There is a strange loop lurking behind psychedelic experiences. Like dreams, these unique visions are often ineffable, intensely personal and impossible to share directly. And yet they have inspired countless people throughout time to make visionary art, to craft objects and images that channel something of those sublime, bizarre, mythopoetic realms into our shared human world. But here is the loop: this art in turn shapes and influences later voyagers, becoming part of the cultural \u201cset and setting\u201d that always informs even the most singular psychedelic experience.<\/p>\n
In a modern world with little support for visionary traditions, the making of these objects and images has created a psychedelic visual culture in the margins of the mainstream. This stream of images \u2014 at once sophisticated and trite, commercial and illicit, sacred and profane \u2014 is now part of popular culture, superficially familiar through fractal shapes and tie-dyed hues, neo-tribal mandalas and trippy cartoons. And yet we rarely know or think about this culture deeply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is a strange loop lurking behind psychedelic experiences. Like dreams, these unique visions are often ineffable, intensely personal and impossible to share directly. And yet they have inspired countless people throughout time to make visionary art, to craft objects and images that channel something of those sublime, bizarre, mythopoetic realms into our shared human […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":27420,"template":"","level_of_course":[981],"class_list":["post-27419","courses","type-courses","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","level_of_course-introductory"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n