Cirlce made of dots around the border Tickets
Language

Our Story

dotted arrow pointing down
A rad wolf
A rad wolf
Our History

An extraordinary invention

Inspired by an extraordinary but little-known 1959 invention by artist–inventor Brion Gysin, Dreamachine was designed to be the first artwork to be experienced with your eyes closed.

His experimental homemade device used flickering light to create vivid illusions, kaleidoscopic patterns and explosions of colour in the mind of the viewer.

A rad wolf
A rad wolf
Who We Are

A new Dreamachine for the 21st Century

Over sixty years after its original invention, Dreamachine has been radically reimagined as a powerful new kind of collective experience.

Created by Collective Act, in collaboration with Turner Prize-winning artists Assemble, Grammy and Mercury nominated composer Jon Hopkins, and a team of leading technologists, scientists and philosophers, our programme invites you on a magical journey to explore the extraordinary potential of your mind.

A rad wolf
A rad wolf
Our Impact

The Impact of Dreamachine

In 2022 Dreamachine engaged over a million people across the UK in a major interdisciplinary programme that spanned the UK

In 2023 the Dreamachine will tour internationally, having attracted interest from 33 cities, in 20 countries, across 6 continents – and counting.

A rad wolf

Caption

"If you put these machines in churches or temples, I'd go every week. This should be available for everyone, all the time."

- Audience member

Discover the Dreamachine programme

"One of the most indescribably profound experiences of my life."

Audience participant in the Dreamachine, Belfast

Who we are

A rad wolf
A rad wolf

The team behind Dreamachine

Dreamachine has been created by Collective Act, in collaboration with Turner Prize-winning artists Assemble, Grammy and Mercury nominated composer Jon Hopkins, and a team of leading technologists, scientists and philosophers.

A rad wolf
A rad wolf

Collective Act is a producer of powerful large-scale participatory commissions.

We create emotionally engaged, meaningful shared experiences that bring people together and transform the way we look at the world. We champion a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach to producing new work, creating space for taking risks and the unexpected to bring ambitious ideas to life. We have a people focussed approach: our audiences and the artists that we work with are at the heart of all that we do.

A rad wolf
A rad wolf

Our name is a verb, not a noun - Collective Act is a practice.

Collective Act is a creative studio, and therefore all of our team, and our collaborators, are creative and flexible in their thinking: in the way we approach challenges, imagine solutions, test new ideas, take risks and work together, with and for our audiences.

We are excited by and celebrate the alchemy of real collaboration, and we work with a rich and dynamic ecology of creatives, academics, freelancers, partners and festivals to produce high quality, powerful and participatory commissions.

Meet the creative team behind Dreamachine

Our impact

A rad wolf

Discover our impact

Commissioned and presented as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, Dreamachine celebrated four sell-out, 5* reviewed shows across the UK in every nation, from May – September 2022 and engaged over 1 million people. 

Developed with extensive focus group research to ensure Dreamachine is as inclusive and accessible as possible, each location was carefully chosen for its unique impact on the local community.

Read