Brion Gysin

Born: 1916-01-19

Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs. With the engineer Ian Sommerville he also invented the Dreamachine, a flicker device designed as an art object to be viewed with the eyes closed. It was in painting and drawing, however, that Gysin devoted his greatest efforts, creating calligraphic works inspired by cursive Japanese "grass" script and Arabic script. Burroughs later stated that "Brion Gysin was the only man I ever respected."


Placeholder

Ornette: Made in America

as Self
Released: 1986-02-21

Shirley Clarke's frenetic documentary about multi-talented musician Ornette Coleman.

Movie page

Burroughs: The Movie

as Self
Released: 1984-02-10

An exploration of Burroughs’ life story, as told by Burroughs himself along with many of his...

Movie page

Psychic TV: First Transmission

as uncredited
Released: 1982-01-01

For over 30 years, the so-called First Transmission video from Psychic TV, has been the stuff...

Movie page

The Dream Machine

as uncredited
Released: 1986-01-01

A 16mm anthology of experimental super 8 films by Derek Jarman, Michael Kostiff, Cerith Wyn...

Movie page

FLicKeR

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2009-07-14

In 1960, Brion Gysin invented the Dream Machine, a hypnotic light device with the power to...

Movie page

The Cut-Ups

as uncredited
Released: 1966-01-01

Essentially a dizzying montage of quirky shots of legendary Beat Generation writer William S....

Movie page

Ghost at No. 9

as uncredited
Released: 1982-01-11

Experimental artistic film which uses the milieu of experimental art with a background of...

Movie page

The Final Academy Documents

as uncredited
Released: 1984-08-16

Documentation of the showcase titled 'The Final Academy', filmed on October 4, 1982 in The...

Movie page

Destroy All Rational Thought

as Self
Released: 1998-01-01

The great Beat Generation experiments took place in Tangier, the Moroccan city where William...

Movie page