50 GONE 50 is a darkly-humored collection that satirizes self-help gurus, miracle-cure potions, and late-night infomercials that prey upon our vulnerabilities.  Designer Nats Getty, as someone who has openly dealt with mental health issues and the system that surrounds it, is using the collection to highlight the issue, raising awareness around the dangers of 'cure-all culture' that is now omnipresent on social media.

Throughout history, alchemists, mystics and travelling salesmen have marketed various "cure-alls" to the public and these same marketing tactics are used today under the guise of science-backed pharmaceuticals.  While we acknowledge that pharmaceuticals save lives we can also see the ways that over-pathologizing normal range sadness negatively impacts society by creating a standard of happiness that is at odds with the reality of human emotional functioning.  We comment on this over-pathologizing by reflecting on a hypothetical cure for the human experience of existential dread. 


These themes are referenced in the use of the snake motif to signify "snake oil" as well as in the use of alchemical symbols which reference early attempts to transmute material reality from one state to another.  The desire to bottle an elixir with the power to transform a material or a person from a lead state to a gold state, while ancient in origin, continues to inform contemporary notions about wellness and conversely about what it means to be normal.