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TechGnosis

The work of Erik Davis

Erik Davis is an American writer, scholar, journalist, and public speaker whose writings range from rock criticism to cultural analysis to esoteric explorations of California’s history.

I’ve been publishing stuff for over three decades, and most of it—with the exception of my books—resides on this site, which I have maintained through various iterations since the late 1990s. With Burning Shore now disseminating my fresher communiqués, Techgnosis.com acts more than ever as an archive of my work, including lectures, interviews, personal reflections, and almost a decade of the Expanding Mind podcast. Like Techgnosis itself, still in print and more relevant than ever, my stuff combines deep research with vivid writing and oracular aims that resonate through the years. For this revamped trans-temporal site, I and my team have introduced more robust searching and cross-linking of materials, as well as a roll-the-dice feature, which will hopefully allow for richer, more entertaining, and more synchronistic wanders through this wunderkammer.  — Erik

  • Books

    Blotter

    The Untold Story of an Acid Medium

    The Untold Story of an Acid Medium

    Blotter by Erik Davis is the first comprehensive written account of the history, art, and design of LSD blotter paper, the iconic drug delivery device that will perhaps forever be linked to underground psychedelic culture and contemporary street art. Created in collaboration with Mark McCloud’s Institute of Illegal Images, the world’s largest archive of blotter art, Davis’s boldly illustrated exhibition treats his outsider subject with the serious, art-historical respect it deserves...

Citizen Science Trips
Expanding Mind Podcast
Citizen Science Trips
Expanding Mind

Game Over: the Mutation of Pinball
Technoculture
Game Over: the Mutation of Pinball
The evolution and decline of pinball

Divination in Troubled Times
Expanding Mind Podcast
Divination in Troubled Times
Expanding Mind

The Play-Doh of the Future, Here Today
Technoculture
The Play-Doh of the Future, Here Today
The Soft Machine of Gak

Talking with PKD Talks…
Media
Talking with PKD Talks…
A recorded livestream on Phil Dick

Psychedelic Bridges
Expanding Mind Podcast
Psychedelic Bridges
Expanding Mind

Platform Shuffles
Burning Shore
Platform Shuffles
The shifting marketplace(s) of ideas

The Psychospiritual Legacy of the Beatles
Media, Music
The Psychospiritual Legacy of the Beatles
A Rebel Wisdom Digital Campfire Gathering

Rudy Wurlitzer Interview
Articles and Essays
Rudy Wurlitzer Interview
Westerns and the Self

Archive Fever
Technoculture
Archive Fever
The Analog Life

Electricity, Magnets, and Vibes
Technoculture
Electricity, Magnets, and Vibes
The Electromagnetic Imaginary

Meddling with Wizards
Esoterica
Meddling with Wizards
Occult LA

The Underworld
Expanding Mind Podcast
The Underworld
Expanding Mind

Desert Homesteading
Expanding Mind Podcast
Desert Homesteading
Expanding Mind

Singing to the Plants
Articles and Essays
Singing to the Plants
Stephan Beyer drinks up

Pauline Anna Strom: Profile
Music
Pauline Anna Strom: Profile
Pauline Anna Strom