For one weekend, we thought that perhaps we should give up your wild jetsetting, cocktail swilling,
Goldfinger-esque production lifestyle and leave behind the grimy glitz of Los Angles. So we arrived in the grey-skied chill of the flatlands of Des Moines, Iowa. Des Moines (shortened from Ft. Des Moines) comes from the French for the Des Moines River or Rivière des Moines which translates as "River of the Monks". It was name that might be ironically appropriate as we rode out to the Maharishi University of Management for our weekend with David Lynch and transcendental meditation.
David sat down with the group and discussed creativity, answered questions on his films, and stressed the importance of meditation in his creative process. Transcendental meditation has been one of the most widely researched and practiced meditation techniques since it's creation in the 1950's. David was introduced to transcendental meditation by the aunt of producer Erin Skipper (our friend and contact at David Lynch Foundation Television) during the making Eraserhead. While it's tough to reconcile peaceful relaxation and focus with Frank Booth from
Blue Velvet, we couldn't not take David at his word.
Another speaker, physicist and neurological researcher, Dr. John Hagelin (pictured right) discussed consciousness and peace in the light of new scientific breakthroughs in unified field theories, physiology, and neuroscience. Frankly, our knowledge of physics beyond pushing pixels is comparable to the action/reaction of the square ball of Pong; however, it didn't keep us from
trying to understand what he meant. We figure that next year, we'll have our own two cents to toss into his unified field theory...probably as soon as we stop thinking of particles as just the dusty thingys we use in CG scenarios.
When we got a little one on one time with the man himself, we thought maybe as one group of creatives to another, he might slip us some trade secrets...but it was no go! So our traditional cinema study sessions over day old Chinese food trying to figure out how he made the baby from
Eraserhead will continue. David did discuss with us how the nature and distribution cinema was changing much like music, but told us to keep at it and to be sure to always do what we love. Suffice it to say, he was an amazing guy and we savored all the time we got to spend with him.
However, like most good things, the weekend soon came to an end. We bade farewell to the school, the friendly locals, the lovely Erin Skipper, and the city of Des Moines, Iowa. Though we still had our white jacket tuxes on aboard the plane, something was not the same, and I like to think we came back a little smarter for what we'd seen as well as a little better rested in mind and body than before. Now back at home and at work, we are glad to put the word out there for meditation on behalf of the David Lynch foundation (
www.dlf.tv) and look forward to either working for or spending time with them again in the future.
(For those of the group left behind in Los Angeles, we'll file our report on the Mercedes Helnwein opening at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery here soon!)
We here at "the Strax", love surprises. This is why we've spent so much time in jail over the years on April 2nd. So we couldn't come back from our ThanksG break without something special for all of you. So, despite the fact that it almost got it's first birthday candle in post production, here is the amazing new short, Reluctance, by our very own Seaton Lin.
For months now, we've been telling you about Seaton's previous short, Civilian. Reluctance was originally conceived as its companion piece, but while Civilian was more cerebral in its execution, Reluctance has added on a new scope of dynamic action. Much in the same way we often plan to go out for a lunch with some chipotle mayo, and instead rescue the princess of a hidden city in a land of forgotten mystery all before afternoon meetings on a spot for cheese fries.
Fortunately for us, over the course of several projects we've been able to hone together a fine crew that's made each of these projects possible. So it would be inconsiderate of us to show you the final project without taking another opportunity to thank all of them for all the hard work involved. After watching and enjoying the piece, you too should go out of your way to thank them. (We recommend the purchase of spirits and/or party favors...)
So without a further ado, set your eyes, ears, and mind to stun at the latest Ab5 creation, Reluctance....
