Cerebrum: Modelling the Mind through Psychedelic and Playful Environments

Abstract This article explores Cerebrum, a hybrid of a nightclub and a gallery, which for a brief moment in the late 1960s, used the combined force of media, performance and architecture to transform a Manhattan storefront into a series of virtual realities. Described as a ‘Psychedelic Playpen’, Cerebrum became—as its name suggests—an environmental model on the contemporary discourse on altered states of consciousness. It provided an eloquent expression of Timothy Leary’s advice on how to conduct a psychedelic trip, and Marshall McLuhan’s prediction that electronic media technologies would return humanity to the playful sensuality of preliterate societies. After being attended by Gene Youngblood and Alvin Toffler, Cerebrum was cited within their respective texts—Expanded Cinema and Future Shock—as evidence within their debate upon whether the pleasure generated by such environments would be used to challenge or consolidate structures of power. The purpose of this article is to elaborate on what constituted a typical night at Cerebrum and evaluate how it contributed to the post-war debate about the psycho-social implications of immersive multimedia environments.