In 1960, Brion Gysin invented the Dream Machine, a hypnotic light device with the power to induce hallucinations, drugless highs, and revolutionize human consciousness. It looks simple enough; a 100-watt light bulb, a motor, and a rotating cylinder with cutouts. Just sit in front of it, close your eyes, and wait for the visions to come. The Dream Machine enthralled mystics and freethinkers everywhere; Kurt Cobain had a dream machine, and William S. Burroughs thought it could be used to “storm the citadels of enlightenment.” With a custom-made Dream Machine in tow, director Nik Sheehan takes us on a journey into the life of Brion Gysin; his art, his complex ideas, and his friendships with some of the most eccentric counter-cultural icons. Taking the Dream Machine as the basis of its explorations, FLicKeR asks crucial questions about the nature of art and consciousness, and imagines a humanity liberated to explore its creativity in complete freedom.
Direction
Sheehan literally builds and uses a Dream Machine on camera
Production
Rare archive footage of Burroughs, Gysin, and Beat royalty
Director
Nik Sheehan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Iggy Pop recorded his interview while visibly ill with flu, giving his segment an accidental dreamlike detachment. Director Sheehan kept it.
The Dream Machine's 78rpm cylinder speed was chosen because Gysin happened to have a record player motor—art history pivoted on thrift store availability.
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