The legendary Dream Machine which inspired underground writer William S. Burroughs is on display in Dublin. Just bring an MP3 player or iPod and the music mentioned below and you are off on a magical trip.
The Dream Machine was developed by Burroughs’ mate Brion Gysin as a trance inducing aid in the 1960’s. A working replica made in 1981 is now on display in the basement of the New Galleries at the Irish Museum Of Modern Art at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin.
It’s basically a cylinder with cut out patterns rotating around a light bulb. You stand in front of it, close your eyes and let the swirly patterns seep through your eyelids into your brain. Bill and Brion did this to reach a higher state of consciousness. The right music helps. And what could be better suited to the occasion than Moroccan trance music recorded by Brion himself back in the days.
Brion actually ran a restaurant and haven for expat artists in Tangiers in the 1950’s and this is where the sessions on ‘One Night @ The 1001′ took place. A connoisseur of all things mind-altering, Brion only booked musicians specialising in excorcism and trance. Check out the samples and get these tunes on MP3. Then get yourself to Kilmainham before 29th June 2008 and listen to the first 12 tracks while watching the Dream Machine.
If you want to find out more about Burroughs, try and catch the Irish premiere of the documentary ‘Words Of Advice: William S. Burroughs On The Road’ by Danish filmmakers Steen Moller Rasmussen and Lars Movin. The premiere takes place at the IMMA on 19th June. The film will be shown daily thereafter until 29th June.
