Flicker
Directed by Nik Sheehan
2007Documentary75 minCanada
Artist Brion Gysin's Dream Machine promised a drug-free high; friends, users and scientists recount their experiences with the hypnotic flicker.
Synopsis
Artist Brion Gysin developed the Dream Machine. The device has in its core a 100-watt light bulb, which is surrounded by a spinning open column with windows to allow the light to shine through. To be experienced with ones eyes closed, the Dream Machine has a flickering effect of light and dark, much like a strobe light. The experience has been described as hypnotic or hallucinogenic. Some have called the Dream Machine a drug-less high. Gysin, through archival interviews, many of the Dream Machine's users, some of whom are friends of Gysin, and scientists tell of their experiences with the machine and speculate on its physiological effects.
The director
Nik Sheehan
Nik Sheehan is a Toronto writer, director and producer. His No Sad Songs (1985) was one of the first documentaries about AIDS, and Flicker (2008), his film about Brion Gysin's Dreamachine, won the Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs.
