David Lynch: The Art Life (2016)

A documentary about becoming an artist through pain, struggle, and dead animals.

David Lynch is such a weird, wonderful man.

I left this viewing of The Art Life trying to figure out how I can live just a sliver of the art life. I respect his commitment and focus on his career and his art. This documentary does such a great job of capturing what it means to become an artist - the pain, the challenges, the struggle to find a voice that’s meaningful.

Lynch’s work has been deeply resonant with me for years. I honestly think about him and his work daily. That’s not an exaggeration.

The story about him bringing his dad down to the basement to see all the dead animals and rotting fruit he’d been experimenting with - and his dad, visibly shaken, telling him “Dave, I don’t think you should ever have children” - is hilarious.

And the Bob Dylan story is absolutely incredible. Lynch was stoned out of his mind, sitting in the nosebleeds, couldn’t believe how tiny Dylan looked on stage - measured him with his fingers on his knee saying “his jeans are only this big!” - and walked out early. When his roommate Peter Wolf (who would go on to front the J. Geils Band) came back after the show, he was furious: “Nobody walks out on Dylan!” Lynch’s response: “I walk out on Dylan, get the fuck outta here.” And that was the end of Peter as his roommate. Legend.

I’m not sure I’d recommend this to people who aren’t massive David Lynch fans. But if you are, this is a must watch.

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