Art and Drug Influences

[joe1It]

syd.Syd Barret, founder of Pink Floyd, I often think of him, would he have been fine without drugs? I had read that substance use made him sick and ended his career so soon, or that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia or, this was the first something I had heard in a documentary, and that he became schizophrenic for substances, so it's possible, in that documentary then they said no, that it would have happened anyway, that perhaps this anticipated but was prearranged. the reason why I avoid substances and that I think that very few things already depend on us, and then I'm afraid of losing control of my mind more to drugs or alcohol. also it makes me sick to think of Syd, of his suffering, of Syd's fate, regardless of the triggering cause, he had a boundless talent and not only in music, or in poetry, or in painting, He had immense talent, he was also beautiful, it didn't bring destruction to the world but beauty, it had to be happy, it deserved. I don't know if drugs have something to do with it but since I can't rule it out I grew up with a fear of drugs, a dislike for them and thinking of Syd. at other times, for different reasons, I think that at least certain drugs are indispensable and have brought light. I have found them interesting for better or for worse since I was 15 but I would never have had the courage to use them. I have also read about Syd that some have published that he was not schizophrenic but had Asperger's syndrome, in a mild form, I know little about this syndrome, but it is something that would have been present from the beginning and in any case the picture they made seems not to fit with him or her case, it seems to me that they based everything on the fact that he retired from the scene, which could happen for a thousand reasons and more for a worsening of the first 2 hypotheses apart from what I don't think we know if in all his really life it was always he who thought about retiring from the scene. the world sometimes chews you up and spits you out, even the older ones, then in show business, maybe at one point they didn't want him, he couldn't come back, it wasn't what they were looking for either he didn't hear or he didn't care, I don't know. I think that drugs sometimes maybe push further, they help creativity, other times they destroy, like everything I think the rope is very thin. that the opposites, the extremes are very close, the subtle balance, chance, luck, there are no great certainties but I understand the meaning of drugs and the charm, I don't understand artificial intelligence in the arts, it seems to me to wave the white flag, drugs are you are also a way to experiment, go beyond, for better or for worse try to be alive, destroy even the most important house in the hope of going beyond, the human mind a spaceship while the future seems to say, let's give up being human for a collage of the past or to feel gods or laziness or bo. make money in any way and take as much of it away from the rest of the world as possible. I understand why they build this future but not why they talk about it as a means and it's okay to steal. I believe that talents like Syd, Robin Williams or Roger Waters, fortunately he is still in business we will never have them again in a future in which machines and automatisms are in first place, the link with the post, is, drugs have contributed to giving them to us the Williams, Syd, Belushi, or to remove them. In these cases the drugs have only removed, I think that sometimes they have amplified, given birth to certain genres, sometimes perhaps irrelevant, sometimes they have only caused pain.

 

[Artyczar]

Drugs do not cause schizophrenia. It is a mental illness. A person either has it or does not have it. However, if you already have it, certain drugs can make the symptoms much worse. Most people with schizophrenia will show signs of the illness at a young age (late teens), but a few will start showing signs in their 20s. One might have a predisposition to a schizo-effective disorder and some drugs can exacerbate symptoms, but so can stress. There's no telling what will bring on the onset of symptoms. But if you do have this illness and you keep taking hallucinogenics, it wouldn't be productive, that's for sure, especially if you're not getting proper treatment. I think this was probably the case with Syd.

Drugs, for me, didn't have any "charm," nor does it for a lot of young people. They just fall into the wrong group of people and are victims of bad guidance and/or bad parenting. Certain drugs are very addictive from the first dose, such as coke, speed, and opiates/heroin. It's not necessarily a choice, especially when you are so young that your brain has not yet fully developed to make sane choices for yourself.

By the time I was a full-grown adult, I was able to make better choices and chose not to do the drugs that would take me down a dark path. It was not easy because I was into some that were very addictive and got a little dependent on some. Luckily, I was able to get out of it on my own. People around me were not so lucky, but I can't judge them because the circumstances for them were just different. They may have been deeper into their addictions, or didn't have the same choices, or were still too young to make them.

 

[E.J.H.]

If I were absolutely certain that what I was looking at was 'cubes in that there cow patty, I would be be mighty tempted to partake thereof Alas, I am not a mycologist, just some old guy with a bucket list

Well, I am not into drugs, but quite interested in nature/biology and I can tell you, if it grows from a cow patty, chances are it won´t get you high. The classic magic mushroom around here, psilocybe, grows on decaying grass roots, not dung. So you´ll find it growing in grassy fields.
(And avoid little brown mushrooms growing on rotting wood alltogether, that´s russian roulette...)

 

[Artyczar]

horrible must have been a psycho experience..

It was because I did not know what was happening! I was extremely young and had not done anything stronger than pot at that time. I thought I was maybe losing my mind, or maybe overly high (WAY overly high), but I did suspect something was in the pot that wasn't pot.

At least I was with my friend and we both smoked from the same batch. We kind of figured it out together. Our short-term memory was all but erased and the ideas that came to my head didn't make much sense for the situation at hand. I was looking for things around the house, but didn't know what I was looking for. I was frantic. That's one example of "crazy." I cried and laughed for no apparent reason. It didn't last more than a couple hours, if that. I wouldn't have known how much time passed really since time was non-existent. It was scary, and I felt like I'd never feel normal again. I don't know why PCP is anyone's drug of choice.

 

[Artyczar]

Well, I am not into drugs, but quite interested in nature/biology and I can tell you, if it grows from a cow patty, chances are it won´t get you high. The classic magic mushroom around here, psilocybe, grows on decaying grass roots, not dung. So you´ll find it growing in grassy fields.
(And avoid little brown mushrooms growing on rotting wood alltogether, that´s russian roulette...)

Never heard of them growing from rotting wood. That's interesting. I know psilocybin doesn't grown out of poo. I once heard the main chemical that is used to synthesize LSD came from some mold that grew on a certain kind of bread, but don't know if that's true. LSD is one of the few chemicals I have never tried. Also never did peyote. I did psilocybin a few times though and I know it is like a baby version of LSD, more of less.

EDIT: Oh, I was just reminded that there was a fence in my backyard covered in these flowers that my dog would eat. I later found out they were a mild hallucinogenic. My dog acted strange after eating a bunch of them. Morning Glorys I think they were. We got rid of them, as beautiful as they were.

 

[joe1It]

Ayin, thanks for the reply and clarification

 

[laika]

Well, I am not into drugs, but quite interested in nature/biology and I can tell you, if it grows from a cow patty, chances are it won´t get you high. The classic magic mushroom around here, psilocybe, grows on decaying grass roots, not dung.

That shows how little i know about it, because I've heard all my life that psilocybe cubensis (cubes) grows in cow dung. Probably all the more reason for me to stay away from such! But I hear so much nowadays about it being an excellent treatment for entrenched depression. That makes me curious about it.
There is only one edible mushroom that I forage and cook with confidence, the puffball, Calvatia gigantea. That one I know what to look for and when to harvest. And I think I know what lion's mane looks like.

Syd Barret, founder of Pink Floyd, I often think of him...

Shine On You Crazy Diamond?

 

[E.J.H.]

I've also foraged puffballs here in Iceland. Also some other easy identifiable species (I don't take any chances).
I share your curiosity about psilocybin, but (so far ) not enough to give it a go...

 

[john]

Best drug experience I ever had was on psilocybin. First time taking it. Had it as a soup in the morning. Jumped on my motorcycle and in ten minutes I was at the nature preserve. A peacock was displaying as I walked in and I was starting to feel the effects. Like optical vibration. I couldn't believe it. Like, really, a peacock displaying? Is someone messing with my head?

For the next two hours I was absorbed into the surroundings of woods and ponds. The barrier between myself and nature dissolved. The smallest life became as important as the biggest. I watched a parasitic wasp drag a helpless spider away to her hole. For a moment she dropped it and small ants swarmed the paralyzed spider. They wanted it too. I was sitting cross legged on the ground, the size of an ant, tackling a paralyzed monster spider. Amazing. It was best drama I've ever been involved with. Knowing how these wasps work helped me appreciate the drama. And to top it off the wasp was black with bright orange wing spots. I was probably two feet away from her the whole time but was not afraid. I knew she was not interested in me.

God, she was a beautiful terror.

She was searching, flitting up and down, and she found the spider again and dragged it off, sparing it from the ants but not from servitude of it's baby. Mothers will kill for their children, and look great while doing it.

Tree foliage became geometric like some Aztec design. Turtles in the pond sunned themselves so I was not alone. I was just another creature there.

And then it passed. I was "normal" again. I jumped on the Suzuki and went to a local swimming hole and swam in it's pure fresh water.

Afterwards, it felt like I was purified somehow. Like a religious experience. I wasn't normal. I was better.

 

[E.J.H.]

That sounds like a profound experience, quite beautiful too.

 

[Artyczar]

I wish my mushroom experiences were as great as John's were. Mine were good, but not nearly as wonderful or profound. I did them with a lot of friends in a group the first time and had a lot of fun. We went to an arcade and then to a park and hung out. The 2nd time, I was with one friend and felt more introspective, and another time I saw more things with my eyes closed than with my eyes open, which messed with me a bit.

But I do have a schizo-effective disorder. At least, I would be diagnosed with one many years afterward. These things usually come about in one's teens, and I was very young when I did drugs. TOO young.

 

[16ga]

That shows how little i know about it, because I've heard all my life that psilocybe cubensis (cubes) grows in cow dung. Probably all the more reason for me to stay away from such! But I hear so much nowadays about it being an excellent treatment for entrenched depression. That makes me curious about it.
There is only one edible mushroom that I forage and cook with confidence, the puffball, Calvatia gigantea. That one I know what to look for and when to harvest. And I think I know what lion's mane looks like.

I heard the same thing about cow dung back when I was in school. Supposedly it had to come from a specific breed of cow.

Puffballs are easy and safe to hunt for as long as you don't live where death caps grow..... The only mushrooms I feel safe picking in my area are morels.

 

[Ellen Easton]

I've been sober for a little over 38 years but I first started painting back in the late 70's before I quit drinking. Back then I was raising 4 kids with no help from a deadbeat dad so I sold all my paintings to help support the kids. Before anyone thinks that meant I was such a good artist, you have to know that I was selling my work to all the other alcohol consumers where I worked. LOL I was a bartender and my boss told me I could hang my work at the bar and sell to customers.

I made one rather funnyt-to-look-back-on painting but it was really embarrassing at the time. There was a middle aged businessman who was a regular there and he had a drop-dead gorgous young wife who, without makeup, could have adorned any magazine or movie. About that time, I decided to try painting my first nude and when it was finished, I hung it at the bar. Well, woe is me----everyone who knew said businessman and his wife who came into the bar that night thought it was her! It was a busy night and I didn't know what a stir was going on amongst the customers till it had hung there all night. I took that one home after work and gave it to one of my brothers and I don't know what became of it from there.

But back to recreational drugs/drinks and whatever---I don't see anything wrong with people indulging in those things when creating art. I don't find it necessary anymore but I think it's up to the artist and that if it works for them, they should go ahead and enjoy it.

But watch out for those nudes, should you paint any you decide to hang in public.

 

[Artyczar]

I've been sober for a little over 38 years but I first started painting back in the late 70's before I quit drinking. Back then I was raising 4 kids with no help from a deadbeat dad so I sold all my paintings to help support the kids. Before anyone thinks that meant I was such a good artist, you have to know that I was selling my work to all the other alcohol consumers where I worked. LOL I was a bartender and my boss told me I could hang my work at the bar and sell to customers.

I made one rather funnyt-to-look-back-on painting but it was really embarrassing at the time. There was a middle aged businessman who was a regular there and he had a drop-dead gorgous young wife who, without makeup, could have adorned any magazine or movie. About that time, I decided to try painting my first nude and when it was finished, I hung it at the bar. Well, woe is me----everyone who knew said businessman and his wife who came into the bar that night thought it was her! It was a busy night and I didn't know what a stir was going on amongst the customers till it had hung there all night. I took that one home after work and gave it to one of my brothers and I don't know what became of it from there.

But back to recreational drugs/drinks and whatever---I don't see anything wrong with people indulging in those things when creating art. I don't find it necessary anymore but I think it's up to the artist and that if it works for them, they should go ahead and enjoy it.

But watch out for those nudes, should you paint any you decide to hang in public.

I hung one at a coffee house once and a couple of weeks later, the owner told me to come take it down because certain people were offended. Granted, it was a couple engaged in a sexual act, but it was fairly abstracted. I didn't understand it at the time, but in today's landscape, I don't think he would have let me hang it in the first place despite how abstracted it was. People freak out at such art all the time. This has nothing to do with drugs, but being on drugs makes being nude a little easier.

 

[Nelson_H]

I feel that using drugs doing your art is the same as doing steroids in bodybuilding.

 

[Mississippi Hippie]

I feel that using drugs doing your art is the same as doing steroids in bodybuilding.

it seems amazing sometimes

 

[JStarr]

I feel that using drugs doing your art is the same as doing steroids in bodybuilding.

Can you explain why?

 

[Nelson_H]

Can you explain why?

Steroids are used to open up the range you can build muscle. (simply answer) It is not magic, you still have to work out, It enhances your muscle building ability. One of the new things is micro-doses. you just take small doses over several weeks. Stop and start again. I have never done it, but as I get older, I am looking at it.

Psychedelics do the same with your consciousness.

afterthought:
I was just laughing to myself. Viagra does the same thing.

 

[Enyaw]

mind bending but your mind can get bent completely out of shpae and what you think good is pure garbage or vice versa.

 

[Artyczar]

mind bending but your mind can get bent completely out of shpae and what you think good is pure garbage or vice versa.

People make crap without drugs all the time. And if you're going to say that artists taking drugs are equivalent to athletes taking steroids, I guess you can also count out all prescription steroids and other life-saving medications. Everything you put into your body can "alter" your mind in some way. Also, "recreational" drugs have a temporary effect. They wear off, so you'd have to constantly be under the influence while creating art, or need to be on drugs to make your work so that it turns out in the druggy style you need it to be. I know someone like that and his art looks like everyone else's who takes acid--what you would expect. Yuck.