This piece was created for a semester long research project in which we were to pick a topic, research it, and then create an artwork about it. I decided to research nicotine for the reason that both of my parents smoke and I honestly didn’t know much about it other than that it’s the reason smoking is so addictive. I found out that in it’s pure form, nicotine is one of the most vile poisons on the planet with a drop of it able to kill 100 people. Tobacco companies have been adding more nicotine into their products than what is already naturally found in tobacco so that people become more addicted. I decided to create multiple rats that a crawling up a pedestal towards a poison, and as they get closer they become more and more gross and sticky-looking. The rats at the top are dead, having not yet even reached the poison.
