FLicKeR

“Art doesn't stop when you close your eyes.”

Living at the psychedelic epicenter of the 60s Beat counter culture, Brion Gysin was a poet, artist, calligrapher and mystic. He introduced William S. Burroughs to his famous literary ‘cut up' technique and supplied the infamous ‘hash fudge' recipe for Alice B. Toklas's legendary cookbook/memoir. But his most enduring legacy is a device he called the Dream Machine - a simple light bulb surrounded by a spinning shade - creating a strobe effect that can produce mind-expanding hallucinations in a viewer.

Director Nik Sheehan draws together the story of an artist who pushed at the bounds of consciousness and identity, using archival footage and interviews with artistic greats such as Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull and Kenneth Anger to trace the influence of a unique mind.

Warning: these sessions contains strobe effects.

--- D/S Nik Sheehan P Maureen Judge, Anita Lee WS National Film Board of Canada TD betacamsp/2008