Presumably still cooped up in coronavirus isolation, David Lynch has recently spoken about his life, career, and influences, in a video posted to YouTube yesterday (May 16). In it he discusses his early life – “all I wanted to do was paint” – the development of his films from Eraserhead to Blue Velvet, and his approach to making films and art more generally.

“The number one tool is intuition,” he says, discussing how he goes about creating a film. “Now in film school they’re teaching formulas for feature films. It’s like being put into prison.”

“You go by intuition, and the ideas that come, and if you don’t understand them right away, just think about them as they gather together, and something thrilling for you can come.”

“You’ll be excited about it and you’ll make that. Not worrying about what will come in terms of money or fame or anything, you’ll just fall in love with the ideas and the thing that came.”

Part of a series titled “TM Talks”, the interview also sees Lynch discuss meditating and, specifically, his experience with transcendental meditation, a practice he’s supported throughout his life (partly through his charitable organisation, the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace).

This leads onto his well-trodden concept of “catching” ideas like fish (the motivation we need to stay creative during quarantine).

Watch Lynch’s interview below. The filmmaker has also recently returned to his online weather reports after a 10 year hiatus.