‘Looks like a felony’ - a review of Blotter: the untold story of an acid medium
Blotter: the untold story of an acid medium by Erik Davis The book consists of a lengthy essay by Erik Davis on the history and art of blotters and a lot of images of blotter art. Some of them are accompanied by short reflections on a particular blotter, some experiential and some more art-theoretical. I like Erik’s prose, which is often somewhat trippy to read, his gonzo juxtaposition of well-digested academic ideas with street demotic, so I was delighted when he invited me to contribute a short piece for this book. This was an account of a trip I had on a Tetragrammaton blotter in 1983. I wrote about being given that blotter at a crucial point in the development of one of the two magical groups I was working with at the time. The blotter illustrations themselves are interesting and often beautiful to look at. The material is very USA-centred, and British commentator Mike Jay (p187) picks up precisely my thoughts on many of the designs: most of the cultural references are American