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David Lynch talks
The always enigmatic David Lynch was in Austin this week promoting his latest film and movie projects. Touring for a film and meeting film-goers and theater owners for the first since the debut of ‘Eraserhead’ 30 years ago, Lynch screened his latest, ‘Inland Empire,’ at the Paramount Wednesday night. He followed that appearance with a signing of his latest book, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity,” at Barnes & Noble today. Thursday afternoon he shared his thoughts on filmmaking, painting, the process of writing a book and meditation with Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith and a studio audience at KLRU.
Lynch admitted to not having spent much time in Texas, but, as with most folks who roll through town, confessed that he has “really liked being in Austin. Not since Eraserhead have I met the theater-goers or owners and set the levels on the sound.” When asked to compare the experience of being on a book tour versus a press junket for a film, Lynch, in typical ambiguous fashion declared the processes to be “different but the same.” Naturally.
While the soft-spoken director, who, but for the shock of finely coifed gray hair greatly resembles an overgrown film school nerd, was typically reticent in discussing the meaning behind his films or people’s interpretations of said, he was more than happy to go preach the gospel of meditation. And I, along with most of the rest of the 300 or so in attendance at the Austin City Limits studio, was rapt with attention.
Critics and the general public for years have debated whether Lynch’s abstractions get in the way of being able to tell a strong story. Viewers vociferously debate the meaning of Lynch’s films, and he seems content to let them each have their own interpretations. “I love a story, but a story that holds abstractions,” he said. “Interpretations when things get abstract vary. Sometimes greatly.”
Though Lynch strayed from giving any revelations about his films’ meanings, he was more than happy to discuss his personal experience with the restorative power of meditation. Lynch began practicing the art of meditation 33 years ago after seeing its positive effect on his sister, and realizing that the best way to find inner-happiness was through mediation. He believes that going inside of ourselves is a process that leads to renewed energy, heightened consciousness and greater creativity.
He called meditation, “the only experience that utilizes the whole brain,” and posited that inner-happiness, love and creativity all come from a heightening of consciousness. For years Lynch “never talked about, [he] just did it,” but after decades of experiencing the joy of this re-creation, he felt it was time to share his insight with the public.
As Lynch gesticulated with lithe hands while discussing the “eternal ocean inside every being,” it was evident that his mind was piqued with the excitement of turning inward, listening to the pluckings of the strings of his soul and returning with another dreamwork.
The Texas Monthly Talks episode with David Lynch will air at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 and at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 23 on KLRU.
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By deb
January 31, 2007 10:04 PM | Link to this
Lynch is such a god. The kind of god who would totally rain acid fire upon breakfast taco consumers if he wasn’t so zen.
So what did you think of the film and/or book?