On April 19th of 1943, the chemist Dr Albert Hofmann made a bicycle trip down the winding streets of Basel, Switzerland. While on his way home from the lab Dr Hofmann's perception shifted in ways he could have never anticipated. A Bicycle Trip is the remarkable work of three animators who decided to illustrate Dr Hofmann's magical experience for their thesis film at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Turin, Italy.
The film begins by depicting the now famous accident in which Dr Hofmann spills the chemical lysergic acid diethylamide upon himself. Shortly after departing from his lab on a bicycle, Hofmann's experience of the world around him radically transforms. Hofmann quite rapidly learns of the psychic effects of the substance, what is popularly known as LSD today, while he swerves through the winding streets of Basil.
A Bicycle Trip has been recognized internationally at various film and animation festivals such as, most recently, the London International Animation Festival. The artists behind A Bicycle Trip have posted lots of sketches and other material used during the process of developing the animated short on Picasa. If you happen to read Italian then you can also check out their blog.
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