Tobaccer

Artist Statement

My video is about my addiction to smoking cigarettes. Why’d I keep coming back, and spending boatloads of money for poor health. I decided to write a series of personal essays about different aspects of smoking.

My roommate mentioned a book called, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. I looked it up, turns out it’s the go-to book for quitting.  I bought this book and read it in an afternoon and ended up quitting that day.

I decided that the visual portion of my video would be my last day smoking. Starting in the morning, and ending on my back deck during the night with some friends.

I ended up getting the flu and bronchitis the day that I quit smoking, and because of that, put off doing the audio recording until the last second. I hoped I could do it myself. When it became clear that that was not going to happen, I had to ask my friend to do the audio.

I successfully looked at my smoking, wrote a series of personal essays, and then decided that I wanted to quit. If anything, I quit, and it will stick because of this experience.

The most challenging part of this video was the audio. I was unable to do it, and had to keep putting it off everyday. I just wanted to get it done, but was unable to say more than three words without hacking up a lung.

The most rewarding part, I am a non-smoker. I love smells.

Artist Bio

France Schell is from Colorado and is currently a sophomore at The Evergreen State College. He is planning on going into film after he graduates.