HeiBlog

When I was visiting my friend Sis in Vancouver we had a conversation about why art or more specifically artists feel the need and are actually encourage each other to justify themselves. There is always a “meaningful purpose” and a criticism to any work of art. Sis went to art school for a time and has an affinity for painting animals. I’ve seen two of her paintings, a former cat and her parents dog. She’s quite good by the way. I asked her if in her studies she was expected to justify her inspiration for her various assignments. She confirmed my suspicions. For one of her projects she want to do an animal theme. The justification, she like to paint animals. In this case I think she picked rabbits. So how to you justify rabbits? She came up with some bullshit just to make the instructor happy and make a point that the whole process was silly. She has a penchant for messing with people while making them think she’s playing along. One of her many admirable qualities. She’s not in art school anymore, so she can paint animals anytime she wants to, without any justification. So is she still making art?

What’s that last paragraph have to do with the title? I saw David Lynch’s new film “Inland Empire” last weekend in Portland and am still confused. I thought about my conversation with Sis on the way back to the hostel. Lynch’s current offering is just a weird as any of his other films. For a benchmark it makes about as much sense as Eraserhead. On the surface it is a movie about a the production of a cursed movie. No, it’s a story about a movie based on a cursed story. Or is it a film about a women who is playing a role in a movie based on a cursed story who is slowly losing her mind because the movie is cursed (because it’s based on a curse story).

Really I don’t know what the film is about and it might not even have a point. At the same time it is perhaps the most complete aesthetic experience that I have had from any film. The feeling I got from it was that Lynch was just fucking with my head. He was finding a way to encapsulate a vision and emotion from his mind in to that of the audience. Just like you’d expect from something hanging on a wall. Why? Because he’s David Lynch and he can do what ever he wants to. He can produce, direct, film, build the sets, and good sound work for a movie that was never touch by Hollywood. Parts of it were filmed there, even in a sound stage, but Lynch is distributing it by himself. Hell, the Brattle theater in Cambridge, MA was were it was first screened.

There is no explanation for the film, so the only thing I can think of is that it is art. In the end once a practitioner of the arts establishes themselves they don’t need to justify anything. People will buy anything they produce. But, to get to that point they must have something real and special. Maybe that is where Lynch is right now.

If you like Lynch and his vision you might enjoy the film. Don’t expect it to make sense, it won’t. Just take in the experience, which I think is the real point. Most people will make it through the first half hour. The other 2 and a half are a different story. If you can’t stare at an all black canvas and appreciate this bleakness and attention to detail at the same time I don’t think you’ll enjoy the experience of Lynch’s insanity.