Damon Zex

About me:

The primary outward aspect of my character is obviously my love of make-up, particularly eyeliner. I have always been interested in dramatic transformation and love to fall deeply into distinct theatrical characters. My earliest cognitive identity can be traced back to a eureka moment which occured when I started sculpting at the age of two. A lifelong fascination with acting commenced around the age of four. This innate urge to be creative hurled me like a cannonball into the realm of the arts and philosophy.

As a creator I became obsessed with the medium of pen & ink in my early twenties and proceeded to create well over one hundred works to date. After receiving my B.A. in Philosophy, I entered a multi-media art program which allowed me to combine different aspects of my various talents in installation and live performance. Throughout my aesthetic education, which has a strong emphasis in German Expressionism and Surrealism, I have mixed my intellectual fixations with my urge to express myself through the artistry of dramatic symbolism. I finished my M.F.A. with my performance, "An Evening With Damon Zex", a very Peter Sellers-esque piece where I played several absurdist characters and fused this with audience interaction.

My first experience with public access occured during my philosophy days when I made the show "Smoke Rings", a talk show where I played a psychotic cult leader who was interviewed by a conservative, all-American television host. Rebounding from satire, I proceeded to use my innate scientific skills with my video work. The investigation of hypnotic special effects began with experimental videos created through a unique, non computer generated conversion of sound into light. This initially culminated in 1987 with my first "Damon Zex" video called "Glitznik". I then collaborated with Marshall Barnes on a series of music videos which played on Much Music out of Toronto. I began my public access TV series, "Zextalk" in 1992 and continued to produce cutting edge Zex Transmissions playing in Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Columbus markets up to 2001. During this time period, I made over 250 programs ranging from acts of pure social attack, parody, surrealism, interviews, comedy, and absolute madness.

In the last several years many of my favorite shorts have played on the BBC and have been shown on UK Shock Video. Beginning in 2001 my obsession over one idea caused me to leave public access and begin working on, agonizing over, and finally finishing "Checkmate", a 28 minute nearly silent film, combining chess, one of my early loves, with sex or erotica, a key focus of my adult life. Most recently I collaborated with video artist James Dinan and created "Kundalini Killer", "The Terrible Truth", and "Asana Assassin", experimental pieces combining my pen & inks, and light wave effects with performance, and in two cases, yoga. If you are interested in viewing a wide range of my characters feel free to go to YouTube and do a Damon Zex search.

In addition to video work, designer Dan Repicz and I have created the following art websites - Checkmatethefilm.com, Zexart.com and Glitznik.com. These three websites represent the primary aspects of my creative nature - performance, visual art, and experimental scientific investigations in hypnosis.

When I am not consumed by my own creative quests, I devote my time to yoga, having investigated authentic hatha, raja, ashtanga, and kundalini for many years. However, athletically speaking, I am still a weight training fanatic at the gym. Besides a daily fitness routine, my favorite thing to do is dance with utter fury until I am thoroughly covered in sweat from head to toe. Usually, if I am driven to go out and end up on the dance floor, I am compelled to shut the establishment down, so to speak. Obviously, I have a real night owl component and love any darkly lit nightclub atmosphere. This lunar fixation probably also led to my love of horror, black clothes, and producing late night television. Yet, in all honesty, when I am not experiencing a state of Dionysian exaltation, the principle of stopping the fluctuations of the mind through calm meditative focus and concentration truly gives life its transcendent quality.

For a deeper understanding of my history as an artist go to 366weirdmovies.com and read Afred Eaker's article "Damon Zex: Intellectual Provocateur" and for more information about my film "Checkmate", read his article "Damon Zex's Checkmate". These two pieces were the result of an in depth interview with this independent filmmaker and will completely familiarize anyone with the development of my work.