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| FLICKER |
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| Featuring: Brion Gysin, Genesis P-Orridge, Marianne Faithfull, Iggy Pop, John Giorna |
| Director: Nik Sheehan |
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Studio: Alive Mind |
| DVD release: 08 August 2008 |
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Runtime: 75 min. (1 disc) |
| Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC |
| DVD Features: Audio tracks (English) |
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FLicKeR is the story of Brion Gysin and a machine he helped to create with Ian Sommerville. Gysin, a painter and performance artist from the UK who had an incredible effect on everyone he came in contact with. This retelling of his life story is intercut with current footage of The Dream Machine and some of Brion's old friends enjoying its effects.
The Dream Machine is made up of a 3-foot tall vertical cylinder with a number of shapes cut out of it at regular intervals. This cylinder is lit from within and attached to a turntable rotating at around 10Hz. The user sits in front of the Dream Machine in a darkened room with his/her eyes closed as the cylinder rotates, letting flashes of light through. After a couple of minutes, amazing visual sensations are experienced. It's a tool used to help unleash creativity and has the additional benefit of not having any of the side-effects associated with drug-induced hallucinations. It's also a beautiful piece of art, so even when it's not doing anything, it does something.
Some of the people brought to enjoy the Dream Machine include Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull, DJ Spooky, and Genesis P-Orridge - an interesting group, to be sure. Gysin himself kept company with the likes of Picasso, Salvador Dali, and William S. Burroughs.
FLicKeR is an interesting film as it flits between Gysin and the Dream Machine, never quite telling the complete story of either but perhaps inspiring one to look further into both. One can find instructions for making your own simple Dream Machine at home using a turntable and a cylinder of paper. There are also flash-based flicker machines to be found on the Web. I've not tried it yet myself but do intend to. [Be warned that about one person in every 10,000 is susceptible to seizures induced by flashing lights.]
If you're interested in Beat generation tales, this may be a nice addition to your video library.
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