BLACK & BLUE
GENESIS DROP BY JEN TAI
Black & Blue is a metaphor for the pain and beauty of being alive. Furthermore, the beauty of transformation and triumph that is born from the ashes of loss and failure. As life’s adversity beats us Black & Blue, we rise as imperishable spirits to prevail. With its cerulean light and Aegean shadows, this collection captures the metamorphosis that happens when we find ourselves at the right side of rock bottom, and rise to life’s greatest challenges.
THE BLACK & BLUE COLLECTION (4)
Black & Blue is really a metaphor for my “Saturn Return”; the hardest years of my life, in which I lost the first and second love of my life: my mother and fiancé. About thirty years into your life, your “Saturn Return” will beat you Black & Blue with your life’s greatest challenges; and will force you to decide who you are, what your legacy will be, and what you will leave for the world.
During the darkest years of my life, my heart ruptured twice with the pain of watching my mother lose her battle with cancer, and with the pain of watching my engagement crumble into irreparable pieces at the same time. Like an anchor chained to my ankle–the regret and resentment I felt from the devastation of loss and failure dragged me deep into a pool of pain, preventing me from reaching the surface to breath in normalcy for years. Far from reach, I saw a woman at the surface who looked just like me, an impostor living my life. In a Black & Blue reflection, I could only watch as she blew off the job I once loved, neglected the children I adored, scared off all the people I cared for, and debilitated the body I was once proud of. To no avail, I tried to swim to the surface to stop her for years, but could only watch as she not only destroyed my life, but also every meaningful relationship I cherished. Balding from stress, overweight from anxious eating, berating everyone around her, and perpetually tired from drinking around the clock–she was a pathetic and uglier shade of me, and it tortured me to watch her destroy my reputation by spreading viruses of hate and neglect throughout my entire life.
But in her path of destruction, she made one mistake that would set me free. In an attempt to nail me to the bottom of the pool for good, she traveled 2,500 miles to the Canadian Rockies, where she planned to climb one of its’ most notorious mountains alone. On an empty stomach, two hours of sleep, zero physical preparation and without proper research–she climbed the 9,600ft tall mountain for hours until her fingers bled, and until her legs gave out. After three hours of climbing past steep rock and slippery scree, she saw that the sun was going down quickly at the summit. As she chased the sun on her descent, she slid down a hill and hit a fallen tree. When she peered over it–her legs shook with what she saw. To her horror was the sight of an alluring abyss of darkness that grew as the sun went further down. A few inches of a dead tree’s diameter was the only thing that separated her from a cliff and free fall. It was here that I finally broke free. As I watched her ponder moving towards the cliff, and ponder laying next to the tree for the sun to set completely, and for the night to consume her–I knew it was time to free myself from the weight of regret and resentment that held me down from underneath the surface of my life. I accepted that there would be no white horse nor a carriage that would come for me, and that I’d need to save myself for the first time in my life. Everyone who cared about me was a world away. Being the slowest person on the mountain also meant that I was the last one to leave it, and that if I’d screamed–no one would hear me. The bottom of an empty bottle couldn’t float me up to save me now, and a pile of little green leaves wouldn’t fly me high enough to reach the surface. I’d have to find it in me to rise myself up if I wanted to breathe. However, when I finally looked down at myself to evaluate my chains–I discovered they were never chains at all. My anchors of resentment and regret were never attached to me–they were held by my own grip. All along, I looked everywhere but inward to escape the pain, and it wasn’t until I looked at myself that I discovered–only I could release myself from my prison of pain.
Black and Blue from years of holding on to the weight of regret and resentment, I let go and released my anchor to rise to the surface and finally confront my impostor. I thought of my children, my family and friends as I swam up to take my first breath of hope and joy in years–and when I climbed out, I watched my impostor shamefully climb back into the pool from which she came. As I watched her swim away, I thanked her for making me long for my loved ones, as it deepened my love for them; I thanked her for teaching me to value every opportunity that life presents, as she squandered them all over the years; I thanked her for showing me the people who truly loved me and stuck around despite her abuse towards them; and I thanked her for teaching me to value the body she left behind, one that miraculously survived her apathy and neglect.
Though my physical body was exhausted from climbing over 2,800 feet, I limped down the mountain as quick as I could, hopped into my car and flew home immediately the next morning to begin rebuilding and fixing the life my impostor had broken. In those years, I’ve collected these photos to capture my revival, and now I am finally ready to share them.
Each one of the four photos in Black & Blue represent a stage of my metamorphosis. With this drop, I hope to prove that beauty can emerge from pain. Whether you’ve reached your “Saturn Return” or not, I hope to inspire those who are Black & Blue from their own life’s adversity, to release themselves of their own agony by looking inward. We are the prisoners of our minds, the creators of our own happiness, and therefor–the architects of our own lives. The harrowing yet enchanting shades of Black & Blue are guiding colors that remind us that while transformation is painful, it is also beautiful. I hope that when you see your Black and Blue reflection in your own transformation, that you find the power to break free and crack out of your shell to breathe life into the best parts of yourself. And when you do, know that the best parts of yourself began to flourish the day you decided to rise from being Black & Blue.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT IS AN NFT?A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger. NFTs can be associated with reproducible digital files such as photos, videos, and audio. NFTs use a digital ledger to provide a public certificate of authenticity or proof of ownership, but do not restrict the sharing or copying of the underlying digital files. The lack of interchangeability (fungibility) distinguishes NFTs from blockchain cryptocurrencies, such as Etherium. While the digital files themselves are infinitely reproducible, the NFTs representing them are tracked on their underlying blockchains and provide buyers with proof of ownership of the NFTs. |
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WHAT IS FOUNDATION?Foundation is one of the most exclusive marketplaces in the crypto art space. Artists are added to the community by invitation only. This increases the overall quality of the artwork on the platform. |
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HOW DO I PURCHASE AN NFT?It depends on which blockchain your NFT is on. This collection is on the Etherium blockchain in OpenSea and Foundation. To purchase, you must have a CryptoWallet (like MetaMask) with Etherium in it. Here are some step-by-step instructions. |
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HOW DO I PURCHASE AN NFT FROM THIS COLLECTION?The whole collection can be found for purchase on both Foundation and OpenSea.
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