NEWS
EVENTS
The Second Cyberdelic Revolution
Set and Settings
Just under a couple of weeks ago an event called “Cyberdelic Incubator” took place in East London. Promoted by The Psychedelic Society, its name echoes the ideologies brought forward by authors such as Douglas Rushkoff and Timothy Leary, who, in the late 80s and 90s saw in digital technologies an opportunity to enhance and improve the human experience. For the cyberdelic acolyte immersive digital technologies, such as virtual reality to name one, possess the potential to change our perspective on reality and ourselves. Just about the same importance that psychedelic drugs had for most hippie thinkers in the 60s and 70s.
Altered states of consciousness through the digital
The Cyberdelic Incubator featured very interesting and thought-provoking experiences such as “Death is Only the Beginning” by visual artist and photographer Jose Montemayor. His work is based on a conceptual representation of near death experiences (NDE) showcased on 360° Virtual Reality, available both for Oculus Rift and, more recently, for mobile devices. This experience is both a portray of afterlife realms as well as a life review of key global issues that weigh on human collectives today. Montemayor is a firm believer in digital technology for healing and mind-expanding purposes. His platform, “Virtual Awakening”, aims to become a major educational platform with featuring content from cyber-aware artists, scholars and health-practitioners.
![](<a href="https://ibb.co/faENNm"><img src="https://preview.ibb.co/g8qwhm/2017_11_03_05_22_51_1.jpg" alt="2017_11_03_05_22_51_1" border="0"></a>)
Contextualising Cyberdelics
Technology advancements have gathered a mounting pace in the last decade or two, expanding from niche subfields and flowing into the realm of our daily lives, as the smartphone you might be reading this article on testifies for. Most Londoners, for example, might feel lost without their digital maps, and perhaps their sense of orientation has already been eroded by the almost absent-minded use of navigation services. Of course, the human presence in the digital has great benefits and we must not grief and brood too much about the loss of the old ways, but also take the opportunity to push the boundaries between art, science, and healing through the tools that the digital world grant us with. With the worldwide revenues for the augmented reality and virtual reality to reach 13.9 billion in 2017, an increase of 130.5% over the amount spent in 2016, it is important to hear what thinkers and artists such as the ones at the Cyberdelic Incubator have to say, as they’re creations might provide us with a glimpse of what reality might look like in 10 or 20 years from now.
Check out the Incubator website at: www.cyberdelicsincubator.com
Sabino Alvino
