Augmented Unreality: Synesthetic Artworks & Audio-Visual Hallucinations

During ‘altered states of consciousness’ (ASCs), such as those produced by psychedelic drugs, an individual may experience substantial changes to mood, thoughts and perception, and have subjective experiences of visual or auditory hallucinations. In Hobson’s (2003, 44–46) discussion of his AIM (Activation, Input, Modulation) model of consciousness he distinguishes the imagery of dreams and hallucinations as ‘internal’ sensory inputs, in contrast with the ‘external’ inputs that are received via the senses from the surrounding environment during normal waking consciousness. For the purposes of this chapter, external inputs correspond with physical ‘reality,’ while the internal inputs generated by the brain during dreams or hallucinations shall be considered as ‘unreality.’ Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press