Intro
/ 01 — 2024
Research, installation
& performance
Ecologies of Perception
Visual & sensory therapy
A project about the visual effects of psilocybin and its therapeutic power — neurostimuli of light, sound and scent composing an altered state of consciousness as a therapeutic end.
© 2024
Statement
A project about the visual effects of psilocybin and its therapeutic power. Psilocybin is an alkaloid found in fungi of the genus Psilocybe sp. that mimics the effects of serotonin, and occurs in the attainment of altered states of consciousness in the search for the divine and self-knowledge.
Spiritualists and scientists have been studying in psilocybin an experience of the deepest areas of the psyche, never reached in ordinary states of consciousness. Promising studies report its therapeutic potential in the treatment of refractory depression and other disorders of the mind, and show a great relationship with conventional neuropharmacology — psilocybin is capable of performing changes in nerve conductions, opening a spectrum of possibilities in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. What was once just spirituality is today allied to science.
The visual effects include profound perceptual-cognitive changes: visual and sensory hallucinations, auditory distortions, synesthesia, well-being and ego death. This project suggests that we can expand the cognitive studies of psilocybin by reproducing those visual effects and creating visual, sensory and auditory neurostimuli based on applied studies, which suggest an alteration of consciousness as a therapeutic end.
2022 — present
Psilocybin Diary
The project emerged from a self-experiment, as a patient — autistic and highly qualified — using different types of magic mushrooms in different quantities. During these experiments I recorded my reactions and created a diary as the process progressed: paintings, making-of videos, and the diaries in three languages (Portuguese, Spanish and English).
Listen — Psilocybin Diary, page 1
Experiment
Visual & Sensorial
A complete immersion in all the senses, inducing an alternation of consciousness — a welcoming environment of spiritual and creative expansion. The immersion covers gases and smells, sound, vibrations, light, mapping and visuals, food and drinks, using advanced knowledge of neuroscience and sensory psychology.
- Gases & smells
- Sound
- Vibrations
- Light
- Mapping
- Food & drinks
Mechanisms of action of psilocybin
When ingested, psilocybin is converted into psilocin in the body, which acts mainly on serotonin receptors (5-HT2A) in the brain. This mechanism is responsible for its hallucinogenic properties, altering sensory, cognitive and emotional perception. Psilocin increases neural connectivity, allowing communication between regions of the brain that normally do not interact so intensely.
Effects on the Default Mode Network
Psilocybin is known to decrease activity in the Default Mode Network (DMN), a brain network associated with ego, introspection and self-reference. This reduction can lead to a sense of ego dissolution, promoting greater connection with the environment and an expanded perspective on one's own existence.
Sensory stimulation and neuroplasticity
Multisensory stimulation — the combination of lights, sounds and smells — can influence neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to reorganise itself by forming new neural connections. The proposed therapeutic immersion aims to replicate, safely and in a controlled way, the sensory and emotional effects of psilocybin without the use of the substance.
Performance
Holy Supper
As this is a research and experiment where all the senses must be engaged, a welcoming atmosphere is created for a performance, where dishes are created based on figures from the history of psilocybin and its symbologies. The visual aspect of the performance refers to alchemy, the forest and the chemical laboratory.
SP-Arte Circuit
First Public Experiment
The first public experiment was carried out during the SP-Arte circuit of studios in downtown São Paulo, where my studio, Mice, was open. I immersed myself in one of the rooms with the collaboration of VJ Spetto, who created the mapping of the room, Celio Barros and his independent label PMC — Produção de Música Contemporânea, based in Norway, and the 3D and motion artist Guilherme Todorov, part of the collective Mutualism, working between São Paulo and Berlin.
In this room I placed a gas machine with liquid glycerin and lavender essence, isufilm on the floor, crumpled paper over the black background and several fabrics of different colours and textures.
Overall, nothing seems static — even fixed objects seem to dance or breathe. Shapes smoothly transform into one another and melt together as if the eye were inside a liquid dream. Visual perception under psilocybin regresses to more primitive states of visuality: areas of the occipital and parietal lobes, which normally filter and interpret the world, are more open to the raw flow of information — hence the intense, shifting and symbol-laden forms.
Moving image
03 filmsSound
Artificial Ghosts
Celio Barros · Hifa Cybe
A non-cadenced progression of four notes (voices) always changing by half a step, one at a time. The file is duplicated and both have slow pitch oscillation in different cycles. Each synthesizer sounds in an audio track (right/left). The final mix has an Eventide compressor/expander (Omnipressor) after the stereo phaser, so the compression enhances small distortions and harmonics resulting from the phaser.