Ian Sommerville
Ian Sommerville (1940–1976) was an electronics technician and computer programmer.
Description
He is primarily known through his association with William S. Burroughs's circle of Beat Generation figures, and lived at Paris's so-called "Beat Hotel" by 1960, when they were regulars there, becoming Burroughs's lover and "systems adviser".
Sommerville was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, and at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Around 1960, he programmed a random-sequence generator that Brion Gysin used in his cut-up technique.
He and Gysin also collaborated in 1961 in developing the Dreamachine, a phonograph-driven stroboscope described as "the first art object to be seen with the eyes closed", and intended to affect the viewer's brain alpha wave activity.
See also
External links
- Ian Sommerville @ Wikipedia
