“To fathom Hell or soar angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic.” In 1957, psychiatrist Humphry Osmond coined the word to describe his experiments using hallucinogens, and since, tales of trips the world-over have never been the same. Yet, since its first usage, “psychedelic” has come to refer to more than drugs. Psychedelic art, music, and fashion alter our perceptions of the external world without necessarily altering our brain chemicals (though, as generations of stoned Dark Side of The Rainbow viewers would attest, the two often pair well).
Last Thursday, Red Bull Studios New York invited guests to travel into an "exploration of psychedelic consciousness in contemporary art," a.k.a the exhibit Spaced Out: Migration to the Interior, curated by writer/Brooklyn Rail founder Phong Bui. With works by Charles LeDray, Peter Saul, and Rona Pondick, the exhibit wasn't just a collection of trippy-looking objects. Rather, it aimed to provide a cohesive psychedelic experience, fusing individual works into a vivid, sensory, and yes, mind-altering, whole.
Take the installation by Jim Lambie, for instance, which covered the entire floor of the gallery with colorful stripes of tape. In another room, walls, floors, and ceilings were coated with fluffy pink shag carpeting (most definitely Diddy-approved). In the midst of these tactile installations were 2-D paintings and sculptures. Swiss pop artist Sylvie Fleury—the inspiration behind one of this season’s Eastpak x Nicomede Talavera backpacks—contributed Later, Later, an acrylic painting resembling polka dot disco balls (or maybe Technicolor boobs). Takeshi Murata's video installation, Shiboogi, meanwhile, displayed oozing pixelated colors, old infomercials, and vintage news blurbs.
Another standout piece was Bruce Pearson’s Inhale, a mesmerizing, computerized glass installation that moves in a calculated formation to form the word "INHALE." "When you look at this piece for awhile, it becomes very hypnotic,” Pearson told us at the opening.
What's the point of being hypnotized by art? “Art is so important to our culture because it invites people to reflect and think about greater, wider interpretation,” Phong Bui explained. “Our experience changes each time we look at art. It gives you a sense of the human heart and freedom. Art is not just made for the elite, upper-class. Art can be different metamorphoses; it cannot be an assumed, one-dimensional rhythm.”
Spaced Out: Migration to the Interior runs Wednesday-Sunday 10AM to 6PM, through December 14, 2014
Red Bull Studios New York
220 West 18th St.
New York, NY 10011
Last Thursday, Red Bull Studios New York invited guests to travel into an "exploration of psychedelic consciousness in contemporary art," a.k.a the exhibit Spaced Out: Migration to the Interior, curated by writer/Brooklyn Rail founder Phong Bui. With works by Charles LeDray, Peter Saul, and Rona Pondick, the exhibit wasn't just a collection of trippy-looking objects. Rather, it aimed to provide a cohesive psychedelic experience, fusing individual works into a vivid, sensory, and yes, mind-altering, whole.
Take the installation by Jim Lambie, for instance, which covered the entire floor of the gallery with colorful stripes of tape. In another room, walls, floors, and ceilings were coated with fluffy pink shag carpeting (most definitely Diddy-approved). In the midst of these tactile installations were 2-D paintings and sculptures. Swiss pop artist Sylvie Fleury—the inspiration behind one of this season’s Eastpak x Nicomede Talavera backpacks—contributed Later, Later, an acrylic painting resembling polka dot disco balls (or maybe Technicolor boobs). Takeshi Murata's video installation, Shiboogi, meanwhile, displayed oozing pixelated colors, old infomercials, and vintage news blurbs.
Another standout piece was Bruce Pearson’s Inhale, a mesmerizing, computerized glass installation that moves in a calculated formation to form the word "INHALE." "When you look at this piece for awhile, it becomes very hypnotic,” Pearson told us at the opening.
What's the point of being hypnotized by art? “Art is so important to our culture because it invites people to reflect and think about greater, wider interpretation,” Phong Bui explained. “Our experience changes each time we look at art. It gives you a sense of the human heart and freedom. Art is not just made for the elite, upper-class. Art can be different metamorphoses; it cannot be an assumed, one-dimensional rhythm.”
Spaced Out: Migration to the Interior runs Wednesday-Sunday 10AM to 6PM, through December 14, 2014
Red Bull Studios New York
220 West 18th St.
New York, NY 10011