Brion Gysin

          Brion Gysin was an artist born in England, but his true artistic talent didn't flourish until he moved to Paris in 1934. Here he became involved with Surrealism, joining the Surrealist Group along with Dali, Man Ray, and Duchamp. Later on in life, he joined the U.S. army in WWII, learned Japanese and calligraphy, and opened a restaurant. 
          While his life was full of achievement, Brion Gysin is most well-known for two artistic projects. The first is the cut-up technique, which he worked on with William Burroughs. They would write on paper, then cut the paper up and put it back together, creating a new, creative piece of writing. This completely relates to the Exquisite corpses we did in class. Like Gysin and Burrough's creations, our drawings combined different elements that were not suppose to go together and the outcomes were incredible. Gysin's cut-up technique displays the idea that art and beauty doesn't have to be planned out. You can take totally unrelated images or words and align them so that they naturally create new meaning.
          The second well-known Gysin art form is the Dreamachine. This is a flickering cylindrical device that resembles a strobe light, where the pulsating light coming from the machine creates bright patterns behind the viewer's closed eyes. It seems to work almost like a drug or like hypnosis; the viewer is transported to a new world with strange colors and images. Some think the dreamachine is harmful because it can cause seizures, but I think it is definitely a form of art. Art is supposed to get a reaction out of its viewers; it is supposed to make the audience feel and experience something. That is exactly what the Dreamachine does. Some people may have bad reactions to it, but not everyone is going to experience art the same way. As long as people have some sort of connection with the Dreamachine, it is a powerful piece of art.