Article: How the drugs of the 60's changed art
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| http://edition.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/07/15/ken.johnson.psychedelic.art/index.html?_s=PM:LIVING |
Review
The article gives anecdotal evidence from ken Johnson about the popularity and effects of psychedelic substances on artistic culture in the 1960's. he speaks about how "psychedelic art" isnt necessarily aesthetically trippy/psychedelics/hippy, more so conceptually psychedelic, expressing with it, view points that tend to be obtained through the use of psychedelic substances.
"...But my theory is that there were probably a lot of artists that didn't necessarily want to do psychedelic-style art that were still influenced by the experience and created works that don't necessarily look psychedelic in the stereotypical way, but may be conceptually psychedelic or have a kind of philosophical way of looking at the world."
Johnson also elaborates on some of thise pyschedelic concepts...
"I think the main thing is the idea that in psychedelic experience, people start thinking about their own perceptions.They don't take their perceptions for granted, but they start thinking about how our perceptions work and how interesting it is the way we think about the world, so we think about our thinking."
The influence of said substances on artistic culture is also discussed...
"If you look at a lot of different styles in art of the past 50 years, you can see the influence of psychedelics, ranging from sculpture that looks very minimal like Richard Serra's giant, spiral, mazelike structures, to something like Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty," there's an interest in having art be experiential..."
Relevance of key topics
This article makes some very interesting points. Some of which might be very useful for my essay topic. For example, the comments on what "psychedelic art" really is provides a refreshing insight on the possible scope of psychedelic influence on art. No facts or stats due to the article being purely anecdotal, however lots of discussion is made around the misconceptions on the influence and effect psychedelics have on artists, and the art its self. Suggesting that almost all forms of art today is or has been influenced and therefore sculpted by the use of psychedelics in our culture. However, if possible, it would be useful to find more scientific evidence to back up the points in this article because most of the evidence provided is anecdotal.
Website info
Key authors/speakers
Ken Johnson - Author of "Are you experienced?"
"In "Are You Experienced? How Psychedelic Consciousness Transformed Modern Art," Johnson combines interviews and analysis with his own experiences as a stoned art lover to explore psychedelic culture's impact on fine art."
Very relevant to my essay topic. links directly with the question of weather psychedelic drugs influence art and creativity.
Artists
"After graduating from high school, Robert spent a depressing year at home, mostly drawing, and talking endlessly about the meaning of life with Charles, who never did leave home. He finally left for Cleveland in 1962 to live with his friend Marty Pahls, and soon found work with the American Greetings Corporation as a color separator. He was promoted within a year to the Hi-Brow Department, and drew hundreds of cards over the next several years. His job as a commercial illustrator would have an effect on his future work. My boss kept telling me my drawings were too grotesque. I was trained to draw 'cute' little neuter characters which influenced my technique, and even now my work has this cuteness about it.
"In "Are You Experienced? How Psychedelic Consciousness Transformed Modern Art," Johnson combines interviews and analysis with his own experiences as a stoned art lover to explore psychedelic culture's impact on fine art."
Very relevant to my essay topic. links directly with the question of weather psychedelic drugs influence art and creativity.
Artists
R.Crumb
Website: http://www.crumbproducts.com/
"After graduating from high school, Robert spent a depressing year at home, mostly drawing, and talking endlessly about the meaning of life with Charles, who never did leave home. He finally left for Cleveland in 1962 to live with his friend Marty Pahls, and soon found work with the American Greetings Corporation as a color separator. He was promoted within a year to the Hi-Brow Department, and drew hundreds of cards over the next several years. His job as a commercial illustrator would have an effect on his future work. My boss kept telling me my drawings were too grotesque. I was trained to draw 'cute' little neuter characters which influenced my technique, and even now my work has this cuteness about it.
In 1964, Crumb lost his virginity with Dana Morgan, who he married later in the year. They honeymooned in Europe for six months, while Crumb continued to mail in his illustrations for American Greetings."
" "I started taking L.S.D. in Cleveland in June of ’65. That changed my head around. It made me stop taking cartooning so seriously and showed me a whole other side of myself.”
After a temporary breakup with Dana, Robert traveled to New York, Chicago, and Detroit during this acid-soaked period and created many of his future characters: Mr. Natural, Mr. Snoid and Angelfood McSpade."
Examples of work
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