John Lennon's Psychadelic Mirror

John Lennon is remembered for many things, but I am most drawn to what I think of as his 'psychedelic mirror'. A type of persepctive.

His use of psychedelics is well documented and is often attached to stories of everyday interest. Antics during a trip, for example or more gossip prone subjects, such as how his first wife, Cynthia, viewed his LSD use as a major factor in the breakdown of their marriage. However, from a creative and personal perspective, I find Lennon's psychedelic lens far more interesting. It reveals many of the things art itself seeks to achieve. New ways of seeing, new ways of saying things, and the discovery of meaning from unusual angles.

Through his music, writing, and artwork, Lennon often presents abstract, highly fragmented modes of perception. Experience breaks into analyzable shards, each piece detached from the whole yet bright with exaggerated clarity. The result can either shed new light on something familiar or create entirely new meaning. When done best, it does both at once.

One example of this can be found in his song Out of the Blue. The song itself is about Yoko Ono, but the color blue in the title appears to have a deeper origin. According to Lennon, part of the inspiration came from an LSD experience in which he stared at himself in a mirror and became fascinated by the presence of the color blue while looking at his own reflection.

That color became associated with a powerful force or energy when he saw his soul refelcted, something he later connected to the profound impact Yoko had on his life. Yet the title itself functions much like a mirror, revealing two truths at once. On one hand, Yoko entered his life unexpectedly. She appeared "out of the blue." On the other, her presence helped lift him from a place of deep uncertainty, bringing him out of the blue in the emotional sense.

Seeing a single thing from multiple perspectives is one of art's great powers. It allows both the creator and the viewer to move beyond the obvious and discover new layers of interest & meaning. In a way, it brings both out of the blue and into the blue. A supernatiral swim in the blue pool of transcendence.

This is what I love about Lennon. There is always something mystical or spiritual just beneath the surface. As a viewer, I often feel as though the mirror has become liquid and that, if we are adventurous enough, we can reach through it into another dimension of seeing and come out of our experience with it, transformed.

There are numerous photographs of Lennon exploring themes of reflection and mirrors, as well as the more well known sketch he made of himself with his own reflected image. Viewed together, they suggest that the mirror was more than a visual motif. It was a recurring study & symbol of self/exploration, perception, and transformation. Perhaps mirrors are not merely mirrors at all, they're actually blue doorways.

Blog originally posted HERE.