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Psychedelic Art & Kitsch: a Case Study

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Psychedelic Art & Kitsch: a Case Study CUJAH MENU Psychedelic Art & Kitsch: A Case Study Silvia Sorbelli Between the mid-1960’s and early 1970’s, a small phenomenon known as psy- chedelia dominated much of the period’s counter culture. The psychedelic culture that emerged during that time, which, with its intent to discover a new realm of freedom and liberate peoples’ minds, is seen today as a mere blip in the history of art. Psychedelia gave rise to an aesthetic culture that has been consciously dismissed and neglected from art historical curiosity, and is at times placed in line with a kitsch aesthetic. In order to sort through this grave neglect and condemnation of psychedelic culture, it will be necessary to place its main manifestations within the culture of the time, specifcally the psychedelic poster aesthetic as well as artistic pro- duction and certain fads. It is also relevant to put psychedelia in line with the primary notions of kitsch, as proposed by its main theorists, namely Clement Greenberg and Theodor Adorno and Max Horkeimer, to defne and explain the psychedelic movement in art. Psychedelia was present in almost all aspects of society from the mid-1960’s to the early 70’s, with aesthetic manifestations in music, flm, fashion, interior and graphic design, as well as in the artistic pro- duction of the time. It is well known that psychedelia was advocated through the use of mind altering drugs. Although this notion was intrinsic to the men- tality of that period, it should not be considered the primary source of inspira- tion from which the psychedelic aesthetic emerged. The light shows, acid tests, Grateful Dead, Merry Pranksters, Velvet Underground, and Family Dog Pro- ductions are just some of the areas ingrained with psychedelic inspiration. However, the “marmalade skies” were not always blue for psychedelia because before it could even make its attempt at mind liberation and spiritual discov- ery, it died a quiet and invisible death. We have all seen remnants of psy- chedelic culture in the form of tie dye shirts, lava lamps, and contemporary artists such as Bruce Pearson who have ventured into the aesthetic characteris- tic of the Haight-Ashbury posters [1]. Over time, psychedelia simply became known as kitsch. Ofen considered “bad art” or solely through its “suspicious proximity to popular culture”, psychedelic culture emerged from the under- ground traditions that transpired during the “hippie days” rather than from the mass produced, pre chewed lifestyle ofered by the “big businesses” [2]. As we will see further on, its sources for inspiration were not the products of the “cul- ture industry”, as was the focus of Pop Art. Rather, psychedelic culture emerged from the subculture and counterculture, which ran rampant at the time. The most apparent manifestations of the psychedelic aesthetic can be found in the Haight-Ashbury posters of San Francisco. Although many talented artists in the U.K and New York were producing psychedelic posters, the Haight-Ash- bury aesthetic was born in San Francisco, fostered by presence of the two major dancehalls of the period, namely the Avalon Ballroom, whose shows were put on by Family Dog productions and Chet Helms, and the Fillmore auditorium, headed by Bill Graham [3]. The frst artist employed by Bill Graham was Wes Wilson, who in addition to Stanley “Mouse” Miller and Alton Kelley (of Mouse Studios) and Victor Moscoso, gave way to an entirely new aesthetic medium sat- urated with psychedelic designs and motifs. It is through the rock shows put on at these dance halls that the psychedelic aesthetic was born. Before the advent of psychedelia, rock posters were purely informative and with no artistic value: they included the name of the artist in bold black letter- ing and the opening act in smaller font at the bottom, all on a white back- ground. The abrupt emergence of the new psychedelic aesthetic carried poster design to another level, one saturated with artistic value. It is believed that George Hunter and Michael Ferguson, the members of a band named The Charlatans, produced the poster that initiated interest in a new visual language for the Red Dog Saloon, Nevada, in 1965. Because of this it is no surprise that this piece is referred to as “The Seed” of Rock Art posters. One of the most sur- prising features of psychedelic posters is their relatively small size as few were larger than twenty inches in length. This size would seem inappropriate for ad- vertisements, however, one must consider that Haight-Ashbury posters were il- licit forms of advertisement meant for urban surfaces that would have stipulat- ed that one: “POST NO BILLS” [4]. Formally, they engage a specifc audience. Due to the vibrant colours, formless swirls, and blobby lettering, which were inspired by the sleeve lettering on the Beatles‟ album “Rubber Soul” and frst used by Wes Wilson, they required a slower mode of reading. This unhurried and deliberate reading was ofen made easier through the use of mind altering drugs [5]. (These formal characteristics concentrated on empathy and love for the intricate and detailed exploration of the surface, rather than on the clear and decipherable qualities essential to billboard advertisements. The psychedelic aesthetic did not develop in a void, as it is ofen believed. It was not solely through the use of mind altering drugs that this culture and its visual language came into being. It is when it is considered merely as a by- product of the sensory disruption and hallucinations brought about by LSD, that it is criticized as being “famboyantly, decoratively banal, or…utterly literal” [6]. Some of the more lenient critics acknowledge that the style found inspira- tion from art historical sources. Major infuences to the psychedelic poster aes- thetic were the swirling graphics of the Art Nouveau movement, in particular the work of Alfonso Mucha and Alfred Roller. An example of this is Stanley Mouse’s “Big Brother and the Holding Company” poster from 1966 for the Avalon Ballroom and Family Dog, which draws on Mucha‟s “Job” from 1896 (Fig.1). A great number of artists were infuenced by the contemporaneous Op Art movement, as its retinal abstractions and illusions were perfect illustrations of the psychedelic consciousness. Wes Wilson employs this visual language in his poster for Bill Graham and the Fillmore in 1966 by quoting design charac- teristics from Victor Vasarely’s aesthetic (Fig.2). Other infuences ranged from Indian mandalas and photographs from vernacular sources such as Wild West style posters and even food packaging. Stanley Mouse was known to look through art books and literary works for inspiration. In fact, while rummaging through the Rubáiyát, he fell upon the Edmund J. Sullivan illustration of a skeleton which eventually became the design for the Grateful Dead logo. These infuences and the incorporation of art historical sources elevate the psy- chedelic rock posters beyond mere representations of hallucinogenic experi- ences. They align it with an avant-garde aesthetic, regardless of the fact that their creators were “blissfully ignorant of… [that] rhetoric” [7]. Some of the psy- chedelic artists of the time, such as Abdul Mati Klarwein and Isaac Abrams, drew from similar sources, namely Art Nouveau, Op Art, and Indian and Ti- betan art, as well as from popular culture. Psychedelic works that appropriate such sources are criticized as being mere attempts at recreating and conveying the sensual and visual experiences encountered while hallucinating on LSD. In fact, and this will become relevant when looking at kitsch, one so ofen speaks of it as an ersatz culture or as an artifcial art because it is used to replace the ex- perience itself. At the time when Mati painted his Grain of Sand (1963-5), he was not experimenting with hallucinogens; rather he was drawing on the tremendously detailed imagery of Hieronymous Bosch, who, it can be pre- sumed, used drugs while making his work [8]. However, psychedelic artists were not only recorders of hallucinogenic experiences. Their works were seen as “sensual catalysts” that could evoke the mind-expanding and mystical visions that in turn could stimulate creativity [9]. The drugs functioned as powerful stimulants and the art embodies this drug culture and, by extension, makes it available to all. Psychedelic culture should be recognized for its pioneering intersection into other mediums. Psychedelic light shows, flm and video installations, which are now recognized only in strict association with psychedelic rock, emerged as a synaesthetic art form in their own right. Andy Warhol and the Velvet Under- ground with their Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966) and Yayoi Kusama’s Self- Obliteration (1968) are only two instances in the myriad of mind and body lib- erating multi-media shows. They did not simply mimic or attempt to transfer the fickering delusions and waves of abnormal body sensations to those present, but rather presented people with a way of expressing freedom and formlessness as a way “towards liberating entropy” [10]. Even fashion veered in the direction of the psychedelic aesthetic with designs like crushed velvet pants, silk pufy shirts, chifon scarves, and of course the infamous bell bottom pants, which were seen as particularly liberating and formless. “Formless” is word that embodies much of the ideals of the time and can be found in music, poet- ry and literature. It functioned as a medium for stating individuality against conformity and because of this it had the ultimate potential for destabilizing social order and resisting the constraints of authority [11]. In short, the entire synaesthetic environment of the time, as manifested in the graphic design of posters, the art, the music, and the light shows, emerged as a type of anti-authoritarian, utopian, spiritual and mystical favour which was aimed at abolishing bourgeois convention and the remnants of the art histori- cal hierarchy [12].
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