William BURROUGHS (b. 1914) was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer. Much of Burroughs’ work is semi-autobiographical, and focuses on his drug experiences, most specifically his addiction to opiates. He was a leading member of the Beat Generation. William Burroughs was joined by his friend Brion Gysin in being interested in the dreamachine as a hypnotic experience of heightened consciousness. In a collection of interviews of Burroughs by Daniel Odier entitled "The Job" he describes the use of drugs and artificial devices (such as the dreamachine) to create cathartic optical experiences that can then, in a lucid state, be re-created in the everyday. His experiments intended to find new ways of experiencing, making, thinking and seeing.
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