The Art of Fire: Reflecting David Lynch
We Live In A Dream Inside A Dream...
Painter, writer, musician, director. Storyteller, conjurer, dreamer. Philanthropist, meditator, transcendental evangelist. Coffee, cherry pie, donuts, cookies, more coffee, milk shakes and cigarettes. Enigma. Riddler. Magician.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'Lynchian' as an adjective meaning “Characteristic, reminiscent, or imitative of the films or television work of David Lynch.” The entry explains “Lynch is noted for juxtaposing surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments, and for using compelling visual images to emphasize a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace.”
David Lynch made 10 feature films; Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984), Blue Velvet (1986), Wild At Heart (1990), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), Lost Highway (1997), The Straight Story (1999), Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006).
He directed 51 episodes of television, including the landmark original Twin Peaks (1990 - 1991) and the challenging follow-up Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). He’s credited as an actor (playing characters or as himself) in 35 different film and television projects.
From 1973 to 1979 David visited the Americana restaurant Bob’s Big Boy on Riverside Drive in Burbank nearly single day. He enjoyed a chocolate milk shake every day at exactly 2:30 pm. We can quantify that Lynch consumed approximately 2,555 consecutive chocolate milk shakes in the same place over the course of 7 years.
In 2007 the Fondation Cartier in Paris hosted a gallery retrospective of his drawings, paintings, photos, other visual and audio art called The Air is on Fire. Lynch composed music for his films and wrote lyrics for other singers. He released multiple singles and albums of diverse genre styles including blues, electropop, experimental rock and ambient soundscapes. He designed and built furniture. Creatively, he really did it all.
In the fall of 2024 David was interviewed for the British Film Institute’s Sight And Sound magazine in promotion of his new album, Cellophane Memories. When asked if he missed being on film sets, David replied “No. I’ll tell you, I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long, and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. I can’t go out. And I can only walk a short distance before I’m out of oxygen.” At the time, everyone’s hopes gleaned onto the possibility that he could maybe continue working by directing remotely.
In the early weeks of January 2025 powerful fires spawned straight from the bowels of Hell itself erupted and incinerated the Pacific Palisades before engulfing the entirety of Los Angeles county. One of the most aesthetically beautiful man-made landscapes in all of North America was annihilated and charred into a smoldering wasteland of ashen tragedy in days.
Lynch lived in the Hollywood Hills, right in the middle of the disaster. The poisonous effects of the wildfires devastated his already fragile system. He was forced to evacuate his home. His weakened condition nosedived and he died at the age of 78 on January 15th, 2025.
Fire was an ever-present symbol in Lynch’s work. Fire Walk With Me.
Lynch personified successfully manifesting in the Flow State. What is the Flow State?
Per Wikipedia - “Flow in positive psychology, also known colloquially as being in the zone or locked in, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting transformation in one's sense of time. Flow is the melting together of action and consciousness; the state of finding a balance between a skill and how challenging that task is. It requires a high level of concentration.”
Lesli Linka Glatter, current President of the Directors Guild of America, recalled this revelatory moment for Variety:
“I can't help but think of a story that made me see the world differently. In one of David's early episodes of Twin Peaks, there's a scene in a bank vault with Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Ontkean and there's a moose head lying in the middle of the table. No one ever refers to it; it's just there and it makes the scene. I asked David how he got the idea to put that moose head on the table. He looked at me quizzically and said, 'It was there.' The set dresser was going to hang it on the wall, but David saw it lying on the table and said, 'Leave the moose head.' Something cracked open for me, as much as you plan, be sure you are open to life, be sure you are open to the moose head on the table, don't miss what's right in front of you. His ability to see the magic that exists when others did not, made him one of the greatest storytellers of our time.”
Martin Scorsese (filmmaker):
“I hear and read the word ‘visionary’ a lot these days - it’s become a kind of catch-all description, another piece of promotional language. But David Lynch really was a visionary - in fact, the word could have been invented to describe the man and his films, the series, the images and the sounds he left behind. He created forms that seemed like they were right on the edge of falling apart but somehow never did. He put images on the screen unlike anything that I or anybody else had ever seen - he made everything strange, uncanny and new. And he was absolutely uncompromising, from start to finish... We were lucky to have David Lynch.”
Naomi Watts (actor, star of Mulholland Drive):
“The world will not be the same without him. His creative mentorship was truly powerful. He put me on the map. The world I’d been trying to break into for ten plus years, flunking auditions left and right. Finally, I sat in front of a curious man, beaming with light, speaking words from another era, making me laugh and feel at ease. How did he even “see me” when I was so well hidden, and I’d even lost sight of myself?!”
“It wasn’t just his art that impacted me - his wisdom, humor, and love gave me a special sense of belief in myself I’d never accessed before. Every moment felt charged with a presence I’ve rarely seen or known. Probably because, yes, he seemed to live in an altered world, one that I feel beyond lucky to have been a small part of. And David invited all to glimpse into that world through his exquisite storytelling, which elevated cinema and inspired generations of filmmakers across the globe.”
Kyle MacLachlan had a unique perspective on co-creative and personal dynamics with Lynch. Starring in Blue Velvet, Dune and every iteration of Twin Peaks as central protagonist Special Agent Dale Cooper, Kyle was the on-screen avatar of David. Their similarities in looks, personas and demeanors are intentional and uncanny. David knew exactly what he was doing when casting Kyle. He chose a mirror version of himself he could direct from behind camera. It worked.
MacLachlan has been incredibly candid and generous in sharing his memories with the world as he personally grieves a dear friend. He opened up on social media.
“Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision.”
“What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to. Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met.”
“David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath.”
“His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other.”
Two lesser-known and very entertaining projects of David’s were the Weather Reports and Number of the Day videos he consistently posted on his official YouTube channel from May of 2020 to December of 2022. These brief clips featured David, always in identical outfits, facing the camera and speaking directly to you, the viewer.
Every Weather Report started with him wishing you an enthusiastic Good Morning, then a “Here in L.A. …” followed by the daily forecast. After the temperature reading and sky pattern forecast he’d mention a song he was thinking about. On a nice sunny day, his joy was palpable and infectious as he proclaimed the afternoon was expected to bring “Blue skies and golden sunshine, all along the way!” He closed every installment with a sideways salute and the same hopeful send-off: “Everyone! Have a great day.”
The Number of the Day videos were odd and intriguing. From a low angle in a different room he’d appear standing, holding a large glass jar with the sides painted to obscure the numbered spheres within. He’d state the date, then recap the mystic ritual for you. “Ten balls! Each ball has a number. Numbers 1 through 10. Swirl the numbers. Pick a number!”
He’d look down to register the result then turn and hold the chosen ball close to the camera for the reveal while exclaiming, “Today’s number is…”. Cut to a black screen with the all-caps question -“WHAT WILL TOMORROW’S NUMBER BE?”
The first Number of the Day, picked on August 17th, 2020, was 8. The last, drawn on December 16th, 2022, was the number 1.
Per sources close to his family, David died while meditating. Transcendental Meditation was so vital to him that in 2005 he started the non-profit David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. The DLF’s mission is to teach Transcendental Meditation (TM) to children, veterans, abuse survivors, incarcerated persons and others suffering from PTSD free of charge. The foundation welcomes anyone interested in TM instruction to learn for fees that fund scientific research into the tangible benefits of TM and sponsor free TM programs for at-risk and low-income beginners. You can learn more and explore TM at the Foundation’s official website here.
In 2006 Lynch wrote a fascinating book titled Catching the Big Fish - Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity. It’s a thin book with each chapter numbering only a few pages, but every sentiment borders on profound, every word golden and wise. The best way to conclude this reflection feels like letting the man speak for himself. Page 159 is titled ADVICE.
“Stay true to yourself. Let your voice ring out, and don’t let anybody fiddle with it. Never turn down a good idea, but never take a bad idea. And meditate. It’s very important to experience that Self, that pure consciousness. It’s really helped me. I think it would help any filmmaker. So start diving within, enlivening that bliss consciousness. Grow in happiness and intuition. Experience the joy of doing. And you’ll glow in this peaceful way. Your friends will be very, very happy with you. Everyone will want to sit next to you. And people will give you money!”
Page 177 is titled IN CLOSING.
“I’d like to say: I deeply love film; I love catching ideas; and I love to meditate. I love enlivening unity. And I think the enlivening of unity brings a better and better life. Maybe enlightenment is far away, but it’s said that when you walk toward the light, with every step, things get brighter. Every day, for me, gets better and better. And I believe that enlivening unity in the world will bring peace on earth. So I say: Peace to all of you.”
“May everyone be happy. May everyone be free of disease. May auspiciousness be seen everywhere. May suffering belong to no one. Peace.”
Auspiciousness - the quality of being encouraging or promising of a successful outcome.
Thanks for everything David. Thank you for sharing the light of your fire. It made the world a better and brighter place. It still does.
Scene. Cut. Print. Finale.
END.
In 2024 1000% MAGAZINE proudly presented a trilogy feature series celebrating and investigating Twin Peaks. Links to the full articles and previews, all packed with photos, videos and insights, are included following for further reading.
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Thank you. Beautiful writing. Found this article today:
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/patti-smith-david-lynch-interviewed-each-other/
amazing work. We love you David thank you