DRUGGED FOR SCIENCE.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 338, 20 January 1937, Page 3

DRUGGED FOR SCIENCE.

ARTIST’S EXPERIMENTS. VISIONS IN A TRANCE. FANTASTIC AND IMAGINATIVE. LONDON, Dec. 6. Fsntastio and Imaginative pictures, painted under the Influence of a drug which had been administered to the artist In a famous London hospital, were put on show In London yester.day. The artist, Mr. Basil Beaumont, a painter whose strange work has won the admiration of London critics, allowed himself to be experimented on by a doctor In the cause of hts art. ‘He was injected with a drug prepared from the. cactus plant. The drug Induced strange visions and hallucinations-:—and these provided the Inspiration of Mr Beaumont’s work. Surrounded by these weird and colourful pictures In his London studio, this small, long-haired, enthusiastic young man told a Sunday Chronicle reporter the whole straags story. “When I heard that a doctor friend of mine, who works at a big London hospital, was to inject the drug into a small group of medical students in order to study Its effects, I begged him to treat me also,” he said. “I am Interested In fourthdimensional and mystical art, and 1 thought the drug would Inspire me. “It did I” He smiled ruefully at tlje memon of his experience. Fantastic World. “The drug was injected Into my arm and took effect almost Immediately," he went on. “It was a fascinating and unusual experience—and very frightening. I retained possession of my normal faculties, yet seemed to be in a different, utterly fantastic world. “Rooms seemed to change shape, colours appear different. There were faint sounds, and the whole world was very much like a dream. “As I looked out of the hospital window, I saw, not a mere street or an alley way, but a jungle, full of weird plants which seemed to change size, shape and colour as I looked at them. “The scene was infested with every creeping, crawling thing the mind could conceive. Terrifying Sights. “I was conscious of the fact that these strange sights were hallucinations, but at the same time they seemed real and terrifying. “I managed to grasp a brush and dip it Into colours as the effect began to wear off, and feverishlly transferred the flowers which seemed everywhere, to canvas and paper. "I wrote a complete and detailed account of my sensations and experiences. for my doctor friend, and that report has been of great help in defining ths medical properties of the drug.”