Press Release

Currently Shock Video UK is airing his Breakfast with Damon Zex on Britain’s Channel 4. “After creating this short I decided to delve into my two favorite obsessions, chess and sexual control. There is nothing more interesting than the dramatic tension resulting from the intellectual struggle between man and woman,” Zex said. “By distilling and crystallizing my idea for a three year period, I felt I could transcend past aesthetic plateaus and strike at the media with a work cognitively radioactive.” And that may be what precisely what this artist has produced. In addition to its surreal content, Checkmate is reminiscent of Ernie Kovacs’ Silent Eugene, the first purely visual program ever broadcast on national television. When watching Checkmate one immediately notices the Kubric gone dada, Chaplin/Sellers quality permeating the mood of this cinematic phenomenon.

“Before I could actually compose my statement to this abysmal Orwellian world we are living in, I needed to crystallize my own anti-utopian philosophy,” Zex coolly commented. Whether or not one understands Zex’s methodology, it is clear Checkmate resonates on a level far above the more blatant programs he created during the previous decade. “I wanted to give myself time to gage the new paradigm of the twenty-first century,” Zex added. Zex’s audience which includes a relatively wide cross section of the population will ultimately judge for themselves if Checkmate will in fact beat the media phalanx at its own game. However, whether or not this piece is viewed for its philosophical, stylistic, or entertainment merits, once viewed it cannot be forgotten. In an age of tiresome debate, worn out reruns, banal music videos, second rate talk shows, pitiful sitcoms, and overrated blockbusters Checkmate is precisely the breath of fresh air the disabled entertainment industry needs.



After a mysterious three year hiatus from the video realm, Damon Zex has finally emerged with Checkmate, a twenty-seven minute performance based film destined to turn the stagnate media world on its head. This essentially silent drama involving chess and S&M set to Mahler is Zex’s answer to both the annihilation of the First Amendment and the preponderance of talking heads polluting the media landscape. “Since freedom of speech has been virtually abolished across this nation, I thought it appropriate to create an artwork which shocks and intrigues the viewer through the sheer force of its imagery,” Zex commented. Zex, a multi-media artist who invaded the public access arena across the country for a decade in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Columbus, Ohio with an otherworldly black comedy, left his television invasion to take a step back from the creative process and assess the human race. “Sometimes it’s necessary to call a halt to the pinwheels of creativity before choosing to say something significant,” Zex stated.
Currently Shock Video UK is airing his Breakfast with Damon Zex on Britain’s Channel 4. “After creating this short I decided to delve into my two favorite obsessions, chess and sexual control. There is nothing more interesting than the dramatic tension resulting from the intellectual struggle between man and woman,” Zex said. “By distilling and crystallizing my idea for a three year period, I felt I could transcend past aesthetic plateaus and strike at the media with a work cognitively radioactive.” And that may be what precisely what this artist has produced. In addition to its surreal content, Checkmate is reminiscent of Ernie Kovacs’ Silent Eugene, the first purely visual program ever broadcast on national television. When watching Checkmate one immediately notices the Kubric gone dada, Chaplin/Sellers quality permeating the mood of this cinematic phenomenon. “Before I could actually compose my statement to this abysmal Orwellian world we are living in, I needed to crystallize my own anti-utopian philosophy,” Zex coolly commented. Whether or not one understands Zex’s methodology, it is clear Checkmate resonates on a level far above the more blatant programs he created during the previous decade. “I wanted to give myself time to gage the new paradigm of the twenty-first century,” Zex added. Zex’s audience which includes a relatively wide cross section of the population will ultimately judge for themselves if Checkmate will in fact beat the media phalanx at its own game. However, whether or not this piece is viewed for its philosophical, stylistic, or entertainment merits, once viewed it cannot be forgotten. In an age of tiresome debate, worn out reruns, banal music videos, second rate talk shows, pitiful sitcoms, and overrated blockbusters Checkmate is precisely the breath of fresh air the disabled entertainment industry needs.