In the Hot Docs feature,
FLicKer, Canadian filmmaker Nik Sheehan digs up the untold story of the mysterious and bohemian-soaked life of Canadian artist Brion Gysin. Gysin is probably best known for two things:
1) as the platonic paramour of 50s beatnik hero William S. Burroughs and;
2) inventing the dream machine, a simple, yet psychedelic device used to access the subconscious mind.
We caught up with Sheehan right before the film’s premiere at the NFB headquarters in downtown.
Sideshow: What drew to you this topic? We’ve all sort of heard of Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, if only from a pop culture standpoint, but not everyone is as familiar with Brion Gysin.
Nik Sheehan: I was vaguely aware of the back story from a feature in a 80s magazine called Research. It’s an untold story of the counter-culture and I was rather surprised by that. It’s infinitely fascinating material. At one point in the film Terry Wilson says that all the literature and art they were involved in was just a cover. A cover for what? For their esoteric activities.
Sideshow: And, at the time these activities were labelled evil and seen as pretty demonic.
Nik Sheehan: I think its part of the whole concept of the control system and what these guys were trying to raise our attention about. The whole idea of the dream machine is that you are in your own space and you make your own spiritual movies. You’re not listening to the radio or watching TV. You’re not being told what to do and that’s very dangerous because society needs to control you and tell you to get up in the morning and go to work and if you subvert that you’re considered dangerous.
Sideshow: That especially makes sense when you think about the era.
Nik Sheehan: Yeah, this was Eisenhower 50s, super conformity. They were getting rid of comic books and rock and roll was the devil’s music and all that stuff!
Sideshow: A lot of people are going to draw the connection between drug use and the dream machine.
Nik Sheehan: Well, remember here, we’re talking about the drugless high. But, I won’t be coy; the bottom line is that it sure works well with a joint, right.
Sideshow: But, you shouldn’t do it with acid!
Nik Sheehan: Absolutely right! But, why artists do drugs is another gigantic story, but I think to shift out of common reality and to kill the pain. Let’s face it, drugs are a broad category now and people are pumping themselves full of happy pills and prescriptions all the time. I don’t want my airline pilot smoking a joint while flying a plane, but looking into a dream machine? That’s not so bad! It can wake you up on a cold and dark winter day. Some rock stars have gone too far, but the dream machine just becomes part of the insanity of their lives. You can't blame the toy or the machine or the even the person for that matter.
Sideshow: You were actually able to track down and interview quite a few big names like Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull, DJ Spooky…
Nik Sheehan: That was quite hard. Let's face it, these people are very protected and rightly so, they're superstars. But, once they knew what it was that I was trying to do and knew it was legit, they came through. I just like that particular group in the film because they're people I massively respect; they're all outsiders in a weird way.
Sideshow: Are dream machines hard to make?
Nik Sheehan: Very hard. They're also really simple. We actually have a flicker effect on our website (http://www.flickerflicker.com/) and you can download plans and if you have an old turntable you put it on, hang a light bulb and it'll work. But, if you want to make one like we made for the film that's a pretty big job because engineering-wise, it’s quite complicated. There was a limited edition made in the 1970s by a wealthy Swiss man and I think they originally were going to make 25 and they ran out of money after they made 8 or something, and they were in major museums too.
Sideshow: What do you hope people will take away from this film?
Nik Sheehan: As a filmmaker, I really want people to be entertained and learn something, because everything in the film is true, it’s a documentary. I want that reaction that’s like “Oh, I didn’t know that!” It's a universal story about these characters that cross over to all these different places, so I'm fascinated to see how people react.