, a book by Peter Canning, a 25-year ambulance paramedic, pulsates with the reality of the living street. It is a unique perspective for an artist lingering on the difficult subject of dereliction and art. of As self-disclosure, let me reveal that I have a Will, and it includes a Do Not Revive (DNR) request. Allow me to explain mention of this co-morbid, self-interest, for a moment. Narcotics addiction, too common for mention among street people, I find abhorrent. To be clear: It is a problem in need of compassion, not blame, but Heroin is not a temptation for me. Consider this dilemma, quoted from the book's jacket, faced by those who, like Peter Canning, seek to save the over-dosed and dying:

"I set my cardiac monitor down by the young man's head. He is lifeless, his face white with a blue tinge. I apply the defibrillator pads to his hairless chest...a week from today, after the young man's brain shows no signs of electrical activity, the medical staff will take the breathing tube out, and with his family gathered by his side, he will pass away at the age of twenty-three." 


The quote struck a chord with me, because while Heroin is not my cup of tea, I am horrified by the prospect of being kept alive on a breathing tube! And then, five leaves into The Killing Season, to read a quotation from Lenny Bruce on shooting heroin: "I'll die young, but it is like kissing God."

My girlfriend wanted to see Lenny (1974) when it came out. I knew, from what I knew about Lenny Bruce, that the date would not end with a kiss. My girl was Jewish, I was not, but I thought a better understanding between us might result from seeing the picture. I was right. The only movie which disturbed her more was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). From these, and additional experiences, I think of the social problem of the streets as psychological. To call homelessness "antisocial" is an understatement. The homeless lost the ability to love. Something went wrong at an early age. To feel the wrongness, on an almost personal level, contemplate the irony of the images, within a heartbeat, of "breathing tube," and "kissing God."

The graphic art of Brian Higgins can be viewed at: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/8-brian-higgins


One-of-a-kind works of art can be viewed at :https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/1840403




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