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Words From the Front
Interview With David Lynch
by Kristine McKenna
In person, David Lynch bears only the vaguest resemblance to the image most people have of him. He is, of course, an artist of extreme complexity, but he's not a weirdo and the people who work with him adore him because he's respectful and appreciative of their contributions to his art. Lynch has been working under the radar on his latest film, Inland Empire, for quite a while; it commenced principal photography two years ago in Lodz, Poland, and features Polish actors Karolina Gruszka and Krzysztof Majchrzak, along with Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton and Justin Theroux. It's his first digital film, but it won't be his last as he loves the freedom digital affords. "Film is over for me," declares Lynch, who's thus far handled the financing of Inland Empire, which is being produced by his longtime partner, Mary Sweeney. I've been interviewing Lynch semi-regularly for 25 years now, and each time I see him I'm struck by his ability to retain the best parts of his personality; he remains an enthusiastic, open and very funny man, and he never fails to tell me something useful and inspiring. Herewith, some excerpts from our latest conversation. You've said in the past that your daily meditation practice is what enables you to maintain such a high level of creativity. What was going on in your life at the point when you were able to commit yourself to meditation?
I was 27 and I was in the middle of the first year of Eraserhead and things were going great. I had this unbelievable place to work—the stables at AFI—I had all the equipment I needed, I had people helping me, I had money to do it, and it was like a dream come true, yet I wasn't happy. That saying 'happiness comes from within' started making sense to me and meditation seemed like a good way to go within. I'd always thought yogis sitting cross-legged in the woods were wasting their time, but I suddenly understood that all the rest is a waste of time. Meditation is the vehicle that takes you to the place where you can experience the unified field and that's the only experience that lights the full brain. It's a holistic experience and it's not a foreign place—it's a field of pure bliss consciousness and it's the whole enchilada. People think they're fully awake when they wake up in the morning but there are degrees of wakefulness, and you begin waking up more and more when you meditate, until finally one day you're fully awake, which is the state of enlightenment. This is the potential of every human being and if you visit that unified field twice a day, every day begins to feel like a Saturday morning with your favorite breakfast, it's sunny, and you've got the whole weekend ahead with all your projects that you're looking forward to doing. There are many types of meditation. Why did you pick transcendental meditation?
I lucked into it. My sister was doing it, then one day she mentioned it to me and I don't know why—maybe it was the sound of her voice and the time that I heard it—but bang! I said I've gotta have that. Transcendental meditation is the way of the householder in that it allows you to stay in the world. Some people like the recluse way and want to go into the cave, and there are mantras that will take you right out of activity and put you into that cave. But transcendental meditation is a way of integrating these two worlds and activity is part of it. It's like dipping a white cloth into gold dye; you dip it and that's meditation, then you hang it on the line in sunshine and that's activity. The sun bleaches it until it's white again, so you dip it and hang it again, and each time you do that a little more of the gold stays in the cloth. Then one day that gold is locked in. It isn't going anywhere no matter how violent the activity, and at that point two opposites have been united at a deep level. In the west people think yeah, like I'm really gonna give up my dental practice and go to the cave, but you don't have to quit dentistry. Meditate before you go to work and you'll start liking the people that come in and you'll start getting ideas about dentistry. Maybe you'll invent something and get into the finer points of a cavity and honing that bad boy. Things get cooler. If you were running the world, what's the first thing you'd do?
I'd get people going on consciousness-based education. Stress levels in children are going way up and there are so many bad side effects to stress. Kids are on drugs, they're overweight—they are not happy campers and being a kid should be a beautiful thing. Kids take to meditation like ducks to water. The so-called knowledge we try to cram down their throats is useless and that's why there are things like cheating—it's all a bunch of baloney. It's a sick, twisted, stupid world now. It's ridiculous. What's America's problem?
It's locked in an old, ignorant way of thinking. Things are pretty low right now but lots of people are working to enliven that field of unity in world consciousness. John Lennon described meditation as 'melting the iceberg,' and when that heat starts coming up some people love it, but it can be too much for some people and they fly apart. So, it's gotta come up gently—it has been coming up pretty gently, too, but the bunch running the show here in America are working overtime in a negative way. How did you interpret 9/11?
You don't get something for nothing and America's been up to a lot of nasty business for a long time. But Maharishi says instead of fighting darkness you should just turn on the light, so lets turn on the light and start having fun. What makes you angry?
There's an increasing amount of censorship in America and that is not a good sign. It really makes you wonder what's going on with this country. Is man on the road to extinguishing himself?
No. Quantum physics has verified the existence of the unified field and Vedic science understands how it emerges—in fact, Vedic science is the science of the unified field. There's a whole bunch of trouble in this world but the way to get out of it is there; just enliven that field of unity. It sounds like magic but it's science—it's the real thing and the resistance to it is based on fear. But it's not something to be afraid of—it's us. Your beliefs are deeply optimistic, yet many people find darkness in your work. How do you explain that?
Films and paintings reflect the world and when the world changes the art will change. We live in a world of duality but beneath it is unity. We live in a world of boundaries but beneath it it's unbounded. Einstein said you can't solve a problem at the level of the problem—you gotta get underneath it, and you can't get more underneath than the unified field. So get in there and water the root then enjoy the fruit. Water that root and the tree comes up to perfection. You don't have to worry about a single leaf if you get nourishment at that fundamental level. Kristine McKenna’s work as a journalist began in the late ’70s, when she covered the Los Angeles punk scene for various domestic and international publications. During the ’80s and ’90s she wrote art, film, and music criticism, and profiled directors, musicians, and visual artists for a variety of publications, including New York Rocker, Artforum, Rolling Stone, and the Los Angeles Times. She lives in Los Angeles and is presently working on a biography of the artist Wallace Berman. She wrote the liner notes to Rhino’s expanded X releases Los Angeles, Wild Gift, Under The Big Black Sun, More Fun In The New World, Ain’t Love Grand, and See How We Are. Two collections of her interviews, Book Of Changes (2001) and Talk To Her (2004), have been published by Fantagraphics. She is presently co-curating Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & his Circle, an exhibition that begins a tour of six U.S. museums in September of 2005. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by D.A.P.
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Comments:
I'm such an enormous fan of David's work and he has inspired me in so many different ways. Too bad that the interviewer tried to lure him into America bashing though - he did a pretty good job of avoiding it and I'm glad...I really don't want to know what David Lynch's politics are. I'm so sick and tired of old weird hippies and elitist psuedo intellectuals cramming their peace and love, vietnam war era, marxist, lenninist, socialist, secular humanistic crap into every conversation, dialouge, story and opinion...give it a rest. Art and politics go together just about as well as Church and State.
i thought the point of this interview was going to be to explain what his new movie was about.not to talk about quantum physics.
I hate hippies as much as the next guy, but it was a pleasure to hear David Lynch call America what it is: a twisted, insecure, paranoid evil empire. I'm all for America-bashing when you've got a moron such as George W. Bush running everything into the ground.
I knew there was a reason I adore this man! Thank you for such a wonderful article.
thank you kristine for again casting light upon the fringe treasures... you're a true muse for dialogue... you collect and illuminate great personalities in such a fine manner... it is unfortunate (as noted in the previous comments on status anxiety) that some feel you represent unflattering ideologies... this notion of luring one into elitism and secular humanism is a rather far-fetched read... very odd indeed... so i would like to add that blending art and politics is very easy for an artist to ignore... quite unchallenging and common to say the least (if not outright indulgent)... anyway keep up the good work kristine
The author of the above comment, "...sick and tired of old weird hippies and elitist pseudo intellectuals," engages in a form of "bashing" similar to what s/he accuses the interviewer of attempting to draw out of Lynch in the first place. What's more, s/he engages in this accusatory and provocative behavior anonymously. I would like to encourage the writer to consider the long-standing American (and now global) art-form of jazz and related improvisation, which promotes cultural and individualistic forms of expression, and which has a rich history of political relevance, as well as activism amongst many of its contributors. Surely, s/he would not wish to discredit the work of Max Roach, Charles Mingus, the AACM, and many others on the grounds that it is in some part politically motivated. Finally, I would above all encourage this writer to engage in civil discourse, rather than his/her previous antagonistic methods.
-Marc Riordan
Cambridge, MA
There are no politics here -- only truth love and art. The first comment was made by an idiot: he claims to be a fan yet doesn't have a clue. Too bad every insightful remark by a genius re fascist Amerikka is followed by an ignorant hate-filled right wing rant. Thanks Rhino for publishing the interview. I for one am very very interested in knowing Lynch's insights on "what's going on" It's a great interview and I'm forwarding it to friends. Lynch's deep awareness, optimism, and astounding visionary creativity is an inspiration to all of us who weep with the brokenhearted and hope for better days...
Anything from Lynch is priority to me. He's the greatest man of the last thirty years, but much more than that.
He at least makes people try to be people. Thanks. Always ready for him!
Hey Rhino - how about helping 'Lost Highway', one of DL's most compelling films, find it's way to DVD?
If Bush has his way, perhaps people everywhere will have the right to practice TM.
Anyone in Hollywood should just say "I don't talk politics - plain and simple -when asked!!!
Hmm. "America Bashing." Interesting phrase, considering that those who are accused of it are often just stating the truth. For clarity's sake, though, let me say that I agree that America is great -- the greatest country on the planet -- so when I "bash" the president, or the brownshirt Republicans and neocons who back his every idiotic and totalitarian play, I am bashing the government, not the country.
The country is We, the People; the government is supposed to work for We, the People. Right now, the governement doesn't even work, and when it does, it's for itself and for the aims of a truly ignorant and moronic -- but very rich -- few.
As for the interview -- great. Lynch and his films were my biggest inspiration as a teen, really kept me alive in many ways, and he's still the most compelling artist out there.
What he said about meditation is absolutely true. I've been doing it for over a decade myself and it has helped me shake the sleep off of existence. Try it if you are really sincere about exploring the inner dimensions of your being.
Genious at work. People in Croatia adore Mr.Lynch.
I would like to see such things as karate, TM meditation, yogic breathing make inroads into public education. The creative feild is most important for science, mathematics, and all other creative endeavors.
Dadaism and surrealism are great introductions into quantum mechanics.
There is only awareness and experience.
I agree that once "Lost Highway"s contract has expired with whatever company's holding it up,you guys should release it to dvd.That way David can work with it freely,and all the kinks can be properly smoothed.I like what David said here.His delivery and intentions seem genuinely honest.Many people can't comprehend that his work is in fact a reflection of our society,possibly because they've trapped themselves in comfort zones away from places where darkness exists.Once more folks realize that darkness exists in all places maybe together we will be more apt to work together(come out of "hiding")to edge the darkness out by making light.
Nice interview, would really like to try the TM and see if it works.
Just to reply the first ignorant comment FYI David Lynch was a Reagan fan in the 80s, and is pretty consistent supporter of libertarian causes. funny how people make assumptions that you have to be a "Marxist, Leninist, socialist, secular humanist" to oppose Bush, Lynch is none of these things.
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