David Foster Wallace: On Being Entirely Yourself

"What the really great artists do is they're entirely themselves. They've got their own vision, their own way of fracturing reality, and then if it's authentic and true, you will feel it in your nerve endings." - David Foster Wallace
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Iconoclast Writing explores writing, creativity, spirituality, consciousness, and more.
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#davidfosterwallace​ #artists​ #writing​

[@iconoclastwriting]

I love the conversation this video has started. Thank you all for the comments and engagement! Axl Rose would be proud.

[@teacherrussell5206]

Yeah, I thought that was Axl on the thumbnail, at first glance. I guess I'm not alone?

[@jimcypher]

Welcome to the Jung-le.

[@thechaostrials1964]

@@jimcypher Good one.

[@a.r.c8021]

You can tell how self-conscious and critical he was of himself by the way he answers the question but also interrupts himself in between. It’s as if he’s listening to himself talk and critizing the words that come out of his mouth simultaneously.

[@juliusseizure5705]

you're not wrong but it's probably also the fact that he's thought about this idea for a while and it might or might not answer the question, but it's something he had to get out. But he's just making sure he conveys every single expression of what he perceives to be the true answer, even if it explores difference ideas.

[@rdog421]

Imagine how exhausting this would be

[@DurtDangle]

Me as fuck

[@ShadyDogg]

Thats what your supposted to be doing?

[@ciprianparaschiv7591]

​@@rdog421I don't have to imagine it when it's my very own life. Ayyyyylmao.

[@RyanMcQuen]

"Screen gets all fuzzy now as the viewer is invited to imagine this." He was always telling a story.

[@MWTan-nr6zl]

He was addicted to TV and saw himself as a viewer simultaneously

[@RyanMcQuen]

@@MWTan-nr6zl "He had the ability of splitting his mind's thinking along several parallel tracks."

[@timbuktuuu]

@@RyanMcQuen👍

[@tzenophile]

aka selfconscious

[@sunkintree]

@@tzenophile art IS selfconsciousness

[@lalailm]

you could tell this man was hell bent on authenticity and yet never felt like he could be as authentic as he wished (even though he was, without a doubt). i know because I identify with a lot of things he has said regarding this topic. LIke him, Im obsessed with it, and yet chasing authenticity seems like the best way to "scare it away" from your life, bc you never feel like you have finally gotten there. But you see it so clearly in other people, and you admire it and you even find yourself gravitanting around people who seem to be fully themselves and unconsciously trying to emulate them. It's the curse of living too much in your head. "Thats what authenticity is suppposed to look like". But in reality, most of these people are not even that self aware. They dont walk around constantly picking apart their actions and evaluating how authentic they are. They just embrace the whole. Even the mistakes and the "not so authentic" parts of themselves. Bc its not about reaching that perfect, final and "unactualizable" version. And its not about using others' authenticity as parameters to measure your own. It's about simply being

[@iconoclastwriting]

Thank you for the comment! Nailed it.

[@OrdnanceTV]

"And it's not about using others' authenticity as parameters to measure our own." I was literally just saying this to myself before reading your comment. It's wild how we can all so easily forget or miss the simple fact that recognizing (or at least 'perceiving') authenticity in someone else can cause us to singlehandedly assume their outward representation of authenticity should be emulated through ourselves.

[@pjmlegrande]

Lynch started as a visual artist. A painter. Those who knew him in his early years as an artist say he always had his own singular vision. Unlike his friends he didn’t use drugs. He was more interested in realizing his vision. So, yes, someone who didn’t think about being authentic. He just was.

[@jamesd4837]

This is a great comment!

[@metrab8901]

it hurts when you simply are and someone says "you fall under this category or that" and then you check and they're absolutely right or you see some person or concept and it paints alot of how you are. Nobody is 100% similar but with the amount of definitions and concepts you can't outrun it all. You're trying to be yourself but are simply paroting some past personage or concept without realizing it. Makes me question the possibility of authenticity at all.

[@gordomctavish6599]

This is a remarkable moment in TV history, for many reasons, but none as notable as the fact that for two minutes and twenty five seconds, Charlie Rose did _not_ interject himself into the middle of a remarkable moment.

[@Casmael01]

jesus fucking christ that man is a menace not just to himself but to the progression of society is he not, is he not

[@petemavus2948]

And the look on Charlie's face showed the disappointment. 🤣

[@pezushka]

This is such a cheap comment, this moment only exists because Charlie midwifed it, he was excellent in this interview, and managed to make David, who really didn't like interviews, feel comfortable in not only this interview, but the prior one he did which is why he would have felt comfortable returning to do a full length one.

[@gloaming4247]

Not just be true to yourself but do what you're truly passionate about. Even if you're not being original (and who really is) real passion is infectious , people can feel it in your work and will enjoy it.

[@livewithmeterandnomeasureb1679]

And even if they dont. Do the work make your art it is an expression of who you are. Even if people dont connect to it you will have done it.

[@hexaldecima6839]

A small but focused few will flock to your art. Eventually, others will catch wind and connect.

[@paulcasino9511]

I love being alive! And I won’t stop saying that no matter how much the voices tell me not to.

[@pocket83squared]

Wait-phrasing. They tell you not to _what,_ exactly?

[@stevk0_-]

@@pocket83squared also.. what voices? is bro doing alright?

[@johnjameson5264]

All my homies ignore the voices

[@soulfuzz368]

Fellow voice ignorer here, kudos to you my friend

[@ryderseamons8731]

@@pocket83squaredthey tell him not to love being alive. He phrased it correctly.

[@gravlaxbob355]

Blue Velvet is the first Lynch movie that truly hit me in the face (a few times), although I had seen Eraserhead before. I agree. First time I see Wallace speaks, and so well.

[@boudusaved4719]

Then I highly recommend you check out the films of Luis Bunuel and Maya Deren as they had a big influence on David Lynch.

[@surfwriter8461]

"Blue Velvet" is about the only Lynch creation that I respect. Much of his other stuff is self-indulgent, repetitive and insulting to the audience, even if they don't realize it and think he's being so avant garde and challenging. He's not. Over time, he became so entrenched in the same kind of phony warping of reality that I couldn't watch him films or TV series anymore.

[@Flightsuit]

​@@surfwriter8461No.

[@iroveashe]

@@surfwriter8461 I think it's you who doesn't realize

[@te9591]

​@@boudusaved4719luis bunuel was a former lead surrealist.

[@philmccavity]

This is how I do interviews, (for jobs, in Germany)..I'm beginning to understand why noone will hire me.

[@scoon2117]

Yeah when you start yapping about david lynch it's over with. I learned that the hard way too.

[@ShoggothsAway]

I would 100% hire you.

[@AgentChodeyBanks]

Lmao

[@giovannimartin3239]

Well that’s when it’s time to find a way to make money in a way in which you are not forced to compromise your values. To be truly uncompromised one must be willing to rise to the occasion in which they are so secure they never have any reason to compromise.

[@philmccavity]

I've been thinking about this, thing is it's easy to say and hard to do, but i view investing my hard earned money as my shortest path to acheving this kind of freedom. I am not close yet though and i provide for others. i like the comment. Maybe i should have picked a partner who earns more than me to let me be the freier geist 😂 ​@@giovannimartin3239

[@vertyisprobablydead]

This has inspired me to not hold back with how depressing my songs are. Just let it out. All of it.

[@StubenhockerElite]

I feel like this with the paintings of Frank Frazetta. They pull you into a World that is 100% made out of his soul and i think this phenomenon is what truly describes Art, invite people into the artists soul. Of course there are a Million ways to do it. Some people find the Tools to do so in traditional or modern ways, and others have to go through uncharted territory to communicate their true self to others. Sadly to many people only See the Art object and mistake it for Art in its entirety

[@bryanflo4500]

Interesting thoughts. Thank you. What distinction is there between Art Object and Art, as you perceive?

[@stan4now]

The beauty of any art form can also be a mirror or window of the collective soul as well as our own. It is is being oneself that we can give expression to what we feel and experience.

[@sloaiza81]

well said. the true artist is true to himself. hard to find in the mainstream.

[@misterbeach8826]

the trust artist who is true to himself... is like 95 % of all artists. it is why most fail. they forget that they doing an impression or show for other people. i don't mind nihilistic artists such as wallace, but at the end of day... nobody knows him outside the usa, and most americans never heard about him. he was a nobody, at this point, a product of media craze, perhaps, because media loves nihilistic artists, to some degree.

[@ASKpq]

So what if it’s not in the mainstream? It doesn’t matter, in my opinion. The “mainstream” is a commercial stream - which is completely fine. But if someone is making art, just make it and be satisfied with expressing it regardless of whether people want to pay for it.

[@timbuktuuu]

🙏🙏🙏🙏 yep. All the best art is deep underground

[@1998Cebola]

@@misterbeach8826 a failed artist is an artist that compromises their art to become an entertainer for the masses. An artist that never sells an artwork but stays true to their vision is a successful artist. It's funny that you are doing some textbook projection by accussing others of being nihilist while simultaneously denying any inherent value in artistic work and instead solely measuring it for it's ability to participate in the accumulation of capital.

[@hibernopithecus7500]

Those who wish to appear edgy love to represent “the mainstream” as compromise. Instead of what it is; commonality. The irony being there’s nothing more common, and hence more mainstream, than the “them’n’us” attitude.

[@pocket83squared]

The following claim is _not_ meant to say anything about Wallace's writing, but man, just in general, he was probably the most media-literate human being I've become aware of. Given the time period into which he was born, he might've been a one-off. He lived during a time of seriously rapid media development, both technologically and conceptually. It'd be hard to imagine a more artistically-ripe future-especially considering how stifling our modern media can be! Or is that just my own lack of perception to see my time period as such?

[@TchaikovskyFDR]

We're still learning. What will you know of tomorrow.

[@transgenderbasketballplayer]

I see right now as the best moment in history for anyone to raise their media literacy and create revolutionary art. The inundation of new technologies and new techniques and new formats in every medium has fostered (lol) a world in which rapid progression is the norm. I was born in 2002, so I didn't grow up having to learn how to understand new technology. I was born into a landscape of constantly changing technology, so instead of learning how to keep up, I'm learning how to reject keeping up. I'm learning how to cut through the fold to nestle myself a little home in the shit show. The art I create is entirely mine, and wouldn't be possible without all the new forms and techniques that have flooded the world. Butttt, those techniques and forms are meaningless without my unbridled imagination bringing them to life, and a dream of the new vast possibilities, of new artistic horizons simply can't fit in the old guard's boxes. Cinema, photography, news, journalism, any of it, it's all been shaken up foundationally by the internet and this new ability for anyone anywhere to know any information. The old rules don't matter anymore. Letting anyone else tell you how to go about shit like they know is worthless. No one knows anything anymore, and its those of us who recognize that and begin to redefine the world personally, to ourselves, who will get to shape what the future looks like.

[@pocket83squared]

@@transgenderbasketballplayer There is no best moment in history. Please, don't read me as one of those 'my generation was better' types. At the end of the day, we all get to go through the same old story. This song plays on repeat. In fact, the only way for one generation to ever become truly original would be for it to be the first to recognize just how vastly cliche any belief in originality is. There's this old expression, _youth is wasted on the young._ You will all but certainly have to come terms with its cruel irony, just as I have. See, there's a corollary to the forced rigidity of age, and that's the impractical elasticity of a fresh mind. While you may, no doubt, _perceive_ your present time & circumstance to be privileged or unique, you'll discover much-too-late the unfortunate reality that it was anything but. Consider that not all advancements are linear. Thus, subsequent contributions are not necessarily equivalent in degree, unless adjusted for scale. Many ideas are just natural extensions of a progenitor. There's a seed of thought I would like to plant for you. Allow this idea to unfold as time progresses: no matter which time period one has been born into, there will already be far more available media (at the time of one's birth) than one will _ever_ be able to make use of artistically. You are neither the first mind to come into the endless expanse of thought nor are you of the first generation to fail to be able to make use of it all. With respect, have some respect for your predecessors. Don't underestimate their capacity for understanding of this "landscape of constantly changing technology," and don't overestimate the value of your own. As your own time begins to solidify you, you'll start to understand that you didn't have to _learn_ to reject keeping up; you were never capable of doing so in the first place-none of us are. Try not to dismiss old ideas, and try not to emphasize novel ones; novelty is illusory, because it is not the newness of an idea that allows a tumbler to turn, but the alignment of changing circumstances. And one more thing: you "shape" nothing about the future. Deterministic forces are far beyond the scope of your control, and early Hominins already set things in motion that you and I cannot overpower. But try anyway. Genuinely, best of luck. Signed, -an old guard.

[@deviantfish2711]

​@@transgenderbasketballplayerspoken like someone truly bred into the postmodern paradigm...it will take another 25 years to wash away this toxic mindset 😢

[@HONUT]

@@transgenderbasketballplayerit's only going to take 5 years for you to look back and cringe at the comment you left.

[@RebirthBeyond]

Wow, I didn't expect this to involve one of my favourite films. Blue Velvet was one of the most novel experiences in my lifetime. Haven't had a movie warp my mind since.

[@G.GordonMidi]

What kinda beer do you like? Heineken?? Fuck that! Pabst Blue Ribbon!!

[@CERTAIND00M]

"You ever been to Pussy Heaven?"

[@TheDreamer452]

Did he ever write any books that were Lynchian ?

[@avantgardeaclue]

this guy is way above my level.

[@dangolfishin]

Being himself and Axel Rose at the same time

[@carindreams5066]

Came here looking for this comment hahaha

[@olivergilliland464]

@@carindreams5066 Same, haha

[@johnrankin6040]

I wonder what Axel thinks if him!

[@jimreilly5770]

Was gonna drop that irony but checked comments first thinking someone had to have pounced on it already...and you had. Walking away now...satisfied.

[@kaustubhasmith1738]

It's spelled Axl. Show some respect.

[@papaglenford]

reading Oblivion by DFW is such a great exercise in being an active reader. sometimes it takes patience or effort to read it, but then you see why he made it that way, and you think man this guy is switched on. plus he's very funny

[@mjr2451]

The purpose of using any technique is to be true to yourself. That’s what I got from this anyway.

[@SirArghPirate]

Yeah, this scene from Blue Velvet stuck with me for so many years. I remember seeing the movie when I was quite young, forgetting about the rest of the movie, except for this single scene. It wasn't very frightening, rather creepy and bizarre.

[@redadamearth]

What's ironic is that Lynch, himself, said that the "standing" man who was shot, was actually based on a real police report he had read where a man had been shot in the head and was still standing up and not brain dead - the bullet had hit a certain part of his brain that allowed him to keep standing. So it's actually something that happens, physiologically and that actually happened at a crime scene. There's nothing "surreal" about it, apart from the fact that you just hadn't *seen* that in a film before. So it was only "surreal" based on past experience with movies - in real life, it happened and very likely more than once. The "surreality" of it was only because it wasn't part of the "reality" of movies at that point, which says a lot about how media, itself, influences how we view reality and what's "surreal" or not. TRUE surrealism is in films like Jodorowsky's work or "Eraserhead", Lynch's first film. "Blue Velvet", for all of it's "weirdness", is actually a pretty straightforward, reality-based film, despite its moments of oddness, like the bird in the window being so obviously an automaton, etc. or the style of its acting and dialogue.

[@G.GordonMidi]

@@redadamearthSo, because it was inspired by an actual event, it can no longer be considered surreal? Something doesn’t have to be impossible to be bizarre enough to *feel* like it *should* be impossible.

[@dougchesney7234]

EXACTLY talk about pedantry geez louise! and not even very good pedantry! surreal, as generally understood, is simply the feeling of a moment or situation being unreal or dreamlike, and in the arts thats depicted by way of weird or fantastical or grotesque imagery often placed against the backdrop of the mundane. not an expert, but afaik that's the broad definition. anyway how often have you heard someone in conversation describe a particularly remarkable event they experienced as being "so surreal". hm now I'm being pedantic @@G.GordonMidi

[@elsuperfish]

@@redadamearth You don't understand what surreal means. Surreal does not mean impossible, and in fact, real life is full of surreal moments.

[@elqord.1118]

He would have very much fit into our time today.

[@BoomTribeEntertainment]

What a legend

[@djsandy303]

You have a unique perspective and that is your greatest asset as an artist.

[@bufficliff8978]

Most people don't have a unique perspective and see nothing themselves

[@djsandy303]

​@@bufficliff8978 ive never been someone else so i dont think i could ever wholly know another persons perspective. but i like to believe that every person has a unique perspective - i mean to say we have all lived unique lives filled with unique experiences.

[@captainaddison64]

@@bufficliff8978 if that is your perspective then you may be entirely unique in seeing that

[@inmundo6927]

@@djsandy303 you've been a "person" though.. so you can at least guess (and relate)

[@user-to2gh7sg3l]

As an artist I think it's important to explore your mind, but keep the substances in check.

[@popeyedoyle6360]

i think your mind and your rectum about the same.

[@dewsplash]

Once you get the message, hang up the phone.

[@idlyblare]

@@dewsplash what do you mean by that exactly? I think I know but I wanna make sure

[@idlyblare]

@@dewsplash I'm guessing you mean getting an insight or something positive from a substance for your life/vision/creativity, and then make sure you don't become dependent on said substance? Something I struggle with for sure

[@dewsplash]

​@@idlyblareyou got it. That's exactly what I meant. To be honest I believe I heard that from Alan Watts.

[@andyturnbullguitarteacher]

Lynch snapped him out of his head and he snapped me out of mine. Just finished ‘a supposedly fun thing I’ll never do again’ which was published in 1990. Growing up then and looking back on it now through his words, he was hyper aware of what was going on at the time. Which is what the best writers do. A truly authentic , unique and great writer. I’m pretty sure he was wearing the bandana before axl but I could be wrong.

[@garrettwarrick4156]

I loved how David wrote about David Lynch. It was refreshing to see a recognized author talk about how a film director, not just another author, could be so influential to their own work. I almost wish I hadn't known this about David because once I began Infinite Jest I saw so many of Lynch's influences through Wallace's writing. The character Mario, Hal's brother, was obviously inspired by Lynch's version of John Merrick from The Elephant Man. There's also a scene towards the end of the novel with Don Gately who came across, I believe he was a drug dealer of some kind (can't quite remember), but it reminded me so much of Dennis Hooper's character from Blue Velvet. Sort of a sadistic, overbearing maniac who tortured Don and another former drug addict.

[@gregneidlinger8252]

Currently in the middle of reading (or rather, very slowly chipping away at) Infinite Jest and it makes a lot of sense that this is the dude it came from

[@jamo1859]

Infinite Jest is a very tough read, but thrilling. (I read it twice in the can.) I was keenly aware that I was in the hands of a mad genius, and I loved it. I was not a bit surprised that he had killed himself..it must have been very difficult to be saddled with that brain, day in and day out.

[@NACH10tube]

a few years ago, I made it through 400-some-odd pages of IJ & when I 'met' the veiled woman, I was so confused that I thought I wasn't following the story well enough & stopped. O regret! Good luck with your slog -- keep forging on!

[@gregneidlinger8252]

@@NACH10tube I appreciate you giving me a heads-up. I kind of can't wait to meet her now

[@blankeee921]

To this day, my favorite book of all time. I've read it now 5 or 6 times and get new things out of it every time. My advice: buy two copies - and chop one of them up into 5 sections (4 quarters + the end notes) - makes it much easier to carry around. :)

[@BrandonScottFox1]

DFW talks about life in a way that is poetically pure

[@samlastname1252]

I have used that very same example to explain "Lynchian". I add extra details, but I imagine this [Foster Wallace] is from whom I have taken the idea that Lynch can be explained by examples - that he can be explained by this one.

[@jasonuerkvitz3756]

Damn, this sort of reminds me of the back story to Jack Kerouac's revision of _On the Road_ where he discovers his style, a hackneyed writing homage to Thomas Wolfe, wasn't true to the experience his novel was attempting to portray. It was when he started to adapt the language, both in cadence and vernacular of Neal Cassidy, Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr and other beatniks of the time--including himself!--he had his epiphany and the new draft blossomed into his most famous work.

[@stan4now]

The Road goes on. Bilbo knew to relinquish his personal power or prowess and humble himself again back on the road. Frodo lives.

[@bojnebojnebojne]

The genius of one person may look like crazy to another.

[@greatcoldemptiness]

Ive spent the past few years working everyday on this massive, multi-million word epic with these characters that feel so real to me, I feel as though they're divine. Every single person I've sent my writing to has hated it, said they cannot understand it or its exhausting to read because of how dense and obscure it is, that I overload it with fluff and that it doesn't mean anything. Ive gotten doxxed because of it bu writing communities who have hated it, shunned, ridiculed etc. I literally want to be as authentic as I possubly can with it because writing it is like a spiritual excercise for me. I want to overwrite it because i dont believe novels ought to just be about one story. They are all encompassing. I love my characters to death. I want to document every thought they ever had. Its a sisphyian task writing knowing nobody will ever read it on account of its length and undescribability. I dont know if im wasting my time with it or of i really should listen to their advice and to shorten it so people can actually read and, maybe, praise it. But i want to refuse.

[@toladep]

He was so smart….i wonder how he would’ve fared today. I miss people like this. His NYT essay on Federer as a religious experience is beautiful

[@feralhamster2429]

This guy was a genius

[@uscbro69]

No he fucking was not

[@silasknight2837]

Still is.

[@ravimediatube]

@@silasknight2837 mans dead bro

[@lean4real_11]

is*

[@Teabonesteak]

​@@ravimediatubeyeah he killed himself.

[@sednasix6608]

When I entered this video, I did not expect him talk about the profound effect Blue Velvet had on him. My favorite Lynch film hands down.

[@tubetomarcato]

greatest storyteller of my generation

[@harrybellingham98]

i feel like ive heard his voice everywhere. even though i havent seen any of his interviews

[@stan4now]

I can appreciate what David Wallace says here. It's tragic that our professors and coffee shop groups can hinder being oneself. The beauty of any art form gives expression and permission to be oneself, if one so dares with what we feel and experience. And yet, it can help us evolve and so help others, especially the younger generation who can advance our understanding. The main task is realizing and understanding what we feel and experience. But few can do this because it can lead to a painful isolation that can be unbearable. Jung once said, "The most terrifying thing is accepting oneself." Especially when our dreams demand it. It may be our Deity, Archetype, Familiar or Daemon as in ancient Greece. They are the ones who can fill the void. Indeed, there is light in our darkness and Symbols of Transformation, as Jung observed. Why couldn't Freud? Spiritual Alchemists saw this long before. And yet, Jung was censored and abandoned. Plato knew not long after Micaiah, to know what spirit moves us. Shadows of False Ideas on the walls of our mind can hold us bound and deceive us to our ruin, like misguided and possessed professors. Dreams don't lie. (Cf 1 Kings 22, Delphic Oracle et al) Buddha and Lao Tzu knew to just sit down to let the dust and swarm of thoughts and feelings, even somatic sensations, to settle. Jung said he would sit down to calm himself, maybe do some yoga, not to suppress or extinguish an affect, but to see if there were an image or voice he may need to interact with, especially if from a dream. It always made him feel better. Same for me. As we know, what we suppress, especially with meds and theories, will come back up until realized. How do we feel when shouted down, denied or ignored? Same for the various elements in us, as Ram Dass reminded us. Especially the Vox Dei. More people have been killed in God's Holy Name and still are, even by the insane who claim God told them to. But who wrestles with God as the name Israel means? Even simply ask why? God might then thunder, "Why do you?" Jung and his colleagues helped more than a few to realize and resolve their fear, hate and prejudice that any of us project. The spirit elements are the fabric of our being, if one can give them expression in some art form as Jung had and Primitives before him. It's really how we can connect with ourselves and be oneself, which should be the goal of analysis and therapy. It begins with therapists in understanding themselves, which more need to do to help their clients with all they feel and experience. It's the crux of individuation, which our dreams can help with. Jung saw how it will also lead to what he called the higher Self, be it God or Goddess or both. Who said: "Know thyself." It would follow: To thine own self be true. Even relationships can hinder being oneself with all the projections and harmful expectations of ourselves and others and how we may want us all to be, other than how we are made. IE: Our divine law of being Even as one reads this with what they may feel and experience. The operative word: RESPECT Cf Arny Mindell: Dreambody Working On Yourself Alone Riding The Horse Backwards John Weir Perry Roots Of Renewal In Myth and Madness Joseph Campbell The Hero With A Thousand Faces The Masks of God KZbin interviews with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, Jung, Mindell et al. Jung Symbols of Transformation Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious Psychology and Alchemy Memories. Dreams. Reflections

[@Vickean]

I read the whole thing and I couldn't agree more. Appreciate you sharing it.

[@TonyFed]

Best comment on KZbin?

[@Bodyknowledge77]

If they don't know now they may never know, but just go go go!

[@TheMalibuDar]

Good on Charlie Rose to just be quiet and let DFW get all this thoughts and words out. Bravo.

[@Ruylopez778]

I'm amazed he stayed quiet for 2 minutes. It must have been an accident.

[@jenhasken]

He’s so right.

[@TweakedProductions]

Thank you David

[@owlcu]

I saw the movie with a beautiful blonde girlfriend when I was in Hollywood going to music school, and when we got back to the apartment instead of making love we felt like we had to somehow "dance" the movie out of our bodies just to stay sane, to get back to reality, whatever we thought that was. Art can be strange but powerful.

[@matthewrinehart2367]

1:08 I had a friend who was an Airborne Ranger. While deployed in Grenada he saw a machine gunner receive a mortal head wound. After falling to the ground the soldier got up and fired every round in his clip at the enemy and then collapsed. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy ...

[@BlackBrownYellowWhite-wf3gr]

Ufffff, I miss Mr. Wallace a lot! A lot, a lot, a lot!

[@nickd4363]

A lot of great interviews have one thing in common. They were on Charlie Rose.

[@noveltycrusade]

Very beautiful ❤️

[@BoreasCastel]

I hate that the art world expects people to say what kind of music or painting they make. Shouldn't it be their own?

[@libenhagos9335]

This isn't true. Everyone wants artists to create something innovative, original, and interesting. The problem is many artists, especially young artists, inadvertently produce derivative works in their attempt to produce something good. Wallace was criticized for as much in his first book "The Broom of the System", and it was in his masterpiece "Infinite Jest" where he found his voice.

[@BoreasCastel]

@@libenhagos9335 It's absolutely true. It's the first thing they ask and if you can't answer it concisely they assume you lack knowledge about art history, the art world and aren't to be taken seriously.

[@jamesw.9256]

​​​​@@BoreasCastelbecause no art exists in a vacuum. Inspiration has to come from somewhere. You can be both original/true to yourself and work within a genre or tradition. Even someone who creates an entirely new genre or thing would be inspired by already existing ones. I think people expect artists to be students of their inspirations

[@gregorsamsa2271]

​@@libenhagos9335It's not possible to be innovative all the time though. Having this expectation every time is simply unrealistic, or will set you up for disappointment. Art only needs to be genuine, to come from your own heart. Nothing more!

[@real3wcitizen]

As an artist myself, I want people to interpret the art in the way they want to see it, and get together so we can share our interpretations. Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam once was interviewed, and asked what their music and songs means to him, and he didn't want to say, because he didn't want to take away from his fan's interpretation.

[@johanvanhuyssteen9217]

Thank you for existing David.

[@TrevorTSmith]

My man!

[@shivanshpachauri2855]

Hey, I could relate to that.

[@WildFungus]

Well he is right about this kind of art, is that can't be technically produced, it's not a system it is in fact a about expressing abstractions of concrete ideas.

[@Red1Revival]

seems obviously true. DFW knows whats up

[@Fink621]

This is me trying to explain my D&D character to my parents.

[@CircleOfSignfighters]

There is a Thing that happens in autism brain which makes you jump between points with the presumption that the other party acknowledges and understands what the hell you're talking about. This is an extremely good example of how the not-so-mildly spectrumatic autistic mind works. To be clear, I am not denigrating the speaker: I am acknowledging their brain patterns. My mind works in the same way: it's a fractured pattern. (Edit: I think fractal may be a better choice of words here.) I've actually tried to read Infinite Jest and it's an incomprehensible mess. I can't stand his writing. The irony is not lost on me. Note the specificity at 2:02. "Not every other viewer". In my experience this kind of linguistic clarification is vital. How we coach language and how we try to give space to people who don't understand how our brains make certain leaps is a coping mechanism. The presumption is if enough fine detail is given, they'll understand the nuance. Practical reality is another matter, unfortunately.

[@striderstache99]

Not formally diagnosed but this is me. People often say to me, "I'm not following" or they'll be on the part of the conversation I have moved past because I thought of something tangentially related and thought they too were on the same wavelength. When they're not, sometimes it angers me, but then I realize I am jumping all over the place and these connections I am making make sense to ME but no one else.

[@CircleOfSignfighters]

@@striderstache99 @a.r.c8021 brings up an excellent point in language patterns in this clip. Simultaneously answering a question then cutting it apart to clarify nuances is something I do a LOT in the way I communicate. It's almost like a clear answer is impossible because shades of grey and contextual variables in pursuit of truth/honesty vastly outweigh my ability to be clear. Do you experience that as well?

[@shr1mppoboi950]

​@CircleOfSignfighters i do this all the time. I often have the habit of making references to things that I feel will add more weight and context to a point I'm making, but I often get so lost in building it up that I lose track of what I'm trying to convey. I often make subpoints on subpoints I'm already making to my main point in a conversation too! Very infuriating. I want to provide as much context and understanding as possible but I can't help it sometimes when people get lost. It's like I visualize a track laid out before me when it comes to talking to people.

[@CircleOfSignfighters]

@@shr1mppoboi950 congratulations, you're on the autism spectrum.

[@scoon2117]

Damnit David, David shouldve outlived David.

[@Piece-O-Pie]

Man, Axl Rose looks good these days!

[@user-nb4ex5zk3w]

I like this answer. Painters too have to simply find a language that's absolutely themselves and to hell with the consequences. If nobody else loves it...too bad.

[@tsitteg1638]

Blue Velvet is experiential and speaks to Jungian compartments the same way a vivid nightmare or erotic dream might. I would say that it's a film with transcendent or paranormal qualities

[@itstrbo]

It's so simple for the actual talented people that the mediocre can't help but to criticize....

[@Xxxxxrrr6464]

Relatable

[@robertclarke4096]

Sweet Child of Mine!

[@real3wcitizen]

Ok that was pretty good. But all the other Axl Rose comments; are not funny... just like Axl Rose.

[@LFGbaby]

WE NEED DFW MORE THAN EVER

[@kwyatt261]

Me after watching Mullholland Drive thinking it was going to be a typical murder mystery lol

[@calahil28]

Don't go behind the Winkie's

[@Jd-808]

Lmao I know exactly what you mean. Something about the cover and title of that movie seemed very typical. That was my first Lynch movie as well although I had some idea of what to expect from reviews.

[@pjmlegrande]

@@calahil28heebie jeebies

[@xmunki1389]

Wow I didn't know Axl Rose was this deep

[@SarahsCrazyLife]

king

[@Rebazar]

Great artists are still influenced by those who came before (how could you not be in this world?), but manage to create their own art without getting mired in artifice. The real trap is to feel obligated to pay tribute and adhere to the blueprint of forebearers. They already made their mark, and some of that influenced you--now go do YOUR thing and see what comes out.

[@withinmyself]

Yep.

[@appidydafoo]

epiphanic

[@trentblume5998]

Damn, Axl Rose hit the wall

[@justinschexnayder8485]

Man, Axl Rose is pretty smart!

[@lesapolyana]

thanks youtube algorithm for reminding me I have a crush on DFW.

[@kalinannonimous5878]

huge

[@MichaelBrewick]

Miles hated the term Jazz as applied to his thing Also, Dennis Hopper has a sort of Zelig thing going with American culture huh I mean he also played the ultimate trumper

[@ricardobezclaumann]

On being Axl Rose lookalike

[@RyanMcQuen]

This gives me goose pimples.

[@iconoclastwriting]

Hell yeah! Those are the best!

[@aaronvaughn1954]

I read that with a lisp for some reason.

[@unattendedcandle]

Goose flesh

[@real3wcitizen]

Seriously? Tell me this in 30 years. Seriously.... 30 years.

[@jammadamma]

Didn't know Axl Rose considered himself avant-garde

[@bigolsexrat8840]

This was the moment David became Heisenberg

[@NoFeckingNamesLeft]

the moment he became the infinite jester

[@itierney]

Man I love guns and roses.

[@Leviathane]

Nice

[@justinklenk]

Nailed that. 😅 (Didn't at _least_ 50% of us reflexively see Axl?)

[@nicholaskierstead5193]

This is pre-Office David Wallace 🔥

[@lofinomad8315]

"She's an artist, she don't look back"

[@onlyvirginiapeanuts]

No art is in a vacuum. You cannot escape influence. You can follow it or react against it, but it shapes your perceptions whether you acknowledge it or not. His vision of the true self is just as romantic and naive, but I think artists have to believe they have something authentic and original to convey, or else why bother. An artist must delude himself into believing he is original.

[@ForrestNolan]

In the context of this interview i have a feeling he was mature enough to recognize that all art is a synthesis of influences - he even mentions blue velvet being in debt to Hitchcock. i think he felt that this was implied, and he was mostly just reflecting on his former conception of art being overly based in tradition/going against tradition, and thus losing sight of creating something that firstly made him feel something.

[@ForrestNolan]

also i think it’s pessimistic and naive to say artists that aim to create something “original” are hopeless. at some point jazz was original, rock and roll was original, EDM was original. all derivative but original none the less. i understand where you’re coming from but i think you could have been a little more patient with those feelings.

[@rited]

If there was no originality, there'd be no progress in the arts, but clearly there has been. You are absolutely shaped by your influences though. Originality comes from a unique combo of influences

[@Ruylopez778]

I think you've projected that assumption on DFW in order to dismiss it. IMO, what he's saying is that the artist's intuition and voice (which is down to past experiences and is therefore 'unique' even if very similar to many others) should come before their own intellect trying to impose whatever they think will be clever or accepted. That's not a discussion about art in a vacuum or 'originality.' I don't think it's a particularly difficult notion to understand, either, although it might be quite hard to be aware of in practice, since we are swayed by our influences or what we think will be popular or clever. It's essentially another way of looking at the Hemingway quote of, 'Write one true sentence' or 'write the truth' etc. Many influential artists have tried to convey their own perspective of the truth, and while it may not be perceived as 'original' by the audience, that's not really the point of making it. You become an artist by making art, and making art is the process of expressing your experience in a medium. Whether it is 'original' or not is certainly a concern for critics and audience, but not necessarily for the artist.

[@mrsogre]

In the late 80s I wanted to buy a hoover that plugged into the 12V socket in the car. My dad said it would be useless, but I persisted. He was right; it was useless. And he was a useless drunk who drove drunk.

[@richardfranks4252]

This is Ryan Reynolds but from another dimension.

[@IandMyFatherareOne]

The Human Self is AN ILLUSION.....!!! FACT!! We entertain a SENSE of materialism, but matter is non-existent, so our true self is OMNIPRESENT, OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT, INFINITE CONSCIOUSNESS, or INVISIBLE SPIRIT!!

[@edgarkretschmann4753]

Can someone explain all this for someone not having watched blue velvet?

[@dailyvideoconsumption]

I miss DFW

[@samuelbordes6851]

I love Guns and roses

[@antoinettegabrielle3991]

😭😭😭 literally was thinking he looked like Axl

[@james.10]

Axel Rose!!

[@chriszablocki2460]

The world doesnt deserve authentic me. Its that simple.

[@real3wcitizen]

Why do you think Jesus Christ was rejected?

[@chriszablocki2460]

@@real3wcitizen because only he could fulfill the Messianic destiny. Peter rejected him because Man is ultimately a coward. But Christ knew that he would. It's a testament to God's mercy. And understanding of our nature. One of Christ's closest followers publicly denied him to save his own ass.

[@chriszablocki2460]

@@real3wcitizen 3 times. As predicted. Peter denied him 3 times publicly. To save his own ass.

[@real3wcitizen]

​@@chriszablocki2460 Matthew 26:75 - And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. I read the Bible every day. I know that verse very well. EVEN King David did sinful acts. That information is privileged to us, not so that we be critical or find fault in scripture, but for us "Sinners" to realize that we are at fault, and that is why we need Jesus Christ to save us (It's all a test to see if you abide in Christ or not). FYI Jesus was glad that his Brother Peter didn't die that night. Peter ended up producing good and plentiful fruit, before Peter himself was crucified upside down. Christ is the ONLY Judge of "WHO IS the wrong doer and WHO is NOT. You are a mere mortal, and can never be a judge for heaven. Neither will your made-up logic save you from death. Jesus Christ is our only salvation. I pray that you get away from your sinful heart, and abide in Christ always. In Jesus name Amen

[@chriszablocki2460]

@@real3wcitizen i don't think there's much escaping my sinful ways. I think there's just praying for forgiveness for them.

[@theoperkinson6574]

The problem is that self knowledge isn't easy, I'm not even sure if it's possible.

[@real3wcitizen]

Even Nikola Tesla said his inventions didn't come from him, it came to him, and was revealed to him, but he realized even he didn't own his own concepts on a intellectual level.

[@shida5320]

It’s definitely possible

[@maximeberthiaume9943]

How?@@shida5320

[@fionnfitzpatrick]

What’s that last word he says, epipheric(?) experience..

[@AD-kv9kj]

Who cares, it's just words. Reality is not words and concepts.

[@IsiahTomas]

You see, Pauly Shore, I'm aware that this does look pretty unappealing with the whole getup, but for some reason, I'll still listen to what he says. But with you, I'm still stuck at "take off those silly ass scarves and everything that makes you look nine."

[@DylanFreeland-vk4xq]

Him, Stephen King, and Alan Moore are the greats.

[@yoe91]

did Blue Velvet do ALL that ? I thought it was a pretty interesting film, but I don't know about all that.

[@bierdlll]

Axl Rose with his new pair of spectacles.

[@real3wcitizen]

You mean John Lennon's specs

[@MarkRasslin]

His essay about David Lynch goes into more detail about his relationship to Blue Velvet. It's definitely worth a read for anyone interested. His opinions on Lynch are basically, he's an Avant Garde genius, but also kind of exploitative.

[@leonconnelly5303]

Exploitative of what?

[@MarkRasslin]

@@leonconnelly5303 people with disabilities and unusual appearances.

[@spacesuitor]

_Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship._

[@eileensmyth2505]

For better and for worse, this is a notion we've inherited from the Romantic era. It can be liberating, but it has its dark side. The imperative towards radical self-reliance for art making kills quite a bit of people's creativity just as much as it sparks others' creativity. And for the individual who takes this path, there are serious risks. We all know that like so many before him, DFW's life followed the trajectory of the tragic Romantic hero: tortured artistic genius who alienated those who loved him and eventually self-destructed. As a paradigm of creativity, this is not the greatest recipe for personal or larger cultural success, in my view. I'm not saying I have a solution, but I sure hope someone out there does.

[@pjmlegrande]

@@eileensmyth2505 I don’t see as that complicated. He was an artist and he was serious about it … he thought deeply about existence and the world around him. But he was also mentally ill. He sought and got treatment for it until one day the treatment didn’t work anymore. It’s a very sad thing.

[@dickbrett9827]

Axl Rose meets John Lennon

[@ttt69420]

So.. what you're saying is you cant work mornings on Wednesday or ?