Julia Chaplin on the New Psychedelia

You write about a new kind of psychedelic renaissance—one centered around mental balance, creativity, and positivity. What do you think distinguishes today’s psychedelic movement from the countercultural one of the 1960s?

Today's psychedelic renaissance is informed by neuroscience, mental health, technology, consciousness, and optimization. In the 1960s, psychedelics were relatively new, and once it jumped the lab, it became a massive uncharted experiment mostly carried out by hippies in the counterculture. But now, sixty years later, there's been extensive research done, and we're seeing that psychedelics can be a very effective tool for mental health and well-being. Of course, Indigenous peoples have known this all along.

Your book suggests that aesthetics—color, pattern, form—can have a profound impact on mood and consciousness. Do you see visual culture as a kind of medicine in and of itself?

Our emotional state is very much affected by what we see around us. We take in visuals just like sound—an organic bombardment that we can't totally control. So visual culture absolutely has an impact on our collective mood and beliefs. Imagery that suggests optimism and joy, like the ones found in Psychedelic Now, act as a sort of contagious good vibe. Which was the reason I wanted to put this book out in the world. Something I could personally do to help tip things into a better place.

The four themes you explore—Rainbow Utopists, Afrofuturists, Cosmic Technophiles, and Spiritualizers—span a wide range of creators.How did you land on these categories, and what unites them? Do you think this kind of genre-blurring is essential to the psychedelic ethos?

My research process for this book was long and obsessive. I pored over the far corners of popular culture, did tons of interviews, and sourced experts. I unearthed a very eclectic group of visionaries defining the psychedelic movement across genres. What does country music star Kacey Musgraves have to do with the German conceptual artist Carsten Höller, or the young Brooklyn-based fashion designer KidSuper and Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani? They are all artists and thinkers who had created an alternate, expanded reality that was masterful and original. The work was contemporary, mining the issues of our times, and not just a rehash of 1960s clichés. And they are all united in creating a bright, new mythology of hope.

There’s a strong sense of optimism in the book, a belief that aesthetics can help guide us toward collective healing. In such a fractured time globally, what role do you think beauty or joy can play in shaping our future?

Psychedelic Now uses aesthetics to convey a sense of optimism, but underneath the beautiful photos is a collective feeling of connectedness with others and the cosmos—that is my definition of psychedelic. What I tried to do with this book was to rebrand the concept of psychedelic as a state of mind—not just a gonzo party drug.

You include both globally recognized names and more niche artists and designers. What was your process for selecting the voices and works featured? Were there any surprises along the way?

I was surprised that some of the artists featured in the book were sober, such as fashion designer Eli Russel Linnetz of the brand ERL and designer Kid Super. They describe their designs as psychedelic but what they're really talking about is an innate kaleidoscope creativity that they both protect and cultivate in their work.

I am also surprised that I can finally spell "psilocybin" without spell check.

And I'm surprised that I've become a Kasey Musgraves fan. I had never listened to her music before researching this book. Her album "Deeper Well" is as close to perfect as I've heard.

Afrofuturism is featured prominently in your exploration of the psychedelic aesthetic. Why do you think that movement resonates so strongly inside this moment?

Afrofuturism was fun to explore because it has changed so much since the 1960's. In the 60's you had musicians like George Clinton of Parliament, Sun Ra, and Earth Wind & Fire. They were fabulous cosmic explorers inspired by black Sci-Fi but it was still predominantly straight, very masculine men. Today afrofuturism has expanded to include LBGTQ artists like Janelle Monae, gay rappers like Lil Nas X, and feminists like Wangechi Mutu. The hetero male rappers such as ASAP Rocky and Kid Cudi, both vocal proponents of psychedelics, are all about an open minded POV,  They embrace their feminine side, often wearing dresses and make-up. Psychedelics continues to be a through line in afrofuturism as it represents an imagined reality of equality, interconnectedness, and acceptance.

In a world increasingly dominated by digital interfaces and AI, how do you see the psychedelic impulse—rooted in sensation, emotion, and transcendence—evolving or asserting itself?

AI and digital worlds are in fact very psychedelic. They are the definition of an alternate reality and can be a fast track to getting there. Several of the artists featured in the book use AI and digital tools to create soulful utopias such as Leo Villareal, Arthur Mamou-Mani, and Saya Woolfalk. I'm hoping for more of these types of artists and thinkers working with new technology as they are forging constructive and positive ways to use it.   

If someone wanted to begin cultivating a more psychedelic approach to everyday life—not just visually, but philosophically—what would you suggest as a starting point? 

I'm in favor of people exploring a psychedelic viewpoint with fashion or decor. It starts with the external and then manifests inwards. But some internal ways to access a psychedelic state are meditation, singing, breathwork, dancing, laughing, and even looking someone in the eye and smiling.