Remedios Varowas a Spanish-Mexican Surrealist painter who believed that randomness and darkness ruled the world. Her art attempts to represent the internal state of the soul externally.
Ephemereal and unusual, Varo’s work resembles the world of dreams, and oddly their similarity to waking life.
Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels. – Francisco de Goya.
Varo was good friends with fellow Surrealist Leonora Carrington, and also went to school at San Fernando Fine Arts Academy in Madrid, Salvador Dali’s alma mater.
Remedios Varo – Surreal Goddess of Psychedelic Art Gallery
The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it.
Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.
‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment.
Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from outside, is available… a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose. – Fred Hoyle, 1948
For more pictures of the Earth taken from space go here and here.
Armadillo is a band that sprouted out of a creative coincidence in Valledupar, Colombia (the land of Vallenato). Mauricio Álvarez (Cero39) and Diego Maldonado (DeJuepuchas & La MiniTK del Miedo), met up with a bunch of local musicians in that town and started a jam session. The result, an album with 9 tracks, a musical journey through the sounds and timbres of vallenato, mixed with electronic and IDM beats and sequences.
The video centers around symbols and elements inherent to the culture and imaginarium of the Valle de Upar (later called Valledupar). Animals, colors and textures appear throughout the video undergoing change and evolve, as life does. ‘It’s a metaphor about culture in life’ says RAMA, it’s creator. More about Armadillo here. – Boing Boing
Slugabed – Quantum Leap
Birdy Nam Nam The Parachute Ending
Ayahuasca DMT: Drug Trip Sequence
A clip from the movie Renegade (aka Blueberry) in which the main character drinks Ayahuasca which contains dimethyltryptamine, and has a mind blowing trip.
Blockhead – The Music Scene
From Blockhead’s album ‘The Music Scene’ – released 18 January 2010 on Ninja Tune.
From the new Gong album 2032 – You can buy the CD (with lyrics booklet) from http://www.planetgong.co.uk A wonderful manga animation of Daevid Allen’s drawings by ace Japanese team Mood Magic, who also made System 7’s Hinotori.
Audio visualizers generate animated imagery based on the sound and frequency of a piece of music. They can be an interesting addition to any bag of shrooms, as the synched music and visuals can lead one deeper down the rabbit’s hole.
People may enjoy watching these videos without the music on, but either way make sure to watch inHigh-definition.
After your trip, comment below on what other videos you enjoy watching on psychedelics.
Australian animator Felix Colgrave has created a surreal universe, complete with a psychedelic ecosystem that makes perfect sense and defies logic at the same time.
Is that a Dragon Lion smoking a joint? Yes it is! The trippy group of unearthly but familiar beasts in The Elephant’s Garden express their biological functions through psychedelic beauty.
Bo Saris lists Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield, Prince, and Michael Jackson as his primary influences. The sound of “The Addict” is rooted in the past, but it’s pulled off with such skill and genuine emotion that the psychedelic visual effects match perfectly with Saris’ approach to the musical landscape.
“Watch out for the addict; he’s always trying to bring you down, down, down,” cautions Bo Saris in his silky, soulful voice, delivering a message that’s grave, yet chillingly beautiful.
The London-based, Dutch vocalist has been quietly releasing music for a decade and, thanks to a new deal with Decca Universal in the United Kingdom, “The Addict” is his ticket to a new, overseas audience. That’s fortunate, as the song is a welcome revelation. – Billboard
Bo Saris – She’s On Fire
A precious love that is lifting me higher
But I don’t even know her name
Oohh She’s On Fire,
She’s every man’s dream and my desire
Bo Saris – She’s On Fire (Acoustic, Mahogany Session)
LSD ABC is a short animated film of an unusual alphabet where they explore “different worlds and characters as different as they are crazy.”
The animation combines a dose of LSD with an alphabetic journey, walking us through each letter one by one. Unlike Sesame Street, this trip takes on psychedelic subject matter fitting only for those who’ve looked outside the boundaries of normal experience.
Mirror City is a psychedelic visual story through some of the great American cities: Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. These clips were all processed from their original form, into the kaleidoscopic visuals that you see in this video.
Man-made geometric shapes are mixed with elements of color and movement to create less of a structured video, and more of a plethora of visual stimulation. The video starts off with simple mirrors and recognizable architecture, as the video progresses, so does the visual stimulation, showing the real abstraction of the piece.
When I first started Mirror City, I wanted to create a video that was completely out of the norm. I wanted to showcase something unique and artistic, which takes Timelapse photography into a more abstract direction.
Many people visit these large cities every day, and all of these places have been shot and filmed, but I wanted to emulate these urban landscapes in a way that nobody has even seen before.
I have worked on this piece for an extremely long amount of time. I have spent time mirroring images and videos for the past five years, and I have been working on this specific piece for about four months. I felt it was time to combine Timelapse photography and the simplicity of a kaleidoscope, and create Mirror City. – Michael Shainblum
Perhaps best known for his psychedelic ’70s album covers for The Beatles and Earth, Wind, & Fire, Tadanori Yokoo is arguably the most influential Japanese graphic designer of the 20th Century.
He got his start working with avant-garde theatre and has occasionally been called Japan’s Andy Warhol. Their interest in process appears similar, using iconic imagery and vivid collages to convey complex or thought provoking ideas.
Tadanori Yokoo Genka Series
In 1975, Tadanori Yokoo produced hundreds of pen and ink drawings for Genka (“Illusory Flowers”), a historical novel by Harumi Setouchi that recounts the struggles of Tomiko Hino, the wife of shogun Yoshimasa Ashikaga (1435-1490). The illustrations, were published along with the novel in a long series of installments in the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper.
Watchmen is an incredible graphic novel penned by Alan Moore & illustrated by artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins. Described by Brandon Wright as “Moore’s obituary for the concept of heroes in general and superheroes in particular.” Watchmen’s iconic imagery and transcendent story have allowed it to carve it’s place among one of the greatest novels of all-time.
Motion comics are a form of comics that combine some elements of regular print comic with computer animation. By adding voice acting, sound effects, and animation to the expanded individual panel art, Watchmen can be enjoyed in a whole new way by seasoned veterans of the story and first-timers alike.
Chapter 1 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
Rorschach’s Journal. October 12th, 1985: Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout “Save us!”… and I’ll whisper “no.” – Rorschach [reading from Journal]
Chapter 2 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he’s depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, “Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.” Man bursts into tears. Says, “But doctor…I am Pagliacci.” – From Rorschach’s journal
Chapter 3 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“I was consciously trying to do something that would make people feel uneasy.” – Alan Moore
Chapter 4 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“There’s no overt political message at all. It’s a fantasy extrapolation of what might happen and if people can see things in it that apply to the real America, then they’re reading it into the comic….” – Dave Gibbons
Chapter 5 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
This city is an animal, to understand it I read its droppings, its scents, the movement of its parasites. I sat watching the trashcan, and New York opened its heart to me. -Rorschach’s journal
Chapter 6 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“We, in this country, in this generation, are — by destiny rather than by choice — the “watchmen” on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of “peace on earth, good will toward men.” That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: “except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain.” – John F. Kennedy [excerpt from the speech he was to deliver the day of his Assassination]
Chapter 7 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“[Watchmen is about] power and the idea of the superman manifest within society.” – Alan Moore
Chapter 8 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“Developing its heroes precisely in order to deconstruct the very idea of the hero and so encouraging us to reflect upon its significance from the many different angles of the shards left lying on the ground”. – Iain Thomson [from his essay “Deconstructing the Hero” citing Watchmen as the point where the comic book medium “came of age”]
Chapter 9 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“In each human coupling, a thousand million eggs vie for a single egg. Multiply those odds by countless generations, against the odds of your ancestors being alive; meeting; siring this precise son; that exact daughter… Until your mother loves a man she has every reason to hate, and of that union, of the thousand million children competing for fertilization, it was you, only you, that emerged.” – Dr. Manhattan
Chapter 10 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“Some of us have always lived on the edge, Daniel. It is possible to survive there if you observe the rules: Just hang on by fingernails… and never look down.”- Rorschach
Chapter 11 – Watchmen – Motion Comic
“All mark out Watchmen either as the last key superhero text, or the first in a new maturity of the genre” – Richard Reynolds
Animated Shorts are absolutely amazing. The pure creativity and passion that goes into these works is hard to imagine. And to think, some of these shorts were completed by only one person!
I hope you will love these animated shorts as much as I do. And do tell us which your favorite ones are, or share your favorites if they aren’t in this list. Enjoy!
Oxygen
We follow Oxygen as he tries to make friends on the playground. Unfortunately for Oxygen, he is unaware of the many things that can go wrong when trying to interact with his other elementary kin…
Mac ‘n’ Cheese
When you find yourself running scared and running out of energy, there’s only a few options left to outrun your opponent through the southern desert. Stopping at nothing, watch these two guys wear each other out and rip through boundaries hitherto unbroken. Enjoy the ride!
Alma
Seizing the possibility of directing his first independent short film, Rodrigo Blaas asked some of the best artists in their field to take part in this independent project. In October 2010, it was announced that DreamWorks Animation is developing an animated feature film based on Alma. Short’s director Rodrigo Blaas is again set to direct the feature, with Guillermo del Toro executive producing it.
Oktapodi
How adorable are these octopi? In Oktapodi, these two cuties help each other escape the clutches of a tyrannical restaurant cook. But, even once theyre out of the kitchen, their battle to stay together is not over.
The Passenger
A one-man project created between 1998-2006. Find out how and why at http://chrisj.com.au
Get Out
Gary, is a madman, shut up in a padded cell which he refuses to leave. He has a phobia about doors and lives in an imaginary world where he feels secure. A psychiatrist uses different plots to try to get him to leave the cell, but with no success. Finally he has to employ force.
Pigeon: Impossible
A rookie secret agent is faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what to do when a curious pigeon gets trapped inside your multi-million dollar, government-issued nuclear briefcase.
Replay
In a destroyed world, the only glimpse of hope is the memory of a forgotten past. But be careful not to let your dreams control your mind…This is Replay an amazing animated short film.
One Life
This animation will make you think about your life. The song is “old man” by Neil Young. Animation by Corey Hayes.
The Last Knit
When knitting becomes an obsession.
Kiwi!
Kiwi! has received a large following for its deep meaning and heart touching manner.
Skhizein (Jérémy Clapin,2008)
After being struck by a 150-ton meteorite, Henry has to adapt to living precisely 91 centimeters from himself.
MEET MELINE : THE 3D ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Meet Meline tells the story of a little girl whose curiosity is sparked by a mysterious creature as she plays in her grandparents barn.
Dailymotion – Dans la Tête a video from Esma-Movie dans la tete animation english
A story of of fate, love, and death. Highly enjoyable!
A Quoi Ca Sert L’amour? (Perils of Love)
This wonderful short follows the ups and downs of a young couple.
Les Dangereux – A Ninja Love Story
A vacationing ninja finds true love, but it’s much more than he expected.
Thought of You
One of the greatest parts of making this film is reading the comments left on Vimeo and Youtube. I love the variety of interpretations and meaning – Creator Ryan Woodward
The Man Who Planted Trees
The Man Who Planted Trees (French: L’homme qui plantait des arbres) is a 1987 Canadian shortanimated film directed by Frédéric Back. It is based on the story of the same name by Jean Giono. This is a 30-minute film.
An artistic visual presentation of a Terence McKenna lecture that explores simulation theory and how code can be the language behind our DNA, space, time, matter, and energy.
Terence McKenna -DNA, Life Codes Lecture Excerpts
In other words, we have to begin to take seriously the consequences of generalizations like quantum connectivity. It’s one thing to bask in the overarching metaphor, which says that everything is connected to everything else. It’s quite another thing to say, and so then what are the consequences, for me, of this? The answer seems to me to be that the inside of our imagination, the inside of our heads really is the most vast frontier imaginable, and we must leave it for future generations figure out why an animal nervous system would evolve a propensity for accessing non-local data, in other words, quantum mechanically accessible data at a different level of the physics of things.
What we have to grapple with is that it is so, that you have the Hubble telescope inside of you. You have inside of you an informational gathering instrument that can give you good intelligence about things so immeasurably distant from this point that to state it in numbers and units is meaningless. It’s just elsewhere; the elsewhere of the absolute infinite of the plenum of the imagination in which apparently beings rise and fall like plankton in the sea, and of course the psychedelics are the naturally evolved nano-machinery of the Gaian matrix that knits together this cosmic ecology, this system of living relationships.
