你世界的边界，在哪里？

多年前，在香港，误打误撞走进了一个小书店，迎面而来的是满满一书架的旅游书籍。我们翻开厚厚的一本Lonely Planet纽约指南，第一页的一句话睁大着眼睛看着我们：“你所需要做的就是出发的决定，这样，最难的部分就攻克了。”从那以后，我们把足迹逐渐烙印在更多的目的地。出发得越多，探索越多，对多元文化的热爱越多。

我们要开放一家咖啡店的决定是在一次维也纳的旅程中作出的。在那我们偶遇了许多创始于19世纪的咖啡店。喝着当地特色的mélange咖啡，听着窗外石板路马蹄踏过的嗒嗒嗒嗒，看着我们正坐着的椅子上，镌刻着几百年前常光顾于此的伟大文学家的名字，忽然冥冥之声在耳边回响，小小的种子在心中播撒 ——用对咖啡的爱链接不同的文化。

你所到达的远方，便是你世界的尽头。我们持续探索遥远无穷。跨洋航班缩短了地理距离，却让我们敢在脑海里把世界的边界持续往更深处推。在伊丹机场，我们的注意力被出发口一阵唰唰唰翻页的声音所吸引，原来是一个机械翻页显示屏。科技抱起每一个人离地飞奔，LED风卷残云地占领每一个可能的角落，竟然还有地方把时光凝固，致敬这种怀旧的，耗时打造的，精妙绝伦的机械文明。无论去到何处，每次听到翻页的声音，脑海里总会浮现起站在伊丹机场，像孩子一样，怀抱好奇，带着期冀，猜测下一个画面的场景。除了探索这些真实可触摸的世界，我们也探索无能为力的情感和无法用语言表达的感觉：思忆，爱，梦境，沉默。。。。。。好朋友Echo曾推荐我们参观东京森美术馆中伟大艺术家塩田千春的个展。她对于生命和死亡的观察和思考编制在缠绕着整个空间的红色黑色丝线装置中。’生命是唯一的’。短短的一生，你的世界边界在哪里嘎然而止？

沿途的探索给予我们许多灵感，一个强烈的欲望萦绕于胸，要把这样的灵感也发射到帮助我们拓展了世界边界的人。在LOCK CHUCK我们认识了同样对世界充满好奇的好朋友Christine。每次见面都能分享彼此的旅行故事。恰好她所在的中信银行一直推广环球信用卡，鼓励更多的年轻人踏出国界，前往未知。为什么不联合起来？合作的主题迅速地浮现。“Go Explore 探索吧！”。用快闪店的方式唤起每一位探索的冲动。

首先想到的是来自芬兰的建筑学教授Teemu Hirvilammi。在广东工业大学担任客座教授期间，我们通过咖啡成为了好朋友。他渊博的学识和乐于分享的精神时刻鼓舞着我们。在他的最新作品，自己家的房子，他探索如何把芬兰传统和当代艺术结合在一起，获得了全世界顶尖设计杂志的收录报道。我们兴奋地和他分享这个项目，并邀请他加入，设计快闪店的艺术装置。在一起讨论项目的时候，我们环球探索的记忆相互碰撞。发现彼此都喜欢着纽约人行道搭建起来的脚手架过道，原始却充满美感。于是脚手架的元素被融入到装置的设计当中。另外两种常见的建筑材料，阳光板和胶合板，也因为我们发现了他们隐藏的美丽，被运用到设计中。

我们迸发的能量在装置的设计的细节中中得到呼应：锐利的线条，V字型的吧台，巧妙地融合了我们的闪电logo的骨架结构。

一个在店铺内手工制作的翻牌装置也变成设计的一部分。我们足够摩登，但传统和经典总能触碰到柔软的内心。热爱创造的精神再次被发扬，我们做了大量的研究和测试，用卡片和吸管自制了一个翻牌装置。在现场，除了我们热情洋溢的招呼，你还能听到在伊丹机场让我们发出赞叹的翻页声音。

还有全世界不同角落优秀的年轻人共同加入到Go Explore快闪店的项目，用独特的视角引领你去探索。我们的好朋友温温，一位运营着自己工作室的本地设计师，和Teemu教授一起把探索的概念可视化。她加入了更多吸引你驻足的细节，比如不对称的设计，又比如喷上主题颜色的金属连接部件。

我们最爱的本地艺术家Evan再次担任视觉设计。“对于我来说，这颗神秘的星球就是一串数字密码。”在我们每周一次的头脑风暴上他说。一系列的数字被融入到了海报，徽章，贴纸等的视觉设计中。荧光绿色被精心挑选出来作为主题颜色，如同黑洞中闪烁的微光，足够神秘却又充满能量。

相似的想法总能共振出最大的声响。我们的印尼摄影师William知道如何在镜头中创造一个新的世界。在探索可能性的方面，还有比他更好的例子吗？他的作品一直给我们新的灵感。相信你也会。

在这一群年轻人中，还有正在打造自己品牌的日本好朋友Seiji。作为一个自学成才的摄影师，在捕捉最好的一刻，他从未妥协。当我们讨论Go Explore的时候，他突然迸发出一个想法，要用视频来传递探索的概念。总是勇于试验，总是散发停不下的热情，他导演了4支短片，分别是探索城市，探索自我，探索传统和探索明天。另一位我们十分喜爱的熟客好朋友滔哥执掌镜头。到底有多少年轻才俊齐聚LOCK CHUCK，他们的想法又将激发怎样的火花？拭目以待。

12月，和我们一起探索世界。

探索的边界

无论是真实的物理世界还是虚无的精神世界，总有许多值得我们探索。我们邀请了日本的好朋友Seiji来导演了一系列短片，用以吸引大家加入我们关于探索的讨论。

城市探索
导演: Seiji Iwaki
摄影: 滔哥

自我探索
导演: Seiji Iwaki
摄影: Olivier, Dmo明
表演: Amy

探索吧快闪店 @ 中信广场

探索对你来说，意味着什么？

你的世界，边界在哪里？

几年前我们前往阿姆斯特丹，在梵高博物馆，刚好有一场特别的展览：蒙克：梵高。蒙克和梵高这两位伟大的艺术家用一生的时间在探索生命的循环，爱，磨难，恐惧，慰藉和精神世界。他们选择的题材各不相同，但都不约而同地穷尽短暂的艺术生涯追寻我们都在追问却没有答案的问题。在展览的结束，策展人提问：看了蒙克和梵高充满感情的画作，你的感觉是什么？你害怕什么？上一次坠入爱河是什么时候？上一次流泪又是什么时候？你相信什么？

深深地被他们对世界的探索所打动，我们也开始像他们一样，探索世界的无穷。去到最远的远方，便是世界的边界。探索越多，越有一个强烈的愿望，把沿途获得的灵感与你们分享。正因如此，我们策划了一个以“探索吧”为主题的快闪店。

我们首先向好朋友提问：探索对你来说，意味着什么？

答案丰富多彩，有的以视觉效果呈现，有的以文字呈现。我们的摄影师William Saimin 用镜头回答了这个问题。对他来说，每天在家乡雅加达错综复杂的街道上穿梭都是一次新的探索。这一次，他去到了Glodok地区，一个中国文化在印尼扎根和发芽的发源地。我们最爱的本地艺术家Evan为本次快闪店设计的视觉方案也启发了William。他用黑白以及荧光绿色把沿途的探索定格下来。

好的想法，相互共鸣

在我们的脑海里，始终萦绕着一个声音，那就是去探索吧。探索真实可触摸的物理世界，探索说不清道不明的精神世界。从第一天开放到现在，我们认识了来自全世界不同角落的好朋友。他们的探索深深的激励着我们。值此项目，我们发出了邀请，请他们分享关于探索的故事。希望他们的故事能够激励到仍在犹豫的你。

1

Phil Walz, Australia

Our story began in January 2015. We were living in a mid-sized town called Bendigo, situated in central-Victoria (Australia). Rachel and I were going through the motions of normal, everyday life, yet we knew that we needed a change; we needed something to ‘shift’.

We’d recently learned that my sister and her husband, then living in a small town not far from us, had accepted jobs working at an international school in Beijing! They only had 4 weeks to pack up their house, make their arrangements, and fly-out to Beijing for the start of the school’s second semester. Rachel and I offered to go to the airport with them to see them off.

As soon as I learned of this big adventure, something within me did indeed shift. Something said “this is what I’ve been looking for!”. We said a tearful farewell to my sister and her family at the airport, and watched as they boarded the plane. Driving home later, both Rachel and I looked at each other and – in unison – said “we’ve got to try that! Let’s make some inquiries…”

Within a month of doing this we had registered with a company who place teachers in international schools all over the world. We had our eyes opened to the almost endless possibilities of countries to live and teach in! However, having previously traveled to China on a backpacking holiday back in 2005, plus the fact that we now had family living there, we decided to aim for one of the major cities in China.

Throughout the 2015 year, we researched and contacted many schools in China. We read books and watched documentaries on Chinese history and culture. The company we’d registered with hosted a number of ‘job fairs’ around the world, to recruit new teachers for international schools. We registered for the job fair in Melbourne in January 2016.

The Melbourne job fair was fast-paced, intense, and incredibly exciting! We met with a few schools, and were offered a number of teaching positions. By the end of the 3-day job fair, we’d walked away having accepted positions at an international school in Guangzhou, starting in July 2016.

The next few months were a complete whirlwind of busyness, excitement, disbelief in what we were about to do, and also stress. We completed the renovation on our home, found tenants for it, arranged for our belongings to go into storage, said good-bye and farewell to our work colleagues and close friends and family, and before we knew it we were boarding an 8:30am flight to Guangzhou on July 25th, 2016.

Seek advice, confide in a good friend, be brave and ‘Go Explore!’

The next 2.5 – 3 years living in Guangzhou was, in itself, it’s own great adventure, with many new things, exciting travel, frustrations, blessings, friendships and doubts. I could share many stories about our travels and exploration in this time. However, as the theme is ‘Go Explore’, I believe that the biggest and potentially most challenging step we took was actually deciding to leave our home country to live overseas; to go and ‘Explore’ life outside of Australia.

For us, it was a real roller-coaster ride of emotions in the few months leading up to our flight to Guangzhou. While we were absolutely certain that – as a couple – this adventure would be wonderful for us and was the right things for us to do at that time – it did bring with it some hesitation and doubts; doubts around leaving family and close friends, doubts around how we’d cope in a completely foreign country, doubts and fears around leaving all that was familiar to us.

As I touched-on earlier, even before learning that my sister’s family had decided to move to Beijing, both Rachel and I knew that we needed a change. We knew that something needed to ‘shift’ for us, and that our time living in Bendigo was drawing to a close. At the time we didn’t know exactly that this meant, or what this ‘shift’ was going to look like. We looked at other jobs, other towns, etc, always exploring different options but with nothing ever feeling ‘right’; nothing, that is, until the idea of moving overseas came to us. As soon as we heard about my sister, something very definite and unmistakable shifted in us both.

And so, for us, I think there were three (3) things that were important: firstly, we’d reached a point where we knew something needed to ‘shift’. We wanted a change. In some ways we felt like we’d outgrown the stage of life that we’d found ourselves in. Secondly, we quite deliberately made the choice to remain open to all possibilities. We didn’t want to limit ourselves or limit what options might be presented to us as we looked and researched and explored. And finally, we sought the advice and perspective of some older, wiser, and trusted friends who knew us and were honest with us.

These three factors, we believe, we vital in us starting on our big adventure to ‘Go Explore’! For those feeling restless, for those believing that they need something to ‘shift’, for those with a hunger for adventure; we encourage to explore this. We encourage you to do due diligence for the sake of yourself and listen to what you’re telling yourself. Seek advice, confide in a good friend, be brave and ‘Go Explore!’

Our adventure changed our lives, and has changed forever how we view the world.

Our best wishes and hope for peace go with you all!

2

Raphaella Ruggiero, United Kingdom

My third year of university was not like most university students. It didn’t count as my last and final year. In fact, it was my placement year. And it was not one I spent in Bath, where I’d spent my past 2 years studying.

Growing up in London, there’s a lot of hidden quirks to the city that allow you to fall in love with the seemingly dreary and mundane. The city and it’s aggressively polite people, everyone with places to be, things to do, people to meet, foods to try, events to attend. London is the city of the grey and mild. But give us Londoners an ounce of sun, and watch the city thrum like a kicked bees nest.

All the placements in London were highly competitive, highly corporate and highly…not me.

With that said, you’d think my placement year would have me jumping at the chance to stay in London. Earn money, get work experience, all with the ease of living rent-free at home, well-fed by papa Luigi. But alas, it was not meant to be. All the placements in London were highly competitive, highly corporate and highly…not me. I am a creative that is infatuated by the natural world. I took biology at university and the idea of working in a grey, dull, fluorescently-lit lab sounded almost as bad as cutting out my pink and green hair, removing my piercings and wearing a suit and heels everyday.

No, London was not to be my playground for my placement year.

Where I did happen to end up, by mere curiosity, was in fact, China. And whilst I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I will likely not become a teacher in future, China opened up a whole new world to me. A new language, amazing people from both lands near and far, KTV, motorcycle taxis’, mountains, valleys, coffee shops, seafood bbq’s and rooftop cafes.

So you see, London will always hold a place in my heart, but China, well, I wear her on my sleeve. Literally. My last 24 hours in China, I spent getting a tattoo on my left bicep. I created the design by fusing images I from postcards I had bought of the avatars mountains (Zhangjiajie) in black and white watercolour whilst visiting the National Park. And whilst tattoos are a permanent reminder of all that my year in China encompassed, the design itself can’t even comprehend the memories it retains, one for every dot of ink in my skin. An adventure up a mountain with my two favourite Welshies (@undoubtedlythomas and @emily_leader), getting the tattoo recommendation from my favourite coffee shop of all time @Lockchuckcoffee and watching @lazycrazydaisyyy squeal whilst getting her first tattoo, are just a few in a drop of thousands.

In my 23 years, there are two things I know for certain:

There’s no place in the world like China. And there’s no place in the world like London.

Or .. then again, maybe there is. I guess I’ll have to just keep exploring.

PS I miss you, I miss Lock Chuck, I miss the Christmas party that made me feel so at home. Hope you are well and to see you in the near future.

With love,

3

Lily Clare, United States

I don’t know if curiosity is a trait that can be attributed to one’s DNA but if I look at the women in my family, I suspect curiosity is hereditary.

My grandmother was born into a lower-middle class family. She didn’t have the funds to travel, but she was curious. She read books about far away places and listened to music from around the world. She hid her curious nature with grace and charm but her true self would eventually come through. She eloped with a man whom she met on a bus. She would sneak out of the house at night to teach herself to drive her husband’s car. She was always making friends from all walks of life. She sought out ways to expand and explore her world however she could.

Her daughter had that same curiosity about the world. She chose to study drama, exploring characters and places through theatre. She left her hometown and traveled to the big city of New York to study and then to England. After returning to the States, her desire to explore never faded. She collected folk tales and art from far off places. If she couldn’t go out to see the world, she could try to bring small pieces of the world to herself.

Then this woman had three daughters, one of which is me. Though me and my siblings all have a wild hair, I’m the one who ended up on the opposite side of the Earth. My mother and grandmother never asked me what I was thinking. They knew what was driving me.

One of my favorite explorations was when I was able to do my exploring with these two women.

Maybe it was the winding alleyways or the chilly wind, but Edinburgh had something that woke our explorative spirits. At that time, I lived in Edinburgh. Many of the things that had become common to me stood out to my grandmother and mom. The historic architecture, the green parks, the stone streets are not everyday sights to many people. There’s a castle in the middle of the city! How many cities have a castle on a hill right in the middle?! My grandmother was even impressed by more modern features like the robust bus system and convenient trains. Seeing the city through their eyes took me back to how I felt when I first saw Edinburgh. I was immediately refreshed.

My grandmother felt especially brave on this trip. In every castle we visited, she peeked in every nook and cranny, climbed up every staircase. One particularly dark and narrow spiral staircase attracted my grandmother. I did not think it was a good idea for her to climb, but she would not accept any limits based on her age. We slowly ascended the cold stone steps and at the top we found ourselves at a beautiful outdoor view of the castle grounds and the nearby river, the cold wind blowing through our hair and the smell of the water tickling our noses. At 90 years old, my grandmother had more zest than the average 30 year old. And for everything she saw, she had a sense of appreciation and awe. My grandmother and mom reminded me to hold on to my wonder. Edinburgh has history, romance, and mystery and I had almost forgotten.

I keep this in mind now in Guangzhou. Although I’ve lived here for four years, I continue looking at my surroundings with curiosity and wonder. I explore as often as possible by trying new foods, going to new places, or just trying to view my current situation through someone else’s eyes. This mindset of exploration keeps life fresh and new. It keeps me looking forward to the next day and the next adventure. The women in my family have given this trait to me and I now feel the responsibility to pass it on and encourage others to explore.

5

Aaron McKenzie, New Zealand

The Art of Exploring

“You don’t have to be a hero to accomplish great things or to compete.

You can just be an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” – Sir Edmund Hilary

I grew up an “ordinary” kid, in an “ordinary” family but it didn’t mean I was destined to be just “ordinary”. I knew, I was destined to explore, through the art of travel.

The only way I knew to how to accomplish this was by leaving the village I grew up in and travel the globe. Knowing that there would never been an end to this exploration trip, just like the once great explorers seeking out new lands knowing they would never step foot on their homeland soil again, but all for the greater good.

For me, to explore the world, with its beauty, rawness, difference in cultures and people is one of the greatest adventures any person could hope to have.

The last 20+ years of travel has made me realise that my passion, or really what sparks joy daily, is motivating and submerging myself into challenging situations, complicated life puzzles, cultures so completely foreign, countries so far removed from my own homeland.

“I will go anywhere as long is it is forward” as David Livingston once said.

4

Kaka, China

I always wonder why I would exist? Who I should be? Where do I really belong to? Am I born to be someone great and successful? Or I will just be nobody no matter how hard I try? All those questions are always flying around in my head.

I came from a very traditional Chinese family and grow up here in this beautiful city Guangzhou. I used to be very lazy and wanted no responsibilities on my shoulders, and surprisingly I knew exactly how to escape from it. I was gifted.

As all you know, a traditional family always comes with a traditional dad. It’s like a fixed package. I knew my dad loves smart kids. He would do everything to teach you all his life experiences and lessons once he finds out that you are seeking the knowledges from the society. By learning from a master who is too willing to teach, there are always coming with tons of pressures. To the young me that I used to be, pressures will be the last thing I would ever want to touch only second to touching a cockroach. So, I pretended to be so innocent and blank, cared about nothing, easily cried and easily smiled. That created a daughter image who was too simple to step into the society or facing any pressures, not even smart enough to pass an exam. Thanks to that, my dad most likely gave up to push me to become one of those top kids, and spending all his hope on my sister and brother. I had a very casual, non-pressure, free and easy childhood. I even thought I am ok with it when my dad said to me that I don’t need to be anyone successful, just marry a rich man, have a lot of kids and be a happy wife forever after.

I was so addicted to live an easy life, until one day, I was chatting with my favorite art teacher.

“Linda, I am wondering what the world outside of this country is like. Do you think it’s a good idea if I could ever go abroad and study? ”

“Are you serious?”

“Yea, too risky, right? I thought so too.”

Linda adjusted her sitting position and tried to give me a face with all the seriousness:

“You should definitely go, honey! Trust me! You finally realize your personality has nothing to explore here. I have been waiting for you to say it at the very first day you became my student. You have such a creative mind waiting for you to notice.”

In fact, I had never thought about whether my personality could be explored or not, but it was the first moment in my life I have had ever hearing some voices deep from my heart. I wanted to go out.

By the time, my sister was studying aboard in Arizona, United States. So she would be my one and only key to open the gate of getting out of here. I called my sister, making sure there will be a summer camp going on at her school, and let her helped me through all the paper works. Then here comes the big boss.

I walked in to my dad’s room with my classic innocent and know nothing about the world face:

“Daddy, do you think I can go to the summer camp at sister’s school? She strongly recommended me to give it a try, it will be an awesome summer to study different cultures and practice my English, don’t you think?”

He looked at me with his ‘don’t-lie-to-me’ eyes with a cigarette holding by his hand.

“Can you promise you will come back right after the camp?”

My dad surely had a hunch of what I was planning to do, but he was also sure that I won’t have the guts to not coming back.

“Of course I am coming back after the camp, where else can I be once the camp ended?” I answered with my guilty heart.

Maybe it was because I finally showed some curiosity of the world; maybe my dad was too sure that I was not an outgoing person; or maybe I was just lucky my dad was having a good mood. I got the permission nodded from my dad.

In July, I finally step my footprint on the land of United States. I took a deep breath of the air of freedom. The first thing I got to the school, I called my dad saying I am going to stay until I finish college. Yep! I am sure you can imagine the rest of story of what I’ve been through with my dad. And I started my independent life of studying aboard in the following 7 years.

Even though I am still nobody today to the world like I used to dream of, but I think I’ve made one of the best decisions in my life that I will be proud of forever. I completely changed my life, my personality, my spirit and all. I am finally ME.

It doesn’t matter why you exist. No one can tell you who you should be. You don’t belong to anyone or anywhere. You belong to yourself. The most successful thing you could ever do is to be YOU. There is no meaning of being successful without the soul of who you truly are. So I guess, I will just keep seeking the way of success, but along the way, who I truly am is the one and only thing I should never forget and keep exploring.