Hallucinating colours – psychedelic film, technology, aesthetics and affect
Riviste UNIMI 2019 DOI: 10.5167/uzh-183380 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Hallucinating Aesthetics Movie theater Context archaeology Topos theory Subjectivity Affect linguistics Entertainment Perspective graphical Visual arts Epistemology Literature Communication |
| Citations | 14 |
| Key points | Proposes that analyzing hallucinatory color patterns across three temporal layers—slow-changing affects, foundational culture, and a specific film—yields new insights into 1960s psychedelic film culture and the topos of colorful hallucinations. |
Abstract
Within the context of the ERC Advanced Grant Filmcolors I investigate subjectivity, affect and aesthetics from an historical perspective, drawing on ideas developed within the field of the history of emotions. However, while most of this research is of a synchronic nature, my work contains a strong diachronic component, based on Fernand Braudel’s concept of the ‘pluralité des durées’ (La Méditerranée, 1966). Following Braudel, I distinguish three layers: 1. the layer of slowly changing affects and connected ‘topoi’; 2. the foundational layer of culture and discourse; and 3. the film under investigation. In this essay, I lay out my theoretical and methodological reflections by focusing on colour patterns used in films that represent hallucinations. I will lay out several examples of hallucinatory scenes (level 1) and explain their common (biological) grounds. Further, I will zoom in on 1960s psychedelic culture characterized by hallucinating drug use as entertainment and as therapeutic tool (level 2). The film of interest (level 3) is The Trip (Roger Corman, 1967), which precisely represents this culture. A combination of the analyses of the three levels brings interesting new perspectives on the 1960s, its psychedelic film culture, and how this relates to the topos of colourful hallucinations.