Government Conducts Experiment Giving LSD Drugs to Artist and Asking Him to Draw the Same Portrait 9 Times


These nine drawings were completed by an artist under the influence of LSD – part of a test conducted by the USA Government during its interest in psychometric drugs in the 1950s.

The artist was given a dose of LSD 25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. His subject is the doctor that gave him the drugs.

The following drawing was completed 20 minutes after the first dose (50ug). An attending doctor observes “patient chooses to start drawing with charcoal”. The artist reports “condition is normal… no effect from the drug yet”:

Shortly after, however, the drugs kick in and the artist starts getting creative:

 


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3 Comments

  1. A single dose of LSD actually lasts that long??? Wow. I think it would be interesting to know what it’s like however I’ve heard of bad trips and I think the mood and situation would have to be good. I want to be able to listen to techno music which to me is like an audible hallucinogen especially if you close your eyes and feel the music.

  2. What does this really show us about; ART, LSD or MK ULTRA?
    The task of drawing the same doctor who is monitoring the behavior of the artist is somewhat bland.
    Perhaps this artist would have been more creative if given a fixed subject
    (like a statue or someone sitting in another room behind a one way mirror) that was not interacting with them in any way.
    Time gaps between some of the images created are obviously full of emotion for the artist, who may have had no previous experience with this type of drug, or may not have known in advance that a drug was going to be administered?
    Maybe a dosage of 75 ug all at once would have been more suitable.
    It would be interesting to know if this type of experimentation was repeated more than once with any artist.
    What the results would have been like over several attempts with the same artist using different dosages and a different selection of artistic tools being offered each time is anyone’s guess.
    Please feel free to share the link where the images came from ARTFIDO.