As an artist-in-residence at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village in Japan under the auspices of Arts-in-Residence Taipei, Tung-Yen CHOU is about to stage his solo exhibition at the Taipei Artist Village. Accompanying the solo exhibition, CHOU will give three live audio-visual performances.
The escape key lies quietly on the upper left corner of a computer keyboard. It is always good to have it, though it is not needed in most of the time. The critical meaning of this special key lies in that it allows us to tell the malfunctioned computer: “Hey, stop your work at hand. Now you have to obey to my order.”
On the eve of leaving for the Akiyoshidai International Art Village in Japan as an artist-in-residence in early 2014, CHOU wrote the following statement in an earnest manner in his creative project: “I need tranquility, I need to take a rest, and I want to observe the state of tranquility.” Detaching from his quotidian life, he created the work Saying Goodbye, a few practices. Another corresponding work is Lost in Underworld that he created in 2008 during his residence in Paris, which also focused on his temporary escape from daily life. The digital performance Teatime with me, myself and I, a work he created in Taipei where he lives, describes people’s sporadic escape from their quotidian life by virtue of a variety of technological products.
On the one hand, the three pieces of works demonstrate variant states that go beyond the daily routines. On the other hand, these works share a common keynote, that is, temporary escape is a way to return to the Self, which is more a kind of relay than an interruption. Temporary escape also serves as a mirror that reflects people’s innermost self.
