Release Notes (4)
The Price Explained
How the $18,888 will be distributed: 50% of proceeds will be donated to Chacruna’s IRI Fund ($9,444); 40% goes to bike build costs ($7,600) and 10% to Metalabel's platform fee ($1,888).
About Chacruna’s Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative (IRI) Fund
The IRI fund supports plant medicine through land rights, ecological wellbeing, food security, and economic resilience for 30 Indigenous groups across the Americas. Chacruna recognizes that the fight for autonomy and sovereignty at the grassroots level is the basis for all traditional knowledge and natural medicines by giving back to the cultural regions that support Indigenous plant use and knowledge.
About Bicycle Day
On April 19th 1943, Albert Hofmann embarked on the world's first (intentional) LSD trip in his lab in Basel, Switzerland. While experiencing heaven and hell on 250 micrograms of LSD-25, he famously rode his bicycle home. The day was coined Bicycle Day and is an annual celebration of Albert Hofmann and his creation's profound impact on human consciousness.
About Brazil's Indigenous Peoples' Day
On April 19th 1943, the Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas officiated the first Indigenous Peoples' Day to recognise the rich history of native peoples throughout Brazil. Many have long honoured plant medicines, such as ayahuasca, in sacred ceremonies for healing, social cohesion and insight. The day is celebrated each year to highlight the significance of their knowledge and customs, which continues to inspire science, medicine, the arts, and philosophy.
More about the release
The genesis The realisation that Albert Hofmann was on the world's first (intentional) LSD trip while Brazil’s then-president officiated the first Indigenous Peoples’ Day sent us for a spin. What a potent moment in time. April 19th 1943 accelerated the awareness of psychedelics and indigenous plant medicine in our collective consciousness. What do these journeys teach us? That we are all connected, to and with nature. Or in Albert Hofmann’s words: "We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and the environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation.”
We took this story to the workshop of Vetra Bikes, where frame builder André Roboredo handcrafts custom bikes in Berlin. The bikes are as dynamic and sleek as they are enduring, infused with his values of freedom and defiance. Together, we designed this commuter bike called ‘The Harvester’. Our goal was to celebrate the history of Bicycle Day and reimagine Albert Hofmann’s iconic ride for today.
The bike build André combines meticulous craftsmanship with an artist’s aesthetic sensibilities. The bike silhouette pays homage to the classic, utilitarian 1940s Swiss army bicycle, with a more contemporary approach to the geometry and components. ‘The Harvester’ is made for a comfortable city commute and off-road experience and features Vetra’s butterfly rack with some multi-cage mounting versatility for those mushroom season expeditions in the woods. The frame is fitted for 650B - 50c wheels and features a Columbus steel bi-laminate lug construction with mushroom motifs carved on the head tube and seat tube. It features Vetra’s own roots-designed bridge and stem canti brake barrel holders.
The paint and graphics The paintwork on ‘The Harvester’ is an earthly metallic copper brown with white pearlescent to complement the natural environments in which it belongs – a nod to how mycelium shimmers from the brown earth on an early wet morning. Christophe Synak is behind the bike’s decal graphics: raw, organic shapes, mushroom life cycle references and blotter art meet oozing, mycelial lettering. The spirit of ‘The Harvester’ is one of the 60s, a heady, creative explosion of personal and collective liberation – just as cycling is.
The proceeds ‘The Harvester’ is for sale to raise funds for a cause that preserves plant medicine knowledge at the grassroots level. After all, there is no indigenous wisdom without indigenous peoples. If you want to learn more, read the notes or email connect@psy.earth.
| Category | Physical bike, art piece, charity donation |
|---|---|
| Release Date | 18 April 2024 |
| Record | PSY005 |