DIRECTOR X
The Multisensory Director Preaching Mindfulness
Superfly feature films, thought-provoking art, and social change through meditation? Julien Lutz, professionally known as Director X, clearly has that … say it with us … X factor. The Canadian is not only one of the top music video directors in the game, having helmed clips for Drake, Rihanna and more, but his brilliance also shines in the art world, as the mastermind behind two immersive, multisensory 360-degree film pieces that wowed the crowds at Canada’s Nuit Blanche festivals in 2016 and 2019. His true mic-drop project, though, may be his mindfulness-based Operation Prefrontal Cortex initiative, which he co-founded to address gun violence in and around Toronto. The artist, who shared his own personal experience in his riveting 2019 TEDx Talk “Message to the Man Who Shot Me,” is proof that true talent and passion are more powerful than any weapon.
Projects
By projecting breathtaking visuals upon a 45-foot glowing sphere during a 12-minute multisensory experience, Julien Lutz made Nuit Blanche visitors’ heads spin with Death of the Sun, proposing what the star will look upon its final demise. In Life of the Earth, he traced the sights and sounds of our planet’s existence from the time of the dinosaurs through the “chaos of today,” including climate change, all projected onto screens surrounding a rotating 55-foot sphere. Also in 2019, he took aim at the high rate of gun violence around Toronto, co-founding Operation Prefrontal Cortex. The initiative, which was inspired by his own experiences, pushes to bring meditation programs into schools, police departments and correctional facilities, as well as onto the streets. You can even find his own guided meditations on YouTube.
