Beyond the Eye Realm (Gankai no Kanata) – Psychedelic Art Analysis
《Beyond the Eye Realm》— An AI-Created Fusion of Psychedelic and Manga Worlds
Surrealistic characters and vibrant colors in psychedelic art
Overview of the Artwork
This work, 《Beyond the Eye Realm》, is a digital art piece created by the image generation AI “Midjourney.” It boldly fuses visual characteristics found in Japanese manga with the aesthetic elements of 1960s-70s psychedelic art, depicting a world that seems to sway between reality and fantasy.
A blue-haired figure is placed in the center of the image, with a skull-like motif floating above their head. The large “eyes” depicted in both elements symbolize consciousness and perception, functioning as a pathway that draws the viewer’s mind deeper. In the background, fluorescent colors such as neon pink, electric blue, lime green, and purple blend organically, creating a dreamlike and meditative atmosphere.
This work incorporates manga’s visual grammar while reconstructing the illusory and multi-layered visual experience typical of psychedelic art through AI technology, making it a highly contemporary experimental expression.
What is Psychedelic Art?
Psychedelic art refers to a visual art movement that spread primarily throughout Europe and America in the 1960s, drawing inspiration from hallucinogenic experiences. Its characteristics include:
- Vibrant neon colors and complementary color contrasts
- Optical elements such as spirals, flowing lines, and repetitive patterns
- Symbolic expressions of spiritual worlds, views on life and death, and cosmic consciousness
- Compositions that blur the boundaries between reality and non-reality
This style spread primarily through rock posters, underground magazines, films, and animations, becoming a major trend in visual culture.
The Transformation of Psychedelic Expression in Japan
In Japan, from the late 1960s to the 1970s, the visual vocabulary of psychedelic art was localized by artists such as Tadanori Yokoo and Keiichi Tanaami, resulting in works that incorporated unique religious perspectives and historical experiences.
Tadanori Yokoo created hallucinatory and spiritual images by fusing silkscreen techniques with Buddhist iconography and pop culture. Meanwhile, Keiichi Tanaami visualized dreams, nightmares, and traumatic memories, establishing a uniquely Japanese direction for fantastic art.
Distinctive Elements in This Artwork
Fluorescent color contrasts: Visual vibrations are created through strong complementary relationships between yellow and blue, pink and green
- The “eye” motif: Symbolizing expanded consciousness, spirituality, and introspection
- The skull motif: Representing views on life and death, the temporality of matter, and the separation of mind and body
- Fluid background: A landscape of consciousness where reality and dreams, order and chaos intersect
- Character design: Fusion of exaggerated eyes and emotional expressions found in Japanese manga, along with symbolic hairstyles and costumes
Intersection with Manga Culture
The visual appearance of the characters in 《Beyond the Eye Realm》 heavily relies on the grammar of Japanese manga established since the 1950s. In particular, the core of the work consists of manga-specific sensibilities such as deformed large eyes and simplified yet emotionally expressive facial features.
This creates a visual experience where the abstract and symbolic aspects of psychedelic art intersect with human expressions rooted in Japanese character culture, allowing familiarity and otherworldliness to coexist.
Color Analysis of the Artwork – Color Symbolism and Visual Psychology
Vivid Yellow
Neon Pink
Electric Blue
Lime Green
Purple
Color Symbolism
The bright, fluorescent colors used in this artwork are characteristic elements of psychedelic art. These colors express states of consciousness beyond normal reality perception and create illusions of visual vibration and movement.
The contrast between yellow and blue is particularly strong, creating visual energy and vibration. The use of pink and green symbolizes the fusion of nature and artifice, while purple represents spirituality and mystery. The white skull motif symbolizes the boundary between life and death, reality and non-reality.
- Yellow and blue: Opposition of chaos and order, stimulation and calmness
- Neon pink and lime green: Fusion of artificial and natural, reality and fantasy
- Purple: Symbol of mysticism and spirituality
- White skull: The space between life and death, the transience of individual identity
- Layer composition: Suggesting the multi-layered nature of consciousness and memory
Contemporary Significance and Potential as AI Expression
This artwork, while generated by Midjourney, goes beyond mere visual imitation. It can be seen as autonomously referencing and reconstructing the structures, symbols, and grammar accumulated in human visual culture.
Such visual expressions generated by AI take on aspects of being “reflections of human memory and culture” rather than just artwork. Themes such as spirituality, self-exploration, and surrealism remain important artistic subjects in the modern era, and this work responds to them with an approach unique to AI.
Conclusion
《Beyond the Eye Realm》is a post-digital era visual art piece that fuses the hallucinatory and spiritual aspects of psychedelic art with the semiotics and accessibility of Japanese manga culture.
The creation process itself, being generated by AI, questions binary oppositions such as chance and construction, consciousness and unconsciousness, imitation and creation, giving new context to our act of “seeing.” This work, which acts on the inner world of the viewer, will likely become an important milestone suggesting the future of visual language between AI and humans.