www.rpi.edu/~baumgj/cabinet.htm

VRML website

by James Baumgartner

Although the pharmaceutical industry has surrounded us for years with advertisements for their over-the-counter drugs, the FDA prohibited them from advertising the more potent, prescription medicines. The idea was to allow doctors to determine what medicines people should use. However, recently the FDA has allowed the drug companies to advertise their prescription drugs. This has resulted in a flood of prescription drug ads on television, radio, and in the print media. From these ads, people learn that they have a problem that this problem can be corrected through drugs. As a result, prescription drug sales are up, as are drug company's stock values.

In my video piece, "Prescription Strength," I used footage from television drug ads to make a statement about the many drugs that advertisers tell us we need to have in order to live a happy life. In my next VRML work, I will use 3D models of pills as a navigational tool through the story of a young woman's life in pills. She has been on many medications throughout her 22 years including anti-biotics, zoloft, percoset, prozac, ovum, claritan, and demerol. The stories are partly fictitious, but they emphasize how pervasive drugs have become in our culture. In addition to the stories, visitors to the site will be able to access stock prices of the various pharmaceutical companies.

Inspirational websites:

Christina Goldschmidt’s midterm project (unfortunately I do not know the url.)