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FLicKeR
MONDAY 30 MARCH
9.30PM
BLACK BOX CAFE
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£5
BOOK ONLINE
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A simple machine that uses light to create a trippy state of mind; that was the brainwave of artist/poet/mystic Brion Gysin. Gysin understood the movement of light and how it could contribute to altered states of mind, and FLicKeR is a documentary about his life and his work.
Gysin's interest in art, consciousness and a drug-free high led him to develop something called a Dream Machine, which consisted of a light inside a rotating cylinder; the cylinder had patterned holes that let light flicker across the eyelid at a rate that approximated the frequency of alpha waves in the brain. People who tried the Dream Machine experienced interesting visions of shape and colour. Some had hallucinations similar to dream landscapes.
Kurt Cobain had a Dream Machine, Not too surprisingly, Gysin was close friends with William S. Burroughs, and the movie includes conversations with Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull, Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo and singer/artist Genesis P-Orridge of Psychic TV. The filmmaker Kenneth Anger turns up to talk about Gysin, as does poet John Giorno.
Special Jury Prize for a Canadian Documentary at the 2008 Hot Docs Festival. |
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Canada / 2008/ 75mins / Director: Nik Sheehan / Cert: 15
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