In 2008, I made several measurement-related projects when I was a resident artist at Taipei Artist Village. In one of the project, I measured the length of Civic Boulevard’s 2nd Section which was next to Taipei Artist Village. I chose Johnnie Walker Black Label, a Scotch whisky, as my measure. I held the whisky in my mouth and spat it out. The distance of my spitting was defined as “one spitting Johnnie.” I started to spit at the intersection of Civic Boulevard’s 2nd Section and Chungshan North Road, walking eastward until I reached my destination at the intersection of Hsinshen North Road. After finishing 12 bottles of whiskey, I got the result that the length of Civic Boulevard’s 2nd Section was 334 “spitting Johnnies.”

I always have a feeling that the rush hour in the early morning is the most energetic moment of Taipei City. The traffic light stops a bunch of motorcycles. Looking at the countdown signals and waiting for the traffic light to turn green, motorcyclists impatiently grip the throttle, ready to spur forward in any second. I borrow the spirit of Johnnie Walker – its logo and its slogan “keep walking” – as the metaphor of that motorcycle scene in Taipei. However, there are many police offers around the area for sobriety test. A person drinking whiskey and walking along the road shows a different style of “alcohol test.” It is an extremely surrealistic and absurd comparison to the cars and the motorcycles rushing forward at the moment when the traffic light turns green.