Magic Mushrooms
Filmscreening and lecture by Ilka Becker
On the occasion of the exhibition I See, So I See So. Messages From Harry Smith, curated by Anja Dreschke and Regina Barunke
Temporary Gallery, Cologne
12/11/2015
Bruce Conner: Looking for Mushrooms, 1965
Storm De Hirsch: Peyote Queen, 1965
Étienne O'Leary: Homeo, 1967
Gary Lee-Nova: Steel Mushrooms, 1967
Harry Smith: Film #10, Mirror Animations, 1957
In the 1950s and 1960s filmmakers and psychedelics sought anti-modern forms of knowledge in the magic mushroom rituals of indigenous cultures in order to develop politics of resistance and ecstacy. The visual and acoustic moments of the experimental film are intended to make what they brought back from their trips to the "Doors of Perception". Nervous flickering and fast cuts, kaleidoscopic effects, explosions of colour and overlapping, accompanied by vibrating soundtracks. A trip to the magic mushrooms of the 16mm-film.