A Playful Representation of Psychedelic Experiences
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Published27 Jul 2020
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Author
Why are views on drug use often so black and white? This is the question posed by Juliane Jensen as she recreates dream-like scenarios that look to challenge the collective story surrounding the effects of taking illegal drugs.
Why are views on drug use often so black and white? This is the question posed by Juliane Jensen as she recreates dream-like scenarios that look to challenge the collective story surrounding the effects of taking illegal drugs.
People are getting high for many different reasons - be an escape from reality, curiosity, pleasure or a spiritual awakening. This project is exploring the mental and physical changes that occur when under the influence of illegal drugs.
These drugs include cannabis, MDMA and certain psychedelics such as psilocybin mushrooms, 2C-B and DMT. The word psychedelic means mind-manifesting, as in opening up the mind to new perspectives. A change in perspective is one of the reasons why psychedelics are now used in clinical research as a potential medicine to relieve depression, anxiety or addiction.
Some scientists claim that these drugs are as safe as riding a bike, and most illegal drugs have been classified as less harmful than alcohol - both in terms of psychical detriment and adverse social consequences. Why is this not the dominant collective story? Why are views on drug use often so black and white? This project is the result of curiosity and a sense that we need more knowledge about drugs and drug use. Emma is a nickname for MDMA. Nexus is a nickname for 2C-B.
Words and Pictures by Juliane Jensen.
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Juliane Jensen (1994, Norway) graduated in 2019 from Bilder Nordic School of Photography. She has a great interest about themes that involves identity, medicine and psychology. She works in the intersection of documentary and art, where the projects are research-based with both documentary and conceptual solutions. Find her on PHmuseum and Instagram.
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This feature is part of Story of the Week, a selection of relevant projects from our community handpicked by the PHmuseum curators.
