Climb a Tree and Feed the Birds

Lysergic acid diethylamide, also known as LSD was a very prominent drug during the decades of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Not only did it affect the cultural revolution, which was happening in the United States at the time, but also the artwork produced during the times of social unrest and experimentation. Created in 1938 by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann, LSD is a psychedelic drug which, although illegal, offers many uses other then just recreational: “meditation, psychonautics, art projects, and illicit (though at one time legal) psychedelic psychotherapy,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD). Due to its psychotherapy elements, LSD was believed to help recovering alcoholics, allowing them to surrender and come to terms with the fact that they were alcoholics,
“Studies in the 1950s that used LSD to treat alcoholism professed a 50% success rate, five times higher than estimates near 10% for Alcoholics Anonymous,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD). LSD’s affects the takers motor skills, ability to perceive reality and time, and the other senses, such as hearing and, the most noted of all, sight.
“Visual effects include the illusion of movement of static surfaces ("walls breathing"), after image-like trails of moving objects ("tracers"), the appearance of moving colored geometric patterns (especially with closed eyes), an intensification of colors and brightness ("sparkling"), new textures on objects, blurred vision, and shape suggestibility.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD).
The visual effects which the use of LSD produces is called ‘form constants’ and was studied by Heinrich Klüver, whom first conducted the tests in 1926, a whole 12 years before LSD was even created, in accordance with the use of peyote. He concluded that,
“In addition to producing hallucinations characterized by bright, "highly saturated" colors and vivid imagery, Klüver noticed that mescaline produced recurring geometric patterns in different users. He called these patterns 'form constants' and categorized four types: lattices (including honeycombs, checkerboards, and triangles), cobwebs, tunnels, and spirals,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD).
These types of images which occurred, Kluver discovered, were not only seen when taking psydelic drugs but also in near death experiences, epilepsy, high fevers, migraine headaches and insulin hypoglycemia. . Interestingly enough these types of images, such as the spirals and honeycomb shapes can be seen in many religious imagery, “examples include mandalas, yantras (both of these specifically designed to evoke certain mental states), Islamic art and cathedral architecture,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_constant). Many of the elements of an LSD induced trip have been expressed in art work. Artist from the counter-culture of the 1960 found their conscious state altered and translated the experience onto canvass. Such artist included Peter Max, Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso and many others.

Sources Used: www. wikipedia.org
http://wwwusers.rdc.puc-rio.br/ednacunhalima/2006_1_2/clarissa/Anos%2060_arquivos/image021.jpg (picture)