Exactly this. He's never (as far as I know at least) thought it's somehow bad to discuss how his work might be interpreted. He just doesn't like the idea that there's somehow a definitive interpretation of his work that he owns.

Sometimes the essence of something is just 'to be'.

lead me to a different thought, from something I watched recently: "Art for No One". I wish I could submit Jacob Geller's video of that title, but rules are rules.

art for no one is quite "to be", though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oqO3FXSecM

- "Believe it or not, Eraserhead is my most spiritual film."

- "Elaborate on that"

- "No."

giga_chad.jpg

Many artists do feel that all interpretations are equally valid and that they don't want to stomp on that. But when Lynch expands on this, he often connects it to mystery. Most of his works have a strong sense of surrealism but there's enough realism there too to also sense that there really is a central and consistent thematic logic that connects everything. It's not just randomly surreal. Often there is explicitly meta-textual layer at which a real deeper narrative is there; usually critiques of Hollywood and modern culture.

Lynch's philosophy is that mystery endures, and that we naturally dwell on the mysterious. His mysteries become a gift to the viewer/reader, and the vividness of his strokes make them dwell for decades. I still dwell on so many aspects of Twin Peaks. If he simply gave his own interpretation or explanation, that would be that, and the gift would vanish like owls in the night.

It is pretty clear that his movies are meant to explore the existence of psychological phenomena and are not a statement in of themselves. In that way, I don't think they are meant to be interpreted.

I don’t believe that’s true. Lynch uses characters as abstractions — they represent a concept, which when you understand them add up to a ‘statement’:

* Twin Peaks is an meta commentary about the lack of balance on the small screen (our desire for sex and violence). Interestingly this ended up being a meta-meta-commentary when the network forced them to reveal the killer of Laura Palmer prematurely. Laura Palmer is balance, Dale Cooper is the audience, Bob is our desire for sex & violence, …

* Mulholland Drive is about the casting couch and the destruction of the Hollywood dream for women. Rita is the casting couch, the cowboy is Hollywood, …

* Lost Highway appears to be a comment about plagiarism (namely other directors plagiarising David Lynch)

etc.

He always talks about being “true to the idea” — so all abstractions and all surreal elements must be true to the underlying concept. It’s up to us to work out what the underlying theme is (that links all of the abstractions together).

Very interesting take, thank you!

Of course, my favorite David Lynch movie is "The Straight Story" - what a heartwarming tale!

Lynch has said that his interest in making movies came out of painting, which was the first art form he had an interest in. He had an epiphany where he saw making movies as making moving paintings. Some of the most surreal scenes in his movies/shows are just that, combinations of elements that produce feelings in the viewer in the same way a painting might. Watch that scene in Twin Peaks: The Return in the Fireman's Theatre where someone floats up into the air and there are all sorts of other things going on. It's like a framed painting where there are all these moving elements that combine to create something phenomenal.