Ask the Arts... Bicycle Day

by Joel Plaja and Simon Childs

Here at Arts London News, we have been sticking up for cyclists with our Right To Ride campaign for road safety. So, we were pretty excited to find out that April 19 was bicycle day. We were looking forward to a whole day dedicated to raising awareness about not getting run over whilst cycling.

Actually, it turns out bicycle day actually commemorates the day when the psycadelic drug LSD (also known as acid) was first taken intentionally by Albert Hoffman in 1943. Afraid that he had made himself ill, he asked his lab assistant to help him get home by bicycle.

Hoffman later recounted how he had a feeling of motionlessness, despite traveling speeding along on a bicycle. He didn't have a very good trip, but he had discovered a mind bending inebriate - one which has supposedly fueled the creativity of many artists, writers and musicians.

However, the drug also carries risks. It is wildly unpredictable, can set off mental health problems and and you can have flashback to a bad trip weeks, months, or even years after taking it.

 

We thought bicycle day would be a good opportunity to ask UAL students whether they have ever been tempted to use psychadelics to help their creative juices flow.

Would you ever take psychadelic drugs to enhance your creativity?

	Billie Jane Thomas – Fda Journalism “No to be honest because I've been told by my mum that I'm not very good on drugs. So no, I’d be a mess.”
Lawrence – BA Film and Television “I read a few studies about it and I heard it gives people a desire to jump out of stuff, so no. Do I look like a square?”
	Jenny – Graphic and Media Design “No I wouldn’t, I think Im too scared. Ive tried a few things but nothing heavy. I think I’ll find other ways to dig my creativity out”
Mariana – Fda Design for Graphic Communication “No never, I don’t think that’s the way. Youre trying to be someone else”
	Kevin – Design for Graphic Communication “I don’t want to be damaged. If you take illegal drugs it damages your brain and isn’t good for your body”
Thomas – Media & Communications “Yeah I would. I believe it could give you access to parts of your brain you wouldn’t normally use. If it helps your creativity then yeah sure”
	James – Fda Graphic Design “No, if you were to do that you'd want to be in an environment where you would experience it to the full, and I don’t think to do work would be a good environment for it”
Thomas – Fda Design for Graphic Communication “No, I like to have a clear head for my design so smoking weed or doing drugs doesn’t appeal”
	Clara Cebrean – Graphic and Media Design “I don’t think so. It doesn’t really look creative. Actually, why not.”

Well, our highly unscientific poll suggests that most UAL students are happy to let their creative juices flow naturally, without the need for an artificial stimulant. Which is probably no bad thing. It's much better to stick to state sanctioned drugs such as tobacco and alcohol.