“AI ON ACID” TO DROP AT NIFTY GATEWAY APRIL 19, 2023 

An Enhanced Collection of Generative AI Images to Commemorate the  80th Anniversary of the Discovery of LSD 

“AI on Acid” is an experimental conceptual art project by visual artist Glen Wexler who  is best known for creating digitally enhanced photocompositions of improbable  situations featured on hundreds of album covers. 

This body of work is an adaptation of the seminal research project “LSD & Creativity” by Los Angeles psychiatrist Dr. Oscar Janiger, who first experienced LSD in 1953 when  its manufacturer, Sandoz Pharmaceutical, was seeking medical uses and marketing  opportunities for the powerful drug. Impressed with the possibilities, Dr. Janiger  embarked on the study of LSD as a catalyst for creativity. The research encompassed  all the arts and involved people from all walks of life. Some of the luminaries who  participated in the controlled sessions while under the influence of LSD were Aldous  Huxley, Alan Watts, Jack Nicholson, Cary Grant, James Coburn and Andre Previn. 

From 1958 to 1962, Dr. Janiger’s research included the study of the effect of LSD on  creativity in the visual arts. A Native American Kachina doll displayed in his office was often the subject for his participants to paint or draw.  “AI on Acid” endeavors to recreate the results of the artworks created in the study by  using a high-resolution photo of the Kachina Doll from the original study along with  reference works created during the study as visual prompts for the machine  intelligence to generate new unique works. The reference works inform the AI of the  artistic styles and medium used in the original study. Wexler selects various outcomes  for the AI to remix, and he processes the generative results to individually enhance in  Photoshop. 

“Following my recent documentation of nearly 300 works from the  original study in preparation for a coffee table book about the artwork from Dr.  Janiger’s study, it’s remarkable to see machine intelligence produce results that are  randomly unexpected, yet similar to abstract interpretations of the artists in Janiger’s  study, ranging from colorful representations to full-blown hallucinogenic deconstructions.

Wexler observes, “Following my recent documentation of nearly 300 works from the  original study in preparation for a coffee table book about the artwork from Dr.  Janiger’s study, it’s remarkable to see machine intelligence produce results that are  randomly unexpected, yet similar to abstract interpretations of the artists in Janiger’s  study, ranging from colorful representations to full-blown hallucinogenic deconstructions. It occurred to me that the psychedelic experience bypasses the ego  and frees the mind to make unexpected neural connections resulting in an altered  perception of reality. In a similar manner, artificial intelligence, which presumably is  void of ego, is making random associations based on millions of data points. Now more than 60 years following the research project, it’s curious to see results that  include the Kachina Doll reinterpreted as a Yoda-like figure.” 

ABOUT 

Dr. Oscar Janiger (1918-2001) was a pioneering American researcher of the  psychedelic drugs LSD and DMT. He was the author of “A Different Kind of Healing” and the co-author of “LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process.” Janiger’s  groundbreaking studies depict an important moment in the history of consciousness  and reveal the innate creativity of humanity. 

Janiger practiced psychiatry and instructed medical students and residents for more  than fifty years. He was an associate clinical professor in the department of psychiatry  and human behavior at the California College of Medicine, University of California at  Irvine. 

Glen Wexler is a visual artist best known for his elaborately staged photocompositions  of improbable situations. Works are included in the permanent collections at the  George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Los Angeles  County Museum of Art (LACMA), and Palm Springs Art Museum, and have been  exhibited worldwide including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. 

At 22-years old, Wexler photographed his first album cover for Quincy Jones  Productions while a student at Art Center College of Design. He embraced  opportunities in the music industry where he found a visual playground in which to  hone his craft and vision. Album cover credits include Van Halen, Rush, Black Sabbath,  ZZ Top, and many others. 

Commissioned works include hundreds of advertising campaigns including Acura,  Activision, Adobe, Coca-Cola, Maxell, Pepsi, and Sony. Wexler’s editorial work  includes featured conceptual photo illustrations for TIME Magazine. Fine art  commissions include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He also created iconic  photographic logos for The Star Wars Trilogy and Batman Forever films. 

Nifty Gateway is a digital art online auction platform for non-fungible token (NFT) art  founded by Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster and has since been acquired by  the Winklevoss twins. Nifty Gateway teams up with top artists and brands to create  exclusive collections of limited edition and high quality NFTs. In March 2021,  Nifty Gateway began a partnership with the auction house Sotheby’s.