The Dream Machine

So I've been out of the game for a day or two, I may have mentioned the chronic pain thing before. But today I'm back and with a look at a little bit of 1960's literature, art, science and drug free Hallucinations.

FLicKeR is a documentary film about Brion Gysin and the Dream Machine. The film explores Gysin's, and others belief, that a state of transcendence could be reached through a combination of science, art and magic.

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What is the Dream Machine?

It's a lamp on a record player covered by a cylindrical shade with a repeating cut out pattern. Or it's the key to tapping into the time space continuum. Take your pick.

Brion Gysin was an artist who experimented with many mediums, and is credited with discovering the 'cut up' method that was used by Williams S. Burroughs in the 'Naked Lunch'. He also was a pioneer in Machine Poetry. You can listen to some of Gysin's work at UbuWeb Sound. I recommend the poem "I Am".

The Film, FLicKeR, focuses principally on the Dream Machine, but through interviews with artists and former acquaintances a vision is built of a wanderer. Gysin is a man who never stayed in one place for too long, the list of countries he lived in is lengthly. Gysin spent his days in a quest of self exploration, his goal to discover new territory in art and literature, using science and the occult. The 'Occult' could also be substituted for '1950's/60's Psychology' with little change to the meaning. Heck even '50's/60's Drug Culture' would work as a substitute.

The Dream Machine can induce hallucinations in people, creating a high like experience. All you have to do is get close to it and shut your eyes, the flickering lights do the rest. Drugs are not required, and could even make the experience dangerous. The idea of a machine that can cause hallucinations through flickering light is straight out of Science Fiction (and fact!).

Musicians like Iggy Pop and Kurt Cobain have used Dream Machines; famous writers, painters, poets, the list goes on, have also used them. Many of those artists even make an appearance in the documentary (though not Kurt, RIP). Some are still espousing the virtues of the Dream Machine while others have moved on. All of them speak highly of the talent and vision of Gysin.

Brion Gysin was just one of many artists on a quest for transcendence and the tools they used were drugs, science and magic. Whether or not any of them found it isn't a judgement made by the filmmakers. What the film does show is how Gysin's and others efforts led to some of the most radical/craziest concepts of the 20th century. Surrealism, Machine Poetry, the Beat Generation, Cultural Terrorism, to name just a few.

A compelling image is created of the lives these people led, of the passions and failures that drove them. One lesson of this movie is that the limits of the mind, of imagination and creativity, are far beyond what many of us accept them to be. If you can handle the potentially seizure inducing lights and images, then there is a lot to be found in this documentary.

FLicKeR was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the 2008 Hot Docs Festival, and has wowed audiences at festivals in Canada and around the world. Currently it is showing on Bravo.