Chapel of Extreme Experience is an engrossing look at flicker potentials — a visual phenomenon which became the basis of scientific studies into how the visual brain works. In the 1960s the Dream Machine was developed to reproduce this phenomenon, emitting pulses of light and projecting patterns that produced kaleidoscopic images and even hallucinations. This book follows the interest in flicker, from its scientific underpinnings to its role in the countercultural art scene. This is a fascinating look at the Dream Machine and its influence on major cultural figures like William S. Burroughs, Aldous Huxley, and Allen Ginsberg who all experienced and wrote about the "flicker effect." Photographs are featured.
John Geiger is the bestselling author of The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible, and four other books of non-fiction, including the international bestseller Frozen In Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, which describes the results of the Franklin Forensic Project. He also authored, with Dr Peter Suedfeld, the scholarly study, 'The Sensed Presence as a Coping Resource in Extreme Environments.' His work has been translated into ten languages.
He has lectured widely, including presenting talks at the National Arts Club, and the Explorers Club. He was a presenter at the 2009 ideaCity conference. His documentary film appearances include National Geographic Channel's "Explorer: The Angel Effect," which is based on The Third Man Factor, as well as PBS NOVA in "Arctic Passage", BBC4 in "Wilderness Explored: Arctic", The Discovery Channel in "Islands of Mystery: Dead Silence", and on Bravo! (Canada) in "FLicKeR."
Geiger was born in Ithaca, New York.
