Semester 2, Lecture 3

This week was about Heroin, mostly...although Existentialism did make an appearance.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In1c5O3bNeg

This was the image we were first presented with. Edie Sedgwick, actress, socialite and heiress posed for one of Andy Warhol's 'screen tests' which were mostly filmed at the Factory between 1964 and 1966.

Andy Warhol was a major influence of 60's culture and because of his work at the Factory 'Heroin Chic' was born. Characterised by thin bony women with a pale complexion and dark circles around the eyes it was a stark difference to healthier looking models. During the time 'Heroin Chic' emerged the price of Heroin was decreasing and its purity increasing; the stigma around it changed which meant that the middle-class and the wealthy began using it.

When taking Heroin one has no sense of the past or future, their mind and bodies become numb - only being in the moment of now, the present. Heroin removes the pain and pleasure neurons from the body which is what gives the numb feeling, so when the body comes off Heroine it is particularly unpleasant as these senses return.

The rest of the lecture was hard to write down in a sensible 'making sense' fashion so apologies for the bullet points of what seems to be random notes.

• Existentialism was a movement in post war arts and culture, especially in France and the USA, and especially in music (jazz), theatre and literature.
• The state of mind described in The Outsider (Albert Camus) is similar to that of someone on Heroin
• Simone de Beauvoir - The Second Sex described being female as a narrative. It challenged prejudicial thinking
• The new left - very French and Existential. All for personal oppression, freedom, racism, gay rights, disabled rights (rather than focus on class, trade etc)
• LSD slows down our perception mechanism and turns off short term memory
• LSD slows down our perception mechanism and turns off short term memory
• (sorry had to be done)
• Merry Pranksters poisoned the water supply in America with LSD to try and stop the Vietnamese War
• Gonzo Journalism
• Existential literature - you cannot write for slaves because they do not have the freedom to have their own thoughts

According to Philosophical Idealism existence itself is made up of three things that exist.

1. Things in themselves - these are things which are alive, they decay and change but they're just there
2. Things for themselves - these are self determining and self creating free people such as white educated men (not women or children or uneducated people at this time) they can do something about their existence such as end it - commit suicide
3. Things for others - Slaves or even wives. It is anyone who lives for someone else, Existentialists believe that they are living in bad faith