Noise Art [The script of this episode] When we talk about noise art in the 1990s, one of the most important sites is the coffee shop Sickly Sweet. Run by Wu Chong-wei, this tiny space was more than a café. It was a key gathering place for people in the arts and literary circles. Once the venue for the Exhibition of Artworks Rejected by the Taipei County Art Exhibition, Sickly Sweet frequently hosted visual art shows, experimental video screenings, theater, and alternative music performances. On view in the display case are menus, flyers, and photos of the shop’s interior, which showcase a strong aesthetic of handcraft, collage, and reinvention, reflecting the rock spirit of the time. Zero and Sound Liberation Organization, the first noise art group formed after the Wild Lily student movement, was a regular performer at Sickly Sweet. The media coverage displayed on the wall captures the sense of shock and sorrow in the arts and literary circles when the coffee shop announced its closure. Walking to your right, you’ll see a network of noise art on the wall: zines, demos, performances, and letters exchanged by noise artists from 1993 to 1995 that gradually linked Taiwan to the international art scene. Members of Zero and Sound, Lin Chi-wei, Liu Hsing-i, Steve Chan, and Liu Poli, responded to a monotonous social system and growing urban pollution through noise art and intense physical experimentation. Around this time, Wang Fujui launched Noise, the first publication in Taiwan to focus on both local and international experimental music. Zero and Sound’s debut cassette tape was also featured in Noise. Wu Chong-wei, whom we mentioned earlier, was not only the owner of Sickly Sweet, but also an alternative artist active throughout the 1990s. He organized the Taipei Broken-Life Festival and Taipei Breaking Sky Festival by the river, two landmark sites for noise art performance. With friends, Wu also cofounded New Formosa Art Festival I: Taipei International Post-Industrial Art Festival, a pivotal event that connected Taiwan with the global noise art network. The Pots Weekly published an extensive, in-depth feature on the festival, which stood in stark contrast to the sensationalist headlines found in mainstream media coverage. Walk alongside the wall and you’ll find a timeline of noise art after 1995. Lin Chi-wei and Wang Fujui remained active in the scene as artist and organizer. Zero and Sound continued to host performances until the group disbanded in 2000. Notably, Liao Ming-he, also known as Dino, was once involved in the scene. By the late 1990s, noise art had clearly begun shifting toward electronic sound. Around this time, Wang Fujui returned from studying in the U.S., and began producing sound art and experimental video under the alias Ching-Shen-Ching. As the first artist to incorporate noise art into sound installation, he also played a key role in organizing sound art festivals, helping to foster the practice in Taiwan. ---------- Relational Field: The Cultural Landscape of New Taipei in the 1990s 2025.08.16-12.21 ｜Curator｜ WANG Pin-hua ｜Artists｜ WANG Fujui, WU Mali, LIN Chi-wei, YAO Jui-Chung, KAO Jun-honn, HUANG Ming-chuan, LIU Chen-hsiang ｜Oral Archive Providers｜ Sisy CHEN, CHIEN Ming-hui ｜More Information｜https://ntcart.museum/EN/exhibition/H2507001