- published: 19 Jul 2012
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Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.
He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs. With the engineer Ian Sommerville he 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 the cursive Japanese "grass" script and Arabic script. Burroughs later stated that "Brion Gysin was the only man I ever respected."
John Clifford Brian Gysin was born at Taplow House, England, a Canadian military hospital. His mother, Stella Margaret Martin, was a Canadian from Deseronto, Ontario. His father, Leonard Gysin, a captain with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, was killed in action eight months after his son's birth. Stella returned to Canada and settled in Edmonton, Alberta where her son became "the only Catholic day-boy at an Anglican boarding school". Graduating at fifteen, Gysin was sent to Downside School in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath, Somerset in England, a prestigious college run by the Benedictines and known as "the Eton of Catholic public schools". Despite attending a Catholic school, Gysin became an atheist.
Documentary film from 1997 on Brion Gysin's Dreamachine. Directed by Nic Sheehan.
cut ups slightly modified by modern means with lecture by Bryon Gysin track 04 called "Teaching" from LP, live London 1982
excerpt from Network21 program03 rare footage of Brion Gysin at work more on www.network21tv.co.uk
DVD featuring one of the last interviews with Willaim S. Burroughs and previously unseen vintage footage of him during the 50s and early 60s. - The great Beat Generation experiments took place in Tangier, the Moroccan city where William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and the Moroccan painter Hamri taught Jack Kerouac, Timothy Leary, and Allen Ginsberg how to live outside the law. This DVD features one of the last interviews with Burroughs and previously unseen vintage footage of him in his prime during the 50s and early 60s. Also featured are The Master Musicians of Joujouka collaborating with avant garde Dublin musicians, veterans of the Tangier Beat Scene, and cutting edge writers. In addition, there is music from Bill Laswell, The Baby Snakes, plus contributions from Ira Cohen, Hakim Bey, Bria...
https://www.discogs.com/fr/Brion-Gysin-Self-Portrait-Jumping/release/358602
WNYC radio went to the Brion Gysin retrospective at the New Museum in NYC to ask people what they saw and felt when viewing the Dream Machine, a kinetic light sculpture that is said to produce hallucinations.
Brion Gysin recorded this poem in 1960 for BBC. The final product included the various gunshots spliced in along with his voice.
During a 1994 visit to his home in Yeoville, Johannesburg, the poet Sinclair Beiles shared his memories of Tangiers, Paris, the Beat Hotel, and his role in the delivery of the Naked Lunch ms to Olympia Press publisher Maurice Girodias. Also, the creation of the cut-up method of text composition.
Brion Gysin - Junk Is No Good Baby (1962) Audio: Cold Spring Tape - Burroughs, Gysin, P-Orridge. Video: excerpt from Network21 program.
William Burrough's muse and mentor Brion Gysin with a cautionary tale about smoking (or is it) from Self Portrait Jumping - Made To Measure.