Artist:  Rachel Eddy
Year:  2014
Medium:  Audio
Artist Statement:  N/A

Audio Transcript:  Blue and White

Blue is the colour of being told you talk too much
Blue is the weight of never feeling good enough
Blue is chasing after the friend who’s giving up
Blue is the empty spaces undeserving of love
Blue is when your values are at war with your impulse
When you can’t get a grip on the ground you rely on
Blue is taking away the choice to walk, only run
Blue is the requirement of adrenaline to have fun.

White is the ability to constantly achieve straight A’s
White is the temporal snapshot of the answer on the page
White is being able to function without sleep for days
White is no one ever telling you “you don’t have what it takes”
White is somehow always being able to find time
White is the love of my life resting assured that he’s always on my mind
White is moving forward too quickly to ever fall behind
White is the sponge in my head being called “a beautiful mind.”

They tell me I’m angry, they tell me I’m anxious
Defeat knows that breathing will precipitate anguish
They tell me I’m broken; we don’t speak the same language
I say I’m battered by the ‘quick fixing’ masses
My world spins so quickly, all at once I see what was, is, and what could be
I begged for some mercy
Throw a blue and white cog in these gears and let my find rest.

Blue and white, these are the colours painting my peace of mind
Blue and white, upping the ante so the demons don’t chase me at night
Blue and white, these are the colours that keep me from losing my mind
Blue and white.

Artist: Samantha Raphael
Year: 2014
Medium: Song
Artist Statement: I wrote the song “Taking Back the Crazy” in support of the Mad Pride Movement. The song discusses the necessity of reclaiming the language of Madness, the focal word being ‘Crazy’. If we cannot erase labels we can at least alter their connotations. I hope it’s catchy!