Ryan McGinley

I suppose this picture has nothing to do with art. The picture was taken at the beginning of 2005, the worst year of my life. I'm in my studio on Canal Street in Chinatown. Earlier in the year, I developed a condition called tinnitus, which is a constant ringing in the ears. There's no cure for it. This photo was taken around the time my downward spiral started. I was on a mission to figure out a cure for this incurable disorder. I went to every doctor and his mother around New York. No one had any answers for me, and I felt like I was going nuts most of the day, every day. I was prescribed all kinds of pills and tried out all kinds of homeopathic treatments. Nothing really worked. After months and months of madness, I figured out on my own that eating sugar made the ringing drastically worse, so now I don't eat sugar, and it's far more manageable. Anyway, I guess in this picture, I'm sitting on my couch, in my head, listening to the ringing.