George Segal and his buddies were total trippers.

Living on a chicken farm (making art, not chickens) in Brunswick New Jersey, Segal hung out with artists from New York and nearby Rutgers University. One of his pals, John Cage the avant-garde composer/musician, was also a big mushroom guru. And not the kind you put in risotto. Segal invited him and performance artist Allan Kaprow on a mushroom hunt in the late 1950s. What transpired is anybody’s guess, but over the years, the farm became a scene for impromptu art events dubbed “Happenings." Psilocybin would explain why a bunch of people sitting around touching ice cubes is not only a worthwhile activity but Art. Just saying.

Segal pioneered the use of plaster bandages to create his figures. He kept the figures white and placed them in urban environments. They're like ghosts. The scenes he created were called tableaux and often would use found objects. You might find his people at a street corner, sitting on a park bench, on a bus, or at a coffee shop. Hopefully, you don't run into any after hunting for fungi.