New Taipei City Art Museum Exhibition Audio Guide

Script of this episode// The final story begins in the era of American aid. The old photo in the venue shows the distribution process of supplies, whereas the photographer didn’t shoot the scene of a rattan basket on the back of an indigenous girl. Rattan baskets were often used as containers of American aid supplies. The sweaters sent to tribes were also unraveled into thread, since for Truku wom...

[The script of this episode] This exhibition is presented by the artist collective You Don’t Know Me At All. Its title is a playful take on the lyric, “If this ain’t love, then why am I so heartbroken?” At first, it might sound like a song about romance—but the artists ask, is it really just about love? They contrast the “Ai” in the lyric, pointing to artificial intelligence, with “Bi,” which echo...

[The script of this episode] What do you see in the work before you? This is a working space set up by the artist in the public area of the lobby, inspired by a desk found in museum storage. Here, you are invited to use material left over from past exhibitions to make your own artwork. Take a trip down memory lane, and recall what it felt like to make art by hand as a child. The works created by p...

[The script of this episode] The vending machine in the public area on the 4th floor was inspired by one of the artist’s trips to Japan. What struck him most on that trip were the countless vending machines scattered across the city. Think about your own travels: have you ever spotted one tucked on a street corner, at a train station, or in a quiet alley? They seem convenient, yet somehow they ble...

[The script of this episode] Before entering the exhibition space, the viewer will first encounter this wall. Inspired by poster walls, the artist rearranges images from signs, advertisements, and billboards using collage, reorganization, and symbolic suggestion. These images reference the familiar travel promotions and commercial branding of Japan’s Hokkaido and Taiwan’s North Coast. The artist i...

[The script of this episode] As you enter the exhibition space, a giant ceiling fan looms overhead. Doesn’t it look both familiar and a little out of place? While reading about visual artifacts generated by AI, the artist was reminded of the fan in his old home. Left without care for years, its blades slowly swelled and warped in the humid air—much like the glitches and strange distortions you see...

[The script of this episode] The artist collective You Don’t Know Me At All was founded in the summer of 2015 by a group of young artists passionate about contemporary art. Their practice responds to Taiwan’s historical, political, and everyday realities through remaking, performance, sound, and video installation. Working from the perspective of the Other, they explore contemporary life in its ma...

[The script of this episode] Skilled in sound design, Feng Chih-ming transforms sound technology into an almost hallucinogenic medium. Mapping a field through hypnotic sounds, he guides the viewer into a heightened perceptual world. Space is reconfigured by audio systems positioned throughout the environment, producing an enveloping surround soundscape. As you stand within the space, sound seems t...

[The script of this episode] In the final section, Yin Zi-Jie’s Tissue reemerges. The artist traces the origin of tissue paper by visiting artificial forests in Indonesia. In the exhibition space, paper tubes with diameters matching the harvested trees are arranged according to the spacing of such plantations. This setting prompts us to reflect on how a single sheet of paper may represent the loss...

[The script of this episode] As you move to the next section, you will encounter two large-scale installations. The first is The Unfinished Distance by Singapore-based architectural firm Kay Ngee Tan Architects. Echoing the subtheme “The Law of Architecture,” this work uses square structures to explore how we perceive and experience the transition of spatial distance, inviting viewers to feel the...

[The script of this episode] After moving past the “planet” and “air,” the next section on the right wall features works by Wu tseng-jung, an artist who shifted from architecture to painting. This exhibition includes five of his pieces related to architecture, such as his competition entry for the 228 Memorial Monument and a painting of the Taipei City Government. These works showcase his distinct...

[The script of this episode] The following two works explore the subtheme, “The Law of Architecture,” starting with fundamental principles and perspectives on architecture. Next to The Cold Shot, the large-scale metal installation titled Architecture as Air is a work by FCHY Architect Lab, formed by Yang Hsiu-Chuan and Kao Ya-Feng. Inspired by the flow and permeability of air, they examine how inv...

[The script of this episode] Stepping into the next section, you will be greeted by Yin Zi-jie’s Tissue. Using common tissue paper, she has created canopy-like installations. This series of works is scattered throughout the gallery, seamlessly blending with Yannick Dauby’s sound creations, collectively exploring the connection between life, nature, and industry chains through a rich, multi-sensory...

[The script of this episode] The exhibition begins with the “Ceremony” section. As you step into the gallery, the first thing that catches your attention is Lai Po-wei’s Parasitic Temples—an installation of hanging beadwork shaped like a temple roof. Lai has long explored these small temples in urban areas. Through field research, he carefully documents and categorizes them. The photos and materia...

[The script of this episode] Welcome to the exhibition “The Architecture of Fear and Cure." This audio guide will lead you along the exhibition route to explore the exhibition space and the artworks. The origin of architecture stems from our need for shelter. Like other living beings, humans depend on architecture to protect themselves from natural disasters, diseases, and threats. However, when f...

Introduction [The script of this episode] During its preparatory phase, the New Taipei City Art Museum began to trace the history of experimental art in the 1990s, a chapter often described as “the greatest carnival of the late 20th century,” through publications, forums, and other initiatives. Relational Field emerges from this research-driven approach, focusing on the artistic practices at the T...

The Reform of the Taipei County Art Exhibition and the Environmental Art Festival [The script of this episode] The timeline in front of you shows how, beginning in the 1990s, the Taipei County Cultural Center reformed its art exhibition system to emphasize environmentally reflective themes. These reforms encouraged artists to engage with social issues and environmental concerns, opening up broader...

Chien Ming-hui: A Provider of Oral and Documental Archives [The script of this episode] What prompted the series of reforms at the Taipei County Cultural Center beginning in 1992? One of the key figures was Chien Ming-hui, the project officer from the Museum Division of the Taipei County Cultural Center at the time. Back then, the title “curator” did not yet exist. But Chien was an important drivi...

Taipei County Art Exhibition (1995, 1997) [The script of this episode] The 1995 Taipei County Art Exhibition continued responsible art critic, with Lin Hsin-yueh curating Resurgence on the Tamsui River. By 1997, Shih Jui-jen had assumed the formal role of curator for the 8th Taipei County Art Exhibition, using the image of the river as a maternal figure to evoke a shared origin of Asian civilizati...

Zhongyuan Pudu Religious Arts Festival [The script of this episode] Between 1992 and 1996, the Taipei County Cultural Center organized a special event each year: the Zhongyuan Pudu Religious Arts Festival. More than just an ordinary temple gathering, it was a pioneering celebration that brought together religion, art, and pressing social issues. The planner of the first edition was Sisy Chen, who...

Yao Jui-chung Roaming Around the Ruins I – The Civilization Built by Skeleton 1996 Gelatin silver prints 42 x 60 cm / each, 36 in total Collection of New Taipei City Art Museum Roaming Around the Ruins – The Civilization Built by Skeleton & Paradise Lost 1992-2001 Giclée prints 150 x 100 cm / each, 9 in total Single-channel video (color, sound) 15’00” Posters 60 x 85 cm [The script of this epi...

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 host...

Reimagining Radical Cities│The Visible and Invisible of the City [The script of this episode] Welcome to Reimagining Radical Cities. Data from the United Nations shows that over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas today. This underscores urban issues as a pressing concern. The exhibition Reimagining Radical Cities begins with the rise of modern cities and reconsiders them from the...

Reimagining Radical Cities│Labor Conditions from a Global South Perspective [The script of this episode] This section opens with a 1997 exhibition titled Lord of the Rim: In Herself / For Herself and features two key pieces from that exhibition, highlighting the labor dynamics shaped by the global division of labor. Hou Lulu Shur-tzy’s Labors and Labels I captures the daily experiences and work sc...

Reimagining Radical Cities│Global Production Networks and Industrial Landscapes [The script of this episode] The previous section focused on human labor and living conditions. Now, we shift our perspective to “things”—objects and materials themselves—and the stories they tell. Wu Chuan-lun’s Derived Pottery features decorative ceramic figurines collected from around the world. While similar figuri...