FROM THE “LSD” TO THE “GEOMETRIC”

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010

SOURCE TEXT: Delysid (LSD-25) product literature.

CONTENTS:

• The songs LSD by Irini Karayannopoulou is linked to the word “LSD”

• The photo Transcendence by Panayiotis Lamprou is linked to the word “transcendence”

• The photo diptych Oh Jim! by Antonis Katsouris is linked to the word “geometric”

• The photo Euphorica by Dimitra Ioannou is linked to the word “blurred”

• The image Fractal Geometry by Dimitris Gilis is linked to the word “geometric”

LSD was discovered by a chemist working for Sandoz Laboratories, Dr. Albert Hofmann, in 1938. Hofmann was the first who had a psychedelic experience on April 19, 1943 on his way home by bicycle. This white, odorless powder which alters perception and mood was commercialized in 1947 under the trade name “Delysid” as a cure for schizophrenia, criminal behavior, sexual perversions and alcoholism.
Volume magazine, a joint project by ARCHIS magazine for Architecture, City and Visual Culture, AMO a research studio affiliated with ΟΜΑ (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), and C-Lab (Columbia Laboratory for Architectural Broadcasting), dedicated Issue 24 to Counterculture/To Beyond or Not to Be (2010).
The following is an excerpt from the article “Neuropolitcs’ signed by C-Lab:
“Unlike more overtly political forms of self-expression in the 1960’s, declaring an interest in LSD could imply one’s personal politics without necessarily specifying an alignment with existing doctrines. To take LSD was to assert a right over one’s subjectivity and body as undetermined by social conventions and their corresponding mental states, even the norms of protest and political resistance. It was a declaration of autonomy – a desire, as Timothy Leary said, to operate one’s own brain. The political dimension of LSD use lies in this productive refusal to submit to command, to experimentally pursue a mental life that was incompatible with the regulations of the workplace, the nuclear family, educational institutions or the military. LSD was a means of ‘reprogramming’, as Leary would say, a process of creating a radically different relation between the mind and the social order.
Leary called this relation ‘Neuropolitics’ (…).”

(LSD 25)

D-lysergic acid diethylamide

Sugar-coated tablets containing 0.025 mg. (25 µg.).
Ampoules of 1 ml. containing 0.1 mg. (100 µg.) for oral administration.
The solution may also be injected s.c. or i.v. The effect is identical with that of oral administration but sets in more rapidly.

PROPERTIES

The administration of very small doses of Delysid (½-2 µg./kg. body weight) results in transitory disturbances of affect, hallucinations, depersonalization, reliving of repressed memories, and mild neuro-vegetative symptoms. The effect sets in after 30 to 90 minutes and generally lasts 5 to 12 hours. However, intermittent disturbances of affect may occasionally persist for several days.

METHOD OF ADMINISTRATION

For oral administration the contents of 1 ampoule of Delysid are diluted with distilled water, a 1% solution of tartaric acid or halogen-free tap water.
The absorption of the solution is somewhat more rapid and more constant that that of the tablets.
Ampoules which have not been opened, which have been protected against light and stored in a cool place are stable for an unlimited period. Ampoules which have been opened or diluted solutions retain their effectiveness for 1 to 2 days, if stored in a refrigerator.

INDICATIONS AND DOSAGE

a) Analytical psychotherapy, to elicit release of repressed material and provide mental relaxation, particularly in anxiety states and obsessional neuroses. The initial dose is 25 µg. (¼ of an ampoule or 1 tablet). This dose is increased at each treatment by 25 µg. until the optimum dose (usually between 50 and 200 µg.) is found. The individual treatments are best given at intervals of one week.
b) Experimental studies on the nature of psychoses: By taking Delysid himself, the psychiatrist is able to gain an insight in the world of ideas and sensations of mental patients. Delysid can also be used to induced model psychoses of short duration in normal subjects, this facilitating studies on the pathogenesis of mental disease.
In normal subjects, doses of 25 to 75 µg. are generally sufficient to produce a hallucinatory psychosis (on an average 1 µg./kg. body weight). In certain forms of psychosis and in chronic alcoholism, higher doses are necessary (2 to 4 µg./kg. body weight).

PRECAUTIONS

Pathological mental conditions may be intensified by Delysid. Particular caution is necessary in subjects with a suicidal tendency and in those cases where a psychotic development appears imminent. The psycho-affective liability and the tendency to commit impulsive acts may occasionally last for some days.
Delysid should only be administered under strict medical supervision. The supervision should not be discontinued until the effects of the drug have completely worn off.

ANTIDOTE

The mental effects of Delysid can be rapidly reversed by the i.m. administration of 50 mg. chlorpromazine.

Literature available on request.

WARNING

Do not drive motor vehicles or operate heavy machinery while taking Delysid. Do not take if you are currently pregnant or have a history of heart disease. Do not take if you are currently on antidepressants. Ask your doctor or health expert about Delysid today.

SANDOZ LTD., BASLE, SWITZERLAND
Printed in Switzerland.

(Excerpted from Sandoz’s Delysid product literature)

SIDE EFFECTS

The following side effects have been reported: pupil dilation, reduced appetite, wakefulness, numbness, weakness, nausea, hypothermia, hyperthermia, elevated blood sugar, goose bumps, increase in heart rate, clenching of the jaw, perspiration,increased saliva and mucus production, hyperreflexia, ataxia, tremors, uterine contractions, and a strong lingering metallic taste. Some users experience visual effects including: the movement of static surfaces, after-image like trails of moving objects, the appearance of moving colored geometric patterns, an intensification of colors and brightness, new object textures, blurred vision, shape suggestibility, an ‘atomization’ of objects, morphing objects, as well as effects such as echo-like distortions of sounds, and synaesthesia. Users may experience significant changes in their personality and life prospective, additional spatial and temporal dimensions, a sense of infinity, a sense that one’s thoughts are spiraling into themselves, a loss of an identity or the ego, spiritual revelation, transcendence, and many users experience a unification between themselves and the ‘outside world’. Users may also experience paranoia, extreme discomfort, chronic psychosis, and panic attacks. Recurring effects or ‘flashbacks’ have been reported.

(Excerpted from Volume magazine No 24, Counterculture, To Beyond or Not to Be.)