Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville's Dreamachine: Activating Internal Image Generation Through Flicker

In the early 1960s, Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville created the Dreamachine, marking it as the first piece of art intended for closed-eye observation. This device features a rotating cylinder with cut-outs surrounding a light source, generating rhythmic light pulses between eight and thirteen per second. This aligns with the brain's alpha state through a process known as photic driving, a concept introduced by W. Grey Walter. The Dreamachine highlights the brain's capacity to produce geometric patterns. Gysin and Sommerville, who had ties to William S. Burroughs, explored techniques for altering perception. The device's operation is linked to flicker histories and lacks stored content, implying that image creation stems from conditions rather than direct representation. It has been exhibited in London (1972), Villeurbanne (2010), and Basel (2019).