I was recently reminded about the artwork of film director, David Lynch. He identified himself as a painter long before he began creating with film. I find his art to be beautifully dark and compelling, much like his movies, but it's his philosophies about creativity that I find most inspiring. Lynch's celebration of ideas and his honoring of all the "accidents" that occur during the process of creation may help explain why he is such an artistic phenomenon. For instance, when an ill fated moth landed on a wet canvas he allowed the impression to remain in the paint as a detail in the work. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Paul Young.
David Lynch:
"What I'm trying to do with each canvas is create a situation in which the paint can be itself, which means letting go of any rationalization. It's important to let ideas blossom without too much judging or interference. The beauty of children is their ability to look at the world openly, without being bound by the intellect. Your intellect can hold back so many wonderful, fantastic things. Without logic or reason, there's always something else, something unseen. The world is infinite rather than finite.
"I never end up with what I set out to do. Whether it's a film or a painting, I always start with a script, but I don't ever follow it all the way through to the end. A lot more happens when you open yourself up to the work and let yourself act and react to it. Every work 'talks' to you, and if you listen to it, it will take you places you never dreamed of. It's this interaction that makes the work richer.
"One of the reasons I prefer painting in black and white, or almost in black and white, is that if you have some shadow or darkness in the frame, then your mind can travel in there and dream. In general, color is a little too real. It's too close. It doesn't make you dream much. If everything is visible, and there's too much light, the thing is what it is, but it isn't any more than that.
"I hate slick and pretty things. I prefer mistakes and accidents. Which is why I like things like cuts and bruises – they're like little flowers. I've always said that if you have a name for something, like 'cut' or 'bruise,' people will automatically be disturbed by it. But when you see the same thing in nature, and you don't know what it is, it can be very beautiful."
To see more art from David Lynch visit:
http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/
This interview video is very inspiring: http://www.finecut.com/lynch.html
"What I'm trying to do with each canvas is create a situation in which the paint can be itself, which means letting go of any rationalization. It's important to let ideas blossom without too much judging or interference. The beauty of children is their ability to look at the world openly, without being bound by the intellect. Your intellect can hold back so many wonderful, fantastic things. Without logic or reason, there's always something else, something unseen. The world is infinite rather than finite.
"I never end up with what I set out to do. Whether it's a film or a painting, I always start with a script, but I don't ever follow it all the way through to the end. A lot more happens when you open yourself up to the work and let yourself act and react to it. Every work 'talks' to you, and if you listen to it, it will take you places you never dreamed of. It's this interaction that makes the work richer."One of the reasons I prefer painting in black and white, or almost in black and white, is that if you have some shadow or darkness in the frame, then your mind can travel in there and dream. In general, color is a little too real. It's too close. It doesn't make you dream much. If everything is visible, and there's too much light, the thing is what it is, but it isn't any more than that.
"I hate slick and pretty things. I prefer mistakes and accidents. Which is why I like things like cuts and bruises – they're like little flowers. I've always said that if you have a name for something, like 'cut' or 'bruise,' people will automatically be disturbed by it. But when you see the same thing in nature, and you don't know what it is, it can be very beautiful."
To see more art from David Lynch visit:
http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/
This interview video is very inspiring: http://www.finecut.com/lynch.html
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