You don’t really need a checking stick because every human being has what they call intuition: a thinking-feeling

— David Lynch. What Is David Working on Today? 6/9/20 

A ritual begins and ends in the same way — it maintains a certain structure every time it is performed. Unlike patterns, rituals are enacted consciously, and are therefore imbued with a palpable yet ineffable sense of purpose and meaning.

David Lynch has been recording himself describing the weather from his studio in Los Angeles every single day since May 11. You don’t need to subscribe to Criterion Collection to view these “Weather Reports” — they have all been uploaded to his newly-activated YouTube channel, DAVID LYNCH THEATER, along with previously difficult-to-access short films such as The 3Rs (2011) and FIRE (POZAR) (2015), as well as episodes from the 2002 horror-sitcom, RABBITS. Banal, obvious, and cocky at first glance, the Weather Reports are just as much a part of Lynch’s oeuvre as the more legibly avant-garde, surrealistic films for which he has long been famous. Each report is about one minute long, sometimes two, and after watching a few of them, one becomes acutely aware of the rigid structure to which they all adhere. Every day, steam swirls from David’s large, log-like cup of coffee, always in the same spot on his desk. Every day, David says “Good morning,” states the month, day, year, and day of the week, in that order. Every day he turns to his left to look out the window — through which the viewer can ascertain nothing — before reporting the weather “here in Los Angeles” using a batch of choice, readymade phrases. Every day he states the temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius. He concludes with a salute to the viewer: “Have a great day everybody!” Every day: the same beginning, middle, and end. 

“Here in LA we’ve got blue skies, several white, puffy clouds, and a lot of golden sunshine. Quite still…” — weather report for May 19, 2020.

The Weather Reports are hardly conventional forecasts. They cover not the country, the state, nor even the entire city in which the reporter lives, but are a direct product of his particular surroundings. Their only predictive element occurs when David states the anticipated temperatures for later in the day, which, of course, apply only to the Los Angeles area. Other than that, David observes what he sees exclusively in the present tense. He may be reporting the weather, but the weather is not the reason for watching. David Lynch’s Weather Reports thus force the viewer to ask questions of herself. She becomes aware of herself as a viewer. Why am I watching this? Why are other people watching this? What is the point of watching this? An obvious — if somewhat disparaging — answer has to do with the cult of celebrity. Would someone watch these if they didn’t know who David Lynch is? Probably not. However, this element of truth doesn’t mean that the Weather Reports are only interesting because David Lynch made them. 

 “Here in LA we’ve got beautiful blue skies, a few wispy clouds, golden sunshine coming, very still…” — weather report for June 3, 2020

It is significant that Lynch is uploading the Reports publicly. The viewer realizes that these questions — Why am I watching this? Why are other people watching this? What is the point of watching this? — apply equally to any other content she may choose to consume on YouTube. Bon Appetit doesn’t owe its 6 million subscribers to its delicious recipes, but to the personalities making them. The reasons to watch meme compilations, people eating insanely expensive food, or a pastry chef making gourmet Sour Patch Kids are just as clear — and unclear — as they are for the Weather Reports. The difference between garden variety YouTube content and Lynch’s Weather Reports is that the latter forces you, the viewer, to consciously confront yourself as such. Indeed, before I discovered that David Lynch was on YouTube, never before had I noticed the outline of my neck and shoulder, nor the silhouette of a tree blowing in the wind outside my own window, reflected in the screen before me.

As anyone who is familiar with his work will know, David Lynch has an impeccable ability to generate an attuned viewer. His Weather Reports show that he can do so in less than a minute. Even more than that, they illustrate the extent to which Lynch is a devout practitioner of art. Ask yourself: when was the last time you made sure to do something, something that nothing and no one forced you to do, at the same time, every day, for over two months? It is inevitable that, when broadcasted to an audience, such conscientious discipline will be channeled by the viewer. One can sense, intuitively, instantly, when one has stumbled upon a ritual. //