What happens when at a young age, the age of dinosaur toys, you’re exposed to the most virulent psychedelia? When, alongside cartoons like The Animals of Farthing Wood, your television shows kaleidoscopic lights and electronic beats? When, as at school you’re mastering your abcs, elsewhere you’re overhearing talk about lsd?
What happens?
I suppose I’m what happens.
Donegal, were I grew up, is a Gaelic idyll, a patchwork of bog and forest and beach at the furthest extremity of Europe. My Donegal ancestors were disinherited Irish peasants who clung to the sea.Displacement is my birthright. The memory of the Great Famine, too, lived on in my skinny limbs, and when as a boy I worked with my father and siblings on the bog stacking turf, as the wind whistled across the barren plains, I sometiems wondered about the silent dead multitudes buried under the spongy brown surface.
[Image: Liam Cagney: ‘In psychedelia, I found a home.’]
In rural Ireland, the people are the landscape. Those who fish become fishermen and those who farm become farmers. Those living by mountains become mountains and those who reside in thatched cottages become thatched cottages. This woman is a bale of hay, that boy, a fishing rod. The landscape has a moral character.
Enter me.
As a child, I used to stare at things a long time without saying anything. I stared,while kicking football,at the grid of gray concrete off wich our ball ricocheted. I stared, while working on the bog, at the glistening moisture of the bog hole. I stared at visitors to our family home. And this threatened our common integrity. Staring too long at a jellyfish made you become a jellyfish. Staring too long at something repulsive and alien made you become repulsive and alien. because your eyes ushered into your community an unsavoury queerness.
When in youth you’re shy and maligned, you internalize what you’re called. Name-calling becomes your insidious narrative, a horrid inescapable mirror reflection.You become the name as others became the landscape. Before long, because of such name-calling, which caught on at school through a clownish English classmate, I came to dread Narin Beach, on whose white sands I was made to feel freakish. Introverted, I retreated into drawing pictures.
Through the lens of our era’s cynicism, the video for the Prodigy’s ‘Out of space’ probably looks naff and naive. But at the time it heralded techno-utopianism.
At school in mrs Naughton’s class, a freind and I had devised an ambitious project. We agreed to draw and catalog every monster in the entire universe. As well as comics like X-Force and arcade games like Bubble Bobble, our inspiration came from kids’ tv shows like Sesame Street, with the furry Mr snuffleupagus, and The Magic Roundabout, with the zany Zebedee. I noticed that my teenage siblings, too, were absorbed in these shows, but in the videos they watched, The Magic Roundabout theme was hopped up over hyper-electronic beats.
Here, boyhood morphs into psychedelia.
I remember one Sat
Exploring Age, Identity, and Psychedelia in Berghain Nights
Table of Contents
This excerpt delves into themes of age, identity, and the transformative power of experience, notably through the lens of the Berlin nightclub berghain and the author’s personal journey. It reflects on the cyclical nature of becoming, the influence of childhood on adulthood, and the significance of psychedelic experiences in shaping one’s sense of self. The author’s reflections, tied to the publication of berghain Nights by Reaktion books, offer a unique perspective on the intersection of personal history and cultural phenomena.
The Reciprocal Nature of Time and Identity
The opening passage presents a striking image of temporal and personal reversal, triggered by a theatrical event – the dropping of a red curtain. This isn’t merely a physical transformation; it’s a “freakish reversal” where youth becomes age and vice versa, a “reciprocal process of becoming.” This imagery evokes folklore and suggests a deeper exploration of how we perceive and experience time and identity. The author notes that “the new music has aged; the new age has aged,” implying that even cultural movements and eras are subject to the same cyclical processes of change and decay.
Childhood as Foundation: wordsworth and the Rave Era
The author references William Wordsworth’s famous assertion that “the child is the father of the man.” While acknowledging the statement’s gendered limitations, the author applies the sentiment to their own life, recognizing the profound impact of childhood experiences on their adult self. Specifically, they highlight a childhood immersion in the rave scene, describing it as a period where “faery beings seemed to hold out once more a hand of radiance.”
This connection to the rave era isn’t simply nostalgia; it represents a formative period where the author found a sense of belonging and transcendence. Psychedelia, in particular, is presented as a key element of this experience, offering a “home” and a pathway to altered states of consciousness. The rave scene, emerging in the late 20th century, provided a space for experimentation and community, often fueled by electronic music and psychedelic substances. https://www.redbull.com/us-en/history-of-rave-culture
Berghain and the Exploration of Self
The excerpt is connected to the publication of Berghain Nights by Reaktion Books. berghain, a world-renowned nightclub in Berlin, is known for its strict door policy, its dedication to electronic music, and its atmosphere of freedom and experimentation. It has become a cultural landmark, attracting artists, musicians, and individuals seeking a space to explore their identities. https://www.berlin.de/en/things-to-do/nightlife/berghain-hansahain-club-684331/
The author’s personal reflections, framed by the imagery of transformation and the influence of childhood, suggest that Berghain Nights will likely explore similar themes within the context of the club’s unique environment. The book likely examines how Berghain serves as a space for individuals to confront their pasts,embrace their present selves,and envision future possibilities.
Key Takeaways
* The cyclical nature of time and identity: The excerpt emphasizes that age and youth are not fixed states but rather points on a continuous cycle of becoming.
* The formative power of childhood: Early experiences, particularly those involving altered states of consciousness, can profoundly shape an individual’s identity.
* The significance of cultural spaces: Nightclubs like Berghain can provide environments for self-revelation, experimentation, and community building.
* The enduring influence of psychedelia: Psychedelic experiences are presented as a source of transcendence and a pathway to finding a sense of belonging.
Berghain Nights is published by Reaktion Books and offers a compelling exploration of these themes through the author’s personal lens and the vibrant cultural landscape of Berlin’s nightlife. The book promises to be a thought-provoking examination of identity, memory, and the search for meaning in a rapidly changing world.