David Lynch: Dark Night of the Soul
by Julie Wolfson
A physical exegesis of the album Dark Night of the Soul, controversial filmmaker David Lynch collaborated with the album's creators—Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse—to create a two-room installation at the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles.
The intermingling of the music and photos was no accident. A huge fan of Lynch, Danger Mouse approached the filmmaker about working together on a project. Lynch, inspired by the music from Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, began taking photos that fit the mood of their melodies.
Even more fittingly, music from Dark Night of the Soul plays throughout the rooms housing fifty of Lynch's photos, which, mounted on aluminum panels, appear as though they're floating on the gallery walls. The album itself features tracks created with the Flaming Lips, Iggy Pop, Frank Black, James Mercer (The Shins), Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Suzanne Vega and many others.
On top of the album, the project also includes a limited-edition book with 100+ pages of original photography from Lynch, in addition to a 24×36-inch poster and a custom designed CD-R—Danger Mouse's way of avoiding a lawsuit with record label EMI, the blank CD-R as an artifact to use however deemed suitable. The album is available for purchase online for $50.
Dark Night of the Soul
Through 11 July 2009
Michael Kohn Gallery
8071 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048 map
tel. +1 323 658 8088
