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Cyberdelic (a portmanteau of cyber- and Psychedelia) refers to a counterculture movement that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s through the convergence of cyberculture and psychedelic era. It explored the experiential and aesthetic possibilities of information technology, particularly personal computing, computer graphics, and electronic music, in dialogue with altered states of consciousness, visionary art, and rave culture.
Cyberdelic art commonly involved the computational generation of fractal and algorithm forms, expressed through still images, animations, experimental audiovisual works, and underground electronic music. In social settings, cyberdelic expression became closely associated with rave and club scenes, where psychedelic trance music and related genres were accompanied by laser light shows, projected digital imagery, artificial fog, and immersive environments, with club drug frequently present as part of the subculture’s practices.
In contrast to some of the hippies of the 1960s who were antiscience and Neo-Luddism, the cyberpunks of the 1980s and 1990s embraced technophilia and hacker ethic. They believed that high technology (and Nootropic) could help human beings overcome limits, that it could crypto-anarchy and even enable them to transhumanism. They often expressed their ethos and aesthetics through cyberart and reality hacking.
R. U. Sirius, co-founder and original editor-in-chief of Mondo 2000, became a prominent promoter of the cyberpunk ideology, whose adherents were pioneers in the IT industry of Silicon Valley and the West Coast of the United States.
In 1992, Billy Idol became influenced by the cyberdelic subculture and the cyberpunk fiction genre. The result of his passion for the ideals behind the culture resulted in his 1993 concept album, Cyberpunk, which Idol hoped would introduce Idol's fans and other musicians to the opportunities presented by digital technology and cyberculture. Timothy Leary and other members of the cyberdelic movement were contacted by Idol, and participated in the album's creation. The album was a critical and financial failure, and polarized online cyberculture communities of the period. Detractors viewed it as an act of Co-option and opportunistic commercialization. It was also seen as part of a process that saw the overuse of the term "cyberpunk" until the word lost meaning. alt.cyberpunk: Frequently Asked Questions. project.cyberpunk.ru (2004) Alternatively, supporters saw Idol's efforts as harmless and well-intentioned, and were encouraged by his new interest in cyberculture.
Disillusioned, R. U. Sirius condemned cyberdelic escapism:
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