Exit not Escape

Exit not escape

Art critic Suhail Malik once wrote on possible strategies within contemporary art, and the idea of ‘exit not escape':

“Fantasies of escape are where you kind of go back into yourself, this internal reflection, whereas an exit is creatively imagining new scenarios that could change your current condition”.

In The Storytellers' office, we celebrate the unique individuals that make up our space and one area in which this manifests itself is very much the kind of music we play. I would argue that an “escape strategy” to keep everyone happy would be when we play something familiar like Fleet Foxes, the Rolling Stones or a Spotify radio station based on one of George Michael’s many hits…but an exit strategy (in most cases on a Friday afternoon) would be to take us out of our comfort zone, and into a new environment where we can experience something completely new, different, and yes, sometimes challenging. Just try ‘Lions Writing the Bible' by The Third Eye Foundation, or ‘High End Basics’ by Further Reductions and ‘Sea World’ by Young Marco, to name but a few.

“Exit not escape” is a trio of words I’ve really reflected on for a while since reading this original essay and I really love power of this. It teaches you to embrace change, and never stop seeking new areas within any context — music, film, business strategies or even what to have for lunch.

So if you fancy an exit, have a look at this. For an escape, have a look here.

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