Lurking Waves: Fujui Wang / Collected Objects from the ’90s

The influential sound artist, sound creation pioneer and promoter Fujui Wang will be the subject of Lurking Waves, an exhibition to be held at TheCube Project Space from October 5 to December 8, 2013. The exhibition presents documentation from the early period of Wang’s career, including publications, cassette tapes and CDs produced by Wang’s experimental music label NOISE founded in 1993. Correspondence and objects exchanged between Wang and international sound artists, sound works produced in the 1990s by international artists, a 1990s recording of a sound art talk/performance produced by ETAT (Taiwan’s most important private-sector organization dedicated to media art in the 90’s). Opening programming includes a lecture on noise scene in the 90s by Wang and a retro electronic-music performance titled Back to ’90 by the local band Physical Chemical Brothers, a collaboration with On Site 2013.

Sound art has been gradually recognized and defined in Taiwan only in the last decade. While it seems advances in technology and popularity of equipment have greatly contributed to the promotion of this art form, the role of human networking cannot be overlooked in understanding the development of this young contemporary art form. Taiwan had only just began acknowledging sounds of modern time in the 90s when Fujui Wang established his experimental music label NOISE, the first Taiwanese node in the international noise scene. This introduced sound art into Taiwan while promoting contributions by Taiwanese artists abroad. Unlike today, works, mainly cassette tapes, were distributed in the 90s through traditional mail services, and their exchanges among artists often included elaborate, handmade packaging which can be considered artworks full of visual and conceptual qualities. While these wrappers were low-tech, the creative intensity put into their manufacture and networking can still be appreciated today.

For Lurking Waves, we do not present these documents, sounds and video recordings as simply dead artifacts to express nostalgia, but rather look back on Wang’s 90s and link it with post-millennial sound art scene in Taiwan. The resulting re-investigation of this unique historical context begs the question: If we consider sound art to be more than just sound and its techniques, then what else should it involve?

Fujui Wang Bio

Born in 1969 in Taipei, Taiwan, Fujui Wang currently runs the Trans-Sonic Lab of the Center for Art and Technology at Taipei National University of the Arts. In his own art practice, he specializes in sound and interactive art. In 1993 Wang established NOISE, Taiwan’s first experimental music label and magazine. In 2000 he joined ETAT, one of Taiwan’s few art labs engaged in digital art experimentation, practice and exploration and early experimenters with real-time interactive art. Also in 2000, Wang initiated the BIAS Sound Art Exhibition and Sound Art Prize in the Digital Arts Awards Taipei, thus advancing a special domain for sound art in Taiwan’s digital art field.

Over the last decade, Wang has continued to devote himself to sound and digital art creation while leading the next generation of digital artists through his involvement with public programming. To this end, Wang curates and promotes the annual Digital Art Festival Taipei and has served as curator for TranSonic Sound Art Festival since 2008. His recent solo exhibitions include Hyper Transmission (2013), Quiet Noise (2012), and Hollow Noise (2011). He has also participated in many international sound art events in cities such as Beijing, Paris, Venice, New Zealand, Tokyo, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Berlin. Wang continually experiments with new sound creation for the fields of art and sound performance.

Fujui Wang’s official site: www.soundwatch.net
Organizer: TheCube Project Space
Sponsor: National Culture and Arts Foundation
Event Co-organizer: Dept. of AIR, Taipei Culture Foundation