Breaking Like Surf on a Shore Until

<p>The resulting flickering light repeats at a constant frequency between 8 and 13 Hz matching the brain’s alpha waves present in deep relaxation, such as drifting into sleep. When a viewer closes their eyes, sits close to the machine and the turntable is started, the flickering light induces waves of color and repeating geometric patterns that form and re-form in the mind’s eye. Ian Somerville described the experience in a letter to Gysin:</p> <blockquote><p>Visions start with a kaleidoscope of colors on a plane in front of the eyes and gradually become more complex and beautiful, breaking like surf on a shore until whole patterns of color are bounding to get in. After awhile the visions were permanently behind my eyelids and I was in the middle of the whole scene with limitless patterns being generated around me.</p></blockquote> <p>Unlike a pharmacological trip, the experience ends when the user opens their eyelids. Gysin called his vision machine for closed eyes the Dreamachine.</p> <p class="first">Breaking like surf on a shore until whole patterns of color are bounding to get in.</p> <p>Six prototype softwares together with this text comprise a retroactive history of the screensaver. All screensavers are available for sale online at <a href="http://www.o-r-g.com/O-R-G" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">o-r-g.com/O-R-G</a></p> <p>O-R-G designs, makes and sells small, specific softwares.</p> <p>Six Prototypes for a Screensaver was commissioned for “Quick, Quick, Slow: Word, Image and Time”. Curated by Emily King, this exhibition is a co-production between Museu Colecção Berardo and ExperimentaDesign Lisboa 2009, 10 September – 29 November.</p> <p>Text and software © 2009, David Reinfurt</p>