V. A. Lapatin

Psychedelic visual imagery in present-day music videos: what happens in a world where frets are clamped with a revolver

Industrii vpečatlenij. Tehnologii sociokulʹturnyh issledovanij. January 1, 2026 V. A. Lapatin

Psychedelic visual imagery in music videos is examined as a recognizable aesthetic category that originated from 1960s film techniques used to depict altered states of consciousness. Over time, this aesthetic lost its direct association with psychedelic substances and became a pervasive feature of the contemporary media sphere. The author traces the historical roots of psychedelia and analyzes fourteen music videos released after 2000 that employ such imagery. The findings are systematized into theoretical generalizations about how psychedelia is represented in today's media, showing that the visual style persists as a cultural and artistic device independent of its drug-related origins.