ESC鍵安靜地擱在電腦鍵盤的左上角，沒有太多時候被需要，但有它在總是一件好事。這顆特殊的按鈕存在的關鍵意義在於，它讓我們隨時可以對失序的電腦說：「嘿，停下你手邊的工作，現在你得聽我的。」

 

2014年初，周東彥在前往日本秋吉台駐村前夕，在創作計畫中認真的寫下：「我想要安靜，我想要休息，我想要觀察那個安靜。」從日常生活中抽身，然後有了《Saying Goodbye, a few practices》這件作品。遙相對應的他的另一次ESC，是2008年於巴黎駐村的《迷走地下計劃》，同樣把鏡頭對準了暫離狀態的自己。在住居地台北所創作的數位表演藝術作品《片刻暫離》，則是從日常出發，描繪人們透過各種科技產品，在生活中的點狀逸逃。

 

這三組作品一方面展現了不同的逸出日常生活的狀態，同時也擁有共同的基調：暫離，是為了歸返，是中繼而不是中斷；暫離也是一面鏡子，讓人得以從中照見本來的自己。

 

 

 

The Esc key sits quietly in the top left corner of the keyboard. Most of the time, we do not need it; yet it is always good to have it there. The significance of its existence lies in the fact that, because of it, we have a way to say to the computer anytime when it is out of order: “Hey, stop whatever you’re doing, and you’ll have to follow me now”.

 

Early 2014, shortly before Chou set off for his residency in Akiyoshidai, Japan, he wrote down in the proposal: “I would like to have some moments of peace, I would like to rest, I would like to observe these moments of peace”. Saying Goodbye, a few practices came into place during this time in which the artist had the chance to free himself from daily life. Lost in Underworld, a project from Chou during his residency in Paris in 2008, is also an echo of this longing, in which the artist likewise inspects himself in a state of temporary escape. Moments of Escape, on the other hand, was created in Taipei where Chou resides. This piece of digital performance art sets forth from daily experiences and maps out people’s points of escape via various sorts of gadgets and technical products.

 

The 3 works in this exhibition present different states of escape from daily life while retaining a common tenor: to escape is to return. It is an intermission rather than an end. Escape is a mirror, in which one sees the self as it is.