If you have any interest in the creative process, or outsider artists, check out “David Lynch: The Art Life,” a documentary from 2016. But first, a definition.
Outsider art: Art produced by self-taught artists who are not part of the artistic establishment.
I have always been a huge fan of David Lynch’s films, but didn’t really know much about him beyond them. It turns out “filmmaker” doesn’t even begin to describe his art – or rather, it represents a very small part of his artistic expression. Like all art, it’s kind of hard to put into words.
For some artists, creating art isn’t something they do, it’s who they are. Their whole life is an art project – Ray Johnson, Frank Zappa, Salvador Dali, Duke Ellington, Prince, Picasso… it’s a long list.
David Lynch certainly falls in this paradigm – watching him create in this film is like watching a child, and I mean that in the very best way. There seems to be no conscious thought, just the purposeful actions of creation. It seems as if he is in touch with a deeper part of his mind, one that is interpreting the world around him through his creative process.