Syncrosect is a collaboration between psychedelic trance musician Mr. Peculiar (Dustin Saalfield) and visual artist The Shapeshifter (Alex Courtney).
The idea of Syncrosect is to visually capture the vibrant energy and rich atmospheres of trance music. The system used to achieve this involves separating out individual sounds and creating animations to match. The animation loops are then composited and sequenced to precisely match the audio.
They have uploaded two of the six tracks on the DVD to Vimeo, so click on the Vimeo-text to get to the other one.
“Something arises. See if it can arise without a witness. It’s not happening to you… There is nothing you need to change. Stand on your own. Like phenomena come, so they go… Only don’t give any image to this witness. Examine thoughts’ credentials. Pay attention to the watcher. See if the seer itself has a shape… (Mooji)
This is a one-shot video, that to my opinion makes the most of the trail effect. I recommend the really sweet making-of video, where they coin the oh-so-useful term “Psychediculous”
Two things we won’t see exhausted soon: the couplings of psychedelic visuals and electronic music and the beauty emerging from the kaleidoscopic effect. Enjoy!
This video, directed by Mark Romanek for Madonna in 1995, is a homage to artists and mystics who explored the subconsciousness. it starts with Madonna, as some experimental or therapeutic subject, turns into some dream like state, the word “Lucid” appears on one of the screens. From a sterile, bright and high-tech-ish setting the video turns darker, more organic and mysterious. the visual vocabulary of this video contains quotations of three woman surrealist painters, here are some references:
Dorothea Tanning: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, 1943
Remedios Varo: Los Amantes, 1955
Remedios Varo: Remenance
Leonora Carrington
Leonor Fini: The ends of the earth, 1949
Alongside these, this clip pays tribute to two films. first is the brilliant Armenian director Sergei Parajanov, and his beautiful, surrealistic film from 1968 “The Color of Pomegranates“
The second, is the philosophic and psychedelic film “Stalker“, By Andrei Tarkovsky:
I’m still trying to figure out the meaning of the rotating cube. it reminds me a bit of the idea of the cube of space – a model that represents human consciousness in various mystic and psychological theories.
the cube of space
Or the Metatron cube, that relates to sacred geometry:
From the feminine surrealism of the mother and witch archetype to the Whirling Dervishes, this clip is all about altered states of consciousness and the search for the divine. what was once in the realm of religious and mystic practice, later became the role of artists and poets, and now, say Madonna and Romanek, is present in pop culture, for millions of people to get a glimpse at.
The Daily Psychedelic Video 