--- description: LIFE.com looks back at trippy, LSD-inspired art. title: LSD-Inspired Artwork: LIFE Photos From 1966 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7674de60998b1d56/698846e38e060111a645f7d3/01_1122428171.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [photography](/tag/photography/) ## photography Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Trip the Light Fantastic With LSD-Inspired Art by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 8, 2014 2:54 AM CUT  Image from the cover of LIFE magazine, September 9, 1966, accompanied by the headline, "New Experience That Bombards the Senses: LSD Art." Image from the cover of LIFE magazine, September 9, 1966, accompanied by the headline, "New Experience That Bombards the Senses: LSD Art."Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 8, 2014 2:54 AM CUT On April 16, 1943, a Swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann accidentally dosed himself with a miniscule amount of a new, virtually unknown, clinically-synthesized compound, lysergic acid diethylamide, or [LSD-25](http://www.npr.org/2014/03/09/288285764/the-60s-are-gone-but-psychedelic-research-trip-continues "undefined")—becoming, in the process, the first human being to trip on acid. A few days later, Hofmann experienced a full-blown _intentional_ acid trip when he self-administered 250 micrograms. The 250 micrograms with which Hofmann dosed himself represented what he believed to be a “threshold” amount, i.e., a dose that would spark a noticeable and perhaps even quantifiable response in the test subject. Subsequent clinical studies indicate that a threshold dose of LSD is actually closer to 20 micrograms. Here, LIFE.com presents a gallery of artworks created in the 1960s by a group calling itself USCO (an abbreviation for “the Us Company, ” or “the Company of Us”)—a collective of artists, film makers, engineers, poets and other creative folks who staged interactive, acid-inspired art shows in lofts, galleries and museums around the country. In its September 9, 1966 issue, LIFE reported on the then-new phenomenon of what it called “LSD Art” through the lens of a show at New York’s Riverside Museum: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- Of the show at the Riverside Museum and other trippy USCO exhibitions, LIFE wrote that the art found “its most receptive audience at colleges. Young people who grew up with TV and transistor radios and who take electronic equipment for granted have no difficulty in attuning themselves to the audio-visual bombardment. Older people,” the LIFE article concluded, “who prefer what is called rational sequential experience, i.e., just one movie or a single radio station at a time, tend to freak out.” _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Image from the cover of LIFE magazine, September 9, 1966, accompanied by the headline, "New Experience That Bombards the Senses: LSD Art." Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "A complex of symbols, USCO's painting of Hindu deities pulsates with colored lights." Note: The painting is nine feet tall. (This image is best viewed in "full screen" mode. See button at right.) Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Artists Rudi Stern (left) and Jackie Cassen work on a psychedelic slide show at the Riverside Museum in New York City, 1966. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Fluctuating lights enflame a hypnotic plastic 'eye.'" Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. An example of psychedelic art from a show at New York's Riverside Museum in 1966. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Artist Richard Aldcroft, wearing translucent hemispheric goggles which prevent binocular vision, gazes at images created by his kaleidoscope machine, the Infinity Projector, in his loft in New York City. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Wearing goggles, Richard Aldcroft gazes into his light projector and sees hallucinatory patterns." Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Richard Aldcroft gazes upon hallucinatory patterns cast by his "Infinity Projector," New York, 1966. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "In New York museum, spectators sprawl on rotating couch and stare at gods, demons and humans painted on walls of a 'cave.' Cloth ceiling and paper floor are hand-dyed." (This image is best viewed in "full screen" mode. See button at right.) Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3881126/lsd-inspired-art-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3881126/lsd-inspired-art-photos/"},"headline":"Trip the Light Fantastic With LSD-Inspired Art","datePublished":"2014-10-08T02:54:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:34.156Z","description":"LIFE.com looks back at trippy, LSD-inspired art.","url":"https://time.com/3881126/lsd-inspired-art-photos/","keywords":["photography","Newsfeed","Drugs","LSD","Culture","1960s"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7674de60998b1d56/698846e38e060111a645f7d3/01_1122428171.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7674de60998b1d56/698846e38e060111a645f7d3/01_1122428171.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"LSD Art, LIFE magazine, 1966","caption":"From the cover of LIFE magazine, September 9, 1966: \"New Experience That Bombards the Senses: LSD ART.\"","creditText":"Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/photography/","name":"photography"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3881126/lsd-inspired-art-photos/","name":"Trip the Light Fantastic With LSD-Inspired Art"}}]}] ```