Dreamachine
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The dreamachine (or dream machine) is a stroboscopic flicker device that produces visual stimuli. Artist Brion Gysin and William Burroughs's "systems adviser" Ian Sommerville created the dreamachine after reading William Grey Walter's book, The Living Brain.[1][2]
In its original form, a dreamachine is made from a cylinder with slits cut in the sides. The cylinder is placed on a record turntable and rotated at 78 or 45 revolutions per minute. A light bulb is suspended in the center of the cylinder and the rotation speed allows the light to come out from the holes at a constant frequency, situated between 8 and 13 pulses per second. This frequency range corresponds to alpha waves, electrical oscillations normally present in the human brain while relaxing.[2]
A dreamachine is "viewed" with the eyes closed: the pulsating light stimulates the optical nerve and alters the brain's electrical oscillations. The "viewer" experiences increasingly bright, complex patterns of color behind their closed eyelids. The patterns become shapes and symbols, swirling around, until the "viewer" feels surrounded by colors. It is claimed that viewing a dreamachine allows one to enter a hypnagogic state.[3] This experience may sometimes be quite intense, but to escape from it, one needs only to open one's eyes.[1]
A dreamachine may be dangerous for people with photosensitive epilepsy or other nervous disorders. It is thought that one out of 10,000 adults will experience a seizure while viewing the device; about twice as many children will have a similar ill effect.[4]
The Dreamachine is the subject of the award winning National Film Board of Canada 2008 feature documentary film FLicKeR by Nik Sheehan.
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[edit] Images
 Brion Gysin Dreamachine |
 homemade version off.. |
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[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Cecil, Paul (March 2000). "Everything is Permuted". Flickers of the Dreamachine. http://www.permuted.org.uk/dream1.htm. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ a b Century, Dan (December 2000). "Brion Gysin and his Wonderful Dreamachine". Legends Magazine. http://www.legendsmagazine.net/105/brion.htm. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ Kerekes, David (2003). Headpress 25: William Burroughs & the Flicker Machine. Headpress. p. 13. ISBN 1900486261.
- ^ Allen, Mark (2005-01-20). "Décor by Timothy Leary". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/garden/20mach.html?ex=1264050000&en=2ead60550b324624&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
[edit] References
- Cecil, Paul. (2000). Flickers Of The Dreamachine. ISBN 1-899598-03-0 Download excerpts
[edit] Further reading
- Dream Weaver Don Bolles, LA Weekly, July 26 - August 1, 1996
- Headpress 25: Burroughs And The Dreamachine Edited by David Kerekes (2003) ISBN 1-900486-26-1
- The Chapel of Extreme Experience: A Short History of Stroboscopic Light and the Dream Machine[sic] by John Geiger (2003) ISBN 1-932360-01-8
- Re-Search: William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Throbbing Gristle by V. Vale (Editor) (1982) ISBN 0-940642-05-0
- Dreamachine Plans by Brion Gysin (1994) ISBN 1-871744-50-4
- A detailed explanation of how to build a dream machine By Dan Petley (2009)
[edit] Further viewing
- FLicKeR Feature documentary directed by Nik Sheehan (2008)
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dreamachine |
- Dreamachine exhibition at Cabaret Voltaire (birthplace of Dada), Zürich
- Dreamachine exhibition at Freud's Dreams Museum, St. Petersburg (Russia)
- An HTML dreamachine in your browser
- video documentation of two dreamachines in action at October Gallery, London, December 2008
- Subtleart Dr.Benways Simulacrum, Dreamachine Replica, Audiovisual installation, Collaborative project: Subtleart, New World Revolution and Kito, 2009
- Dreamachine plans for 45 rpm record player
