Not really a Lynch post without Marshawn’s “hold ma dick”.
But this one is about another better or worse known Lynch, depending on your towards art or football.
It’s been a while since it happened and I still haven’t felt that motivated to investigate — but I’m still shocked at how many people seemed to be upset at the passing of David Lynch. Besides Twin Peaks, I had never really heard of him. So I was shocked to see many art people sad over his great paintings or artistic nature, etc. etc.
It could just also be that people want to be “in the know” so when famous people who are respected by a small group die a whole swath of people want to join in and cosplay as fans for the clout.
Either way, I’ve dug in a little bit to find out what the big deal was. Here are some things I thought were interesting/useful/or maybe even distasteful.
One
I occasionally get emails from human machine, and I’ve had one titled “What David Lynch taught me about life” saved there since he died. I pulled some quotes from there since that was an early example of me realizing “this guy hasn’t taught me anything and I’m not particularly interested in his work but why do other people give a damn”
“At its core, reality may simply be an infinite and unknowable puzzle, like an M.C. Escher drawing or a David Lynch film.”
“Rather than moving through life judging whether these questions and mysteries happen to be evil or good, ugly or pretty, desirable or undesirable, Lynch taught me to appreciate them for what they are, and that we’re lucky to live in such a rich and interesting place.”
Was that we he actually taught or is this just a good writer talking about what he thought about after seeing work of another artist. Is someone who inspire you create responsible for the message that you come up with? Not necessarily, they just got you on a track — perhaps never clear if that was their deliberate attempt or not. From my perspective this was just an excuse of the write to talk about their philosophy, it’s not a real deep dive into any work or philosophy of David Lynch. Well, let’s continue.
David Lynch art
Perhaps he’s like a Hunter S. Thompson, who got a lot more renown for who he was, not simply what he wrote (Is that not true? I don’t remember anyone ever talking about him much but I wasn’t around in his prime). see: Hunter S. Thompson - Wikipedia
Writers don’t really get acclaim the way they used to, especially not for being seedy artsy types or characters really. All you tend to hear about it some social justice poets and people being mad at JK Rowling for saying something they didn’t like.
What was it like living in the era of famous authors, painters? Could we have another Picasso or Hemmingway type take the world by storm? Or are they just that big in hindsight? Were “normal” people at the time oblivious?
At what point did they become the establishment and get taught in schools? When does that transformation happen? There’s probably a historian or five looking into things like this.
Either way, I actually do like his paintings sometimes. On the site above his primary listed influence is Francis Bacon, who I am a fan of.
These kinds of works are not trendy but perhaps may be looked at as timeless later on. Maybe not. Maybe they’re just windows into one guys’ madness.
At some point classic things weren’t classic. They became that way because people learned to love it. Four in hand vs. Windsor tie knot is an interesting example I recently read about. Books are probably the same — reflect that many of the old “banned books” have become mandatory reading and best sellers.
Brilliant transition! Thank you, me.
Italo Calvino’s 14 Criteria for What Makes a Classic – The Marginalian
Why read the classics? Which classics? The books nobles used to have to read? Or perhaps modern classics? Isn’t it a classic because enough people have read them that the stories and troupes are built into society?
No idea, I’m not that smart.
I’ve been on a kick of what I’d call literary classics, but even those don’t predate 1800 and aren’t classics in the sense of Greek , or even Enlightenment philosophy, for example.
You can follow others’ classics for guidance, or better yet, create your own list of classics.
Then become classic yourself..
People want to spend more time with you the more they spend time with you.
Those who meet you treasure that experience but you remain just as rich an experience for those who have not yet.
Influence people, both inspire people and leave you unforgettable.
Every meeting leaves others with as much of a sense of discovery as the first time.
People who meet you for the first time have a feeling that they’ve known you for years.
You never exhaust all you have to say.
You bring experiences beyond yourself to those who experience it.
No matter what people say, you stay true to yourself.
The more people think they know you through hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovative they find you when they meet or spend time with you.
People find themselves through engaging with you.
You’re not necessarily the greatest at anything but people recognize characteristics of greatness in you.
A classic relegates the noise of the present to a background hum, which at the same time the classics cannot exist without.
A classic persists as a background noise even when a present that is totally incompatible with it holds sway.
That worked better than expected.
Here’s your soundtrack for the week
Get out your accordion and let’s boogie.