Alex is currently a freshman studying journalism at the Walter Cronkite school.I once was so overwhelmed by art I had a seizure. Unlike a lot of blog introductions, filled with compelling but unfortunately false hooks, this is no exaggeration - I literally seized from looking at too much art.
Before we get to the meat of that tale, allow me to introduce myself: I’m Alex. I’m a freshman at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, focusing on print and public relations, and am blogging about art for the State Press this semester. I have ten fingers, ten toes and once had a tooth growing from the roof of my mouth. I like writing, sketching, long walks in the park and lots of hot sauce on my mac n’ cheese.
But to save myself from sounding too much like an e-Harmony user profile, let’s finish that story.
Jamming out to “Don’t Trust Me” by 3Oh!3 at the mature age of 14, I became increasingly enthralled with the song’s YouTube video: a mix-up of the sound-generated visualizations that accompany any audio file filtered through Windows Media Player. Allowing myself to stare at the screen, I found myself unable to look away from the hypnotizing shapes, spirals and patterns.
Then I hit the ground.
That’s right, I was having a full-blown seizure - eyelids fluttering, body convulsing, the whole nine yards - all thanks to something called flicker vertigo. In layman’s terms, strobe lights, old computer screens and any other flashing lights cause me to seize out.
Now listen, I know many people wouldn’t consider the cute, Windows Media spirals “art,” but that’s just the type of in-the-box thinking I want to kill with Eye Candy.
Without sounding too much like our peers up at NAU, art is everywhere and comes in all shapes and sizes. Music, technology, words, sketches - everything is art. Someone, an artistic someone nonetheless, created that Windows program and tweaked it until they thought it was something beautiful.
While Eye Candy will focus mainly on the Downtown Phoenix area, content will include (but won’t be limited to): artist features, art-related event and product reviews, DIY arts/crafts and opinion pieces.
Honestly though, I need your help! If you know (or are) a talented local artist, let me know - I’m looking for artists of any medium to feature. If you know of (or are hosting) a suave, art-related event, I’m more than ready to jump on the lightrail and review it. If you simply want to throw out a topic for me to write about or even want to give me a critique, please feel free to comment below or contact me via email or Twitter (links below).
In short, I’m extremely excited to start this venture. I hope I successfully entertained you with my silly seizure story and in turn peaked your interest about Eye Candy.
Contact me at adersch@asu.edu or via Twitter @AlexDersch with questions, suggestions or comments.
