Artist's Statement

     As a disclaimer, we should say that this is a true story and is recalled to the best of our ability. But, let’s face it: memory is fickle and can fade and warp over time. "No Matter What They Say, Don’t Believe a Word" happened roughly ten years ago, but we strove to stay true to the memory and the story.

     The narrative itself was originally titled "The Great Escape" and was a short story we co-wrote. It was and continues to be a favorite memory between us and embodies many elements of our friendship: pranks, rebellion, and saving one another.

We wanted to do more than just write the story, we wanted to share it with an audience beyond ourselves and thus "No Matter What They Say, Don’t Believe a Word: A Digital Story" was born.  

     Told via a website that encourages the audience to piece together the story while exploring a high school setting, listening to bits and pieces of the narrative, and getting to know our teenage selves.

We want our audience to feel what we felt.

That hot fluttering of rebelliousness in your stomach.

The sharp feeling of embarrassment

followed up with anger so intense you grit your teeth.

The fear and thrill, the adrenaline shot from being alive.

     This digital story has a lot of meaning behind it, and we hope that all of our audience will get something from it:

To those of you who were once a teenager, we hope you can relate.

To those of you who are teenages, we hope you have a friendship like this one.

To girls, we hope you don’t have to be embarrassed or punished by proclaiming that you started your period.

To boys, we hope you see that menstruation isn’t icky and that everyone should have an epic bromance.

To teachers and parents, we hope you don’t hold this against us and understand teen angst a little more.

To everyone, we hope this make you laugh and call up your best friend to relive all your own moments.

A true friendship is a great gift and we are happy we get to share ours with you.