What a Long, Strange Trip. Bringing a piece of the '60s--The Dreamachine--into the '90s

Bringing a piece of literary arcana and '60s memorabilia tolife has unexpectedly turned into a thriving business for offbeatLos Angeles composer and builder David Woodard. The 34-year-oldentrepreneur builds and sells The Dreamachine, a psychedeliccontraption that first made its appearance in novels by Brion Gysinand William S. Burroughs. Like many readers, Woodard assumed thedevice was fictional-that is, until 1991, when his landlord (an oldfriend) slipped him the templates of the original design.

The Dreamachine consists of a museum board or copper cylinderwith holes in it attached to a turntable, in the middle of whichsits a 200-watt light bulb. When the machine is turned on, thecylinder spins. The resulting flashes of light result in a simplelight show, creating a dreamlike sensation.

Among devotees, who range from college students toeightysomethings, the machine is rumored to provide psychic powers,invoke dream states and cure writer's block. On a darker note,it also has been rumored to cause epileptic seizures and promptsuicides. Kurt Cobain was said to have been using The Dreamachineintensively right before he killed himself.