As a college student trying to manage transitioning into adulthood and handling my own responsibilities, there’s nothing I experience more wholeheartedly than good ol’ existential dread. Somewhere in between learning about the horrible injustices of the world and my own personal nihilism, I just can’t bring myself to wake up and greet the world with renewed positive energy every day. I need eclectic mediums of art to consume recklessly to numb the realization that the world is just going to drag on. With that, I have a few recommendations for art to consume when you can no longer binge watch Bob’s Burgers until Netflix asks if you’re still there like a concerned and slightly patronizing friend.
- Isolated vocal tracks: My favorites are Marvin Gaye singing “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” and David Bowie singing “Ziggy Stardust.” There is something uniquely comforting about a song that normally feels warm and full of energy transition into only the lonely voice of the singer as it reverberates in the song. It feels intimate, like they’re specifically singing to you.
- The Vine of the shiba inu dancing to Toto: This Vine could resurrect me from the dead,and yes, Vines are definitely art (RIP Vine though).
- Listen to Sugarhill Gang- “Rapper’s delight“: My seventh grade language arts teacher used to play this song for our first period class at seven in the morning. It still gets me hyped to this day. It’s also 15 minutes long, so realistically you can play it 96 times in one day. Groovy.
- Look though an art picture book: I usually go to the library since those books are the cost of my arm, three months worth of groceries and a lock of Michael Cera’s hair. You can also look through them while you’re in pajamas and in bed, in contrast to spending hours walking through a stuffy museum. You can probably take a picture of your favorite art in the book in the right lighting, post it on Instagram and no one ever has to know you didn’t actually go to The Louvre over the weekend.
- A podcast with cool women talking about relevant issues: Sometimes when I’m lonely I’ll just play a podcast of hilarious people talking to each other in the background. I’ll pretend I’m a part of those conversations where you’re just listening and there’s no entry point. Basically every frat party ever (ammmirite ladies). My favorites are Amateur Hour and 2 Dope Queens, both of which you can find on iTunes. If I’m feeling really spicy I’ll play an Oyez court argument.
