PSYCHEDELIC ATTACK

INTENT:
We live in an age where information and the mediums of its dissemination have been weaponized. Psychedelic Attack is presented as an example of how to break through mental / cultural concepts rapidly by subverting communication tools of the 20th century. “Psychedelic” (from Ancient Greek psukhḗ, “mind, soul” + dêlos, “manifest, visible”). “Attack” from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”). (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

GEAR:
Old video camera, old television set, photo-resister, an audio mixers and analog effects.

METHOD:
Live video feedback with audio mixer feedback as musical instrument. All analog, no computer. The video camera is pointed at the television set. A photo resistor translates the light into sound, which is shaped by the mixer and effects. The resulting music and images are complex and tightly controlled. The stimuli approaching the audience as sound and light. The “Flicker Effect” induces optical illusions of depth and colour in the operator and audience’s visual perception.

MUSIC GENRE:
Experimental / drone / noise. Visual genre: freestyle fractal strobe.

INFLUENCES:
Marshall McLuhan ("The medium is the message".), Brian Gyson (inventor of the Dream Machine), Douglas R. Hofstadter (author of "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid." "I am a Strange Loop.") Feedback is an exercise in maintaining attention. The emotional range of this work spans from meditative and hypnotic to overwhelming strobe induced hallucination. Merlyn Chipman has performed live and given workshops internationally.