OK. This wasn't my idea. But somebody asked for it. So you all get it. Drugs and art. Art and drugs. Where do the two meet? I don't know. Better question: What do drugs do to my art? Depends on the drug. Different drugs affect your brain, and your creative capacities, differently.  Different drugs affect different people with different nervous systems differently. One person might become a master under the influence of peyote or mushrooms. Another might just turn into a loser. The official position is this: you probably shouldn't do drugs. Most people who use drugs with any regularity turn into douchebags. Sorry. For most of you, Nancy Reagan was right.

But Amedeo Modigliani is lucky he didn't listen to Nancy. Or his estate is, anyway. He died drunk and broke nearly a century ago. And these days, a lot of art critics aren't sure if his work is any good. But one of his limestone sculptures just sold at Christie's in Paris for a little more than $50 million. So that's good.

Modigliani did a lot of drugs. He died at 36 of tubercular meningitis. His diet of drugs and absinthe probably didn't help.  Rocky childhood, yada, yada ... and eventually he settled in Paris, in a commune for broke artists. It was there that he spiraled downward at a pace that might even stagger a Tacoma bartender. He was known for getting drunk, dropping his pants, lifting his shirt and shouting, "Don't I look like a god?"

But Modigliani was also known for sketching and painting like a demon.  He was known for knocking out 100 pieces in a single day. He painted portraits for some ritzy people, including people with names like Picasso, Soutine and Rivera. But the drinking and drugs (he liked them opiates, and hashish) forced him to trade art for meals, or sell pieces for a few francs to tourists. He drank so much he frequently blacked out. He died broke and diseased in 1920. But his paintings are selling for tens of millions.

Apparently the art world is still fascinated by crashing and burning in spectacular fashion.

I know. I know. Lots of great artists have been dope fiends. Van Gogh, Hemmingway, Nietzsche, Phillip K.  Dick, Rachmaninoff.  Plato characterized creativity (and love) as a form of divine madness. Genius and madness have always been intertwined. So have drugs and madness. Watch enough episodes of E! True Hollywood Story, and you'll see a lot of connections between drugs, genius, madness, and unplanned pregnancy. So yeah, you could probably argue that drugs make your art better in some cases.

Then I think of poor Layne Staley, who made the best music of his career (Mad Season) when he was sober.

So I don't really know. Master your technique before adding drugs to the mix. You can always tell the artists who learned to do their thing on drugs. They usually suck. Once you're a master, go for it. But wait until you're good.

Remember what Baudelaire said: "He who looks to a poison in order to think will soon be unable to think without it."

Joe Malik is a jaded, ornery, "power to the people type" that can't help but comment on all the stupid, awesome, or just plain questionable stuff he sees within the local arts community. Basically, he's kind of an arts-centric asshole - but we like him. The Weekly Volcano doesn't always agree with what he says, but we do enjoy stirring the pot.