Altered States
Issue 53 October 2019
Demystifying the psychedelic experience
Marta Kaczmarczyk is an expert in persuasive science and technology. She is interested in demystifying the psychedelic experience and creating a scientific framework that would be more accessible to the Western mind and more relevant than the shamanic or new age framework which is popular in the psychedelic community. She is a co-founder and a coordinator of Psychedelic Society of the Netherlands; a non-profit organization focused on advocating a safe use of psychedelic substances.
Superposition
Steve Sangapore is a contemporary oil painter based in Boston, MA. Using vastly different stylistic approaches with various series’, his work can be described as an amalgamation of realism, surrealism and abstraction with thematic focuses on the human condition.
“Displaying a disciplined technique and great attention to detail, the style of my work blurs the lines between contemporary realism, surrealism and pure abstraction – often in a single painting. Through these modes of technical execution, a deep exploration into aspects of the human condition resonate throughout the work by mode of scientific archetypes and philosophical elements.”
Philosophy and Psychedelics
Dr Peter Sjöstedt-H is an Anglo-Scandinavian philosopher of mind who specializes in the thought of Whitehead and Nietzsche, and in fields pertaining to panpsychism and altered states of sentience. In the words of futurist, philosopher and pop star Alexander Bard: ‘One of our favourite contemporary philosophers, Peter Sjöstedt-H…think a psychedelic Nietzsche’.
Ecstasis
Fine artist Luciana Haill works with stroboscopic lighting & brainwaves (EEG signal) exploring consciousness & expressing the results through digital media, performance, sound & drawings.
Her artworks focus on liminal states of consciousness, sleep – more specifically the discrete states of Lucid Dreaming (the awareness within a dream & the ability to take control) & ‘Hypnagogia’ which is an inspirational state more commonly experienced at the onset of sleep & day-dreaming. She investigates the neural correlates & reveals these to the audience as changes in textured soundscapes & data visualisations. She is currently a visiting lecturer at Brighton University for the Digital Media Art MA.
Becoming somebody else
Joshua Burraway is a medical anthropologist working at the intersection between social and political theory, cultural phenomenology, addiction medicine, and psychiatry. He is interested in how historical and structural forces shape different modes of subjectivity, in particular with regards to altered states of consciousness induced by psychoactive chemicals among homeless substance-users.
On ‘The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars’
When celebrated neuropsychologist Paul Broks’s wife died of cancer, it sparked a journey of grief and reflection that traced a lifelong attempt to understand how the brain gives rise to the soul. The result of that journey. ‘The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars’, is a gorgeous, evocative meditation on fate, death, consciousness, and what it means to be human.
In this correspondence Paul Broks discusses the production of this book with Garry Kennard, its illustrator.
Language: The Non-Trivial Machine
Dr. Sheena Calvert is a philosopher/artist/designer and educator, working at both University of the Arts, London and the Royal College of Art. She has an active interest in the intersections between a wide range of creative disciplines, including practices ranging from typography and experimental book-works, to works involving sound/performance. She is particularly concerned with exploring the implications of emergent language-based technologies, including developments in ‘natural’ language technologies, which potentially impact on the future of human language.
Altered States: 2D digital displays become 3D reality – Digital Technology Lets You Touch Great Art
Sidney Perkowitz, Candler Professor of Physics Emeritus at Emory University, writes about science and art, and other popular topics in science. His latest books are ‘Physics: A Very Short Introduction’ and ‘Real Scientists Don’t Wear Ties’.
How the power of art can help scientists like me understand the experience of schizophrenia
Associate professor and Royal Society Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford.
“My research aims to understand how individual genes impact on the complex brain functions that are altered in psychiatric disorders. I believe that understanding these links will help to explain why some people respond well to treatments, whilst others do not, and will ultimately lead to new and improved therapies.”
How a trippy 1980s video effect might help to explain consciousness
Robert Pepperell is an interdisciplinary researcher who works between art, science, and philosophy. He has published research in the fields of art history and theory, neuroscience, perceptual psychology, computer science, and philosophy of mind. He current leads FovoLab (www.fovography.com), where methods from art and science are combined to investigate the nature of visual experience and how it can be represented.
Ketamine trips are uncannily like near-death experiences
Christian Jarrett is a senior editor at Aeon, working on the forthcoming Psyche website focused on psychological wellbeing. A cognitive neuroscientist by training, his writing has appeared in BBC Future, WIRED and New York Magazine, among others. His books include ‘The Rough Guide to Psychology’ (2011) and ‘Great Myths of the Brain’ (2014). His next, on personality change, will be published in 2021.