Tang Siyu on creative direction, independent vision, and the language of noisé

Tang Siyu is a multidisciplinary creative director and founding editor-in-chief of noisé magazine, an independent publication built around sustained dialogue across disciplines and generations, while engaging with questions of authorship and creative direction within today’s evolving media landscape. Offering insight into the visions and practices of artists, designers, writers and cultural figures, noisé has, under Siyu’s leadership, developed sustained, in-depth conversations and extensive portrait features around figures such as Louise Bourgeois, Helmut Lang, Roni Horn, Marian Goodman and Paula Cooper, alongside dialogues with Julianne Moore and Vincent Van Duysen, woven together with essays and visual editorials.

Siyu regards noisé as a site of creative experimentation and cultural reflection—grounded in a commitment to building an editorial environment that honors shared human experience through sustained engagement with the artists and thinkers shaping contemporary culture. The sixth and most recent edition, Truth or Consequences, continues this trajectory by examining how truth is articulated, withheld, and revealed through image and conversation, focusing on narratives that unfold beyond the immediately visible.

In a conversation with hube’s editor-in-chief, Sasha Kovaleva, Siyu reflects on the professional path, the evolution of noisé, and the creative values and practices that continue to shape the magazine’s independent vision today.

Sasha Kovaleva: Please tell us a bit more about your professional path. What originally drew you into this industry?

Tang Siyu: Everything started from intuition. I don’t have a formal background in art or fashion. During my Master’s in Education at NYU, I picked up a camera almost by accident and began teaching myself photography seriously. It quickly became my first real language of expression. From there, driven by curiosity, everything else—design, editing, and building a platform—came naturally.

Over time, people have tried to label me in different ways—art, fashion, culture, photography, publishing, media, even advertising. I seem to have entered many fields naturally, but I’ve never really thought too much about what “industry” I belong to. I’ve simply been doing what I love, and what I believe carries meaning.

SK: You move fluidly between roles—as a photographer, creative director, and editor-in-chief. How do these roles shape each other, and how do you decide which voice leads in a given project?

ST: I think of myself as someone quite interdisciplinary—I respond to different mediums with the same sensitivity. Whether I’m expressing something through my own camera, finding the right collaborators, or shaping existing materials into their strongest form, the most important thing is always the same: to keep the work honest, complete, and uncompromised. And I feel there’s still a lot of potential for me—and for noisé—to explore more mediums in the future, as long as the intention stays true.

SK: Could you take us back to the very beginning of noisé? What was the core intention or energy behind launching a magazine of this kind?

ST: At the time, I was deeply engaged in photography, and my partner Murphy is an incredible writer. A magazine became a natural medium for us to express our perspectives.

Before noisé became a printed publication, there were a few years of experimentation online. Even then, we were already interviewing artists from around the world, and creating editorials together with designers. It was a period of searching and building our language.

For me, rather than trying to convince other platforms to believe in my vision, it’s more powerful to build my own space of expression.

SK: How has your vision of noisé evolved since its first issue? What has stayed constant, and what has transformed?

ST: The evolution of noisé has also been a process of self-expression and self-discovery for both me and us. What has stayed constant is that we have always held onto authenticity and integrity from the very beginning.

Through making noisé, we gradually found our own language and became clearer about what we truly want to express. I think people can see those shifts from issue to issue—in our visuals and writing, but also in the center of gravity of our content, and the way we shape each format.

SK: What excites you most about working in independent media today—and what frustrates you the most?

ST: I don’t really think in terms of “the industry,” but I can speak about what excites and frustrates me in the process of making noisé.

The most meaningful part is being able to meet and collaborate with artists—and in many ways, having those encounters reaffirm a lot of my own beliefs and convictions. Rather than becoming a “platform,” I care more about noisé as a medium of self-expression: through images, words, and the personality of artists we truly love, we communicate our aesthetics and values.

What frustrates me is the obsession with social media and fast content, and how little attention is left for work with depth. When only a few people truly read what we refine, or notice the details we design with intention, it sometimes makes me question whether it still matters.

Even within “independent magazines,” I still see many people simply adapting to the current system. People tend to choose what’s easiest.

SK: What do you think independent publishing offers that the mainstream never can?

ST: I don’t necessarily believe “mainstream” and “independent” are always opposites. Whether you’re working in the independent world or the mainstream, what matters is whether you choose to settle—or to change something.

In my mind, I’m doing work that truly deserves to be mainstream—but reality doesn’t work that way. You have to understand human weakness. If one day noisé becomes mainstream, I’d probably start questioning whether we did something wrong. After all, truth is often held by a minority.

SK: What qualities do you look for when bringing someone into the noisé ecosystem—whether an editor, a photographer, or a contributor?

ST: A shared sense of aesthetics and values. And timing.

SK: When you look at today’s world—saturated with images and an endless flow of digital content—what aspects of our cultural conversation feel most urgent, fascinating, or meaningful to you personally?

ST: When there is too much of something, it often becomes boring.

People love offensive basketball. But when offense becomes the default, it stops being exciting. Everyone shoots threes, the score hits 150—and the game somehow feels boring.

I feel the same way about images today. In that kind of saturation, I think what becomes most urgent is honesty—and the ability to stay precise. Depth is no longer common, so it becomes meaningful.

SK: What do you feel is missing from today’s culture media landscape? Are there narratives, voices, or formats that you believe remain overlooked or underrepresented?

ST: Authenticity and integrity—and maybe intellectuality. As for format, I think it should always serve the content.

SK: noisé has already partnered with a remarkable range of artists. These collaborations have become culturally significant touchpoints, shaping the visual and conceptual language around the magazine. Is there a particular artist encounter—whether during a shoot, a conversation, or a long-term collaboration—that left a lasting impression on you personally?

ST: There are many moments worth remembering. Personally, if I had to name just one, it would be Helmut Lang.

I was naturally drawn to Helmut’s artworks—and at first, I didn’t even realize he was that iconic figure in fashion. We share the same birthday, March 10th, and I took it as a subtle kind of fate. As I read his interviews and did research for our project, I began to notice unexpected similarities between us. We come from completely different times and worlds, yet I felt as if we were tracing similar thematic lines in our separate journeys.

In 2023, we created two joint supplements featuring Helmut Lang and Louise Bourgeois. It remains one of the projects we feel closest to—and one of the clearest expressions of noisé’s language.

SK: Do you currently work with advertisers in the traditional sense, or does noisé approach partnerships in a different, more curated way? Have you noticed a shift in how brands engage with independent publications today—are they becoming more open to creative risk, or more cautious?

ST: noisé has always approached partnerships in a curated way. To me, the question is always whether the collaboration can hold the same level of authenticity and integrity as the rest of the magazine.

As for the shift: I think brands have become more strategic and cautious in general. But at the same time, the ones with real cultural vision are still open to creative risk—and those are the relationships that feel meaningful.

Recently, noisé partnered with ANEST COLLECTIVE on a limited-edition Shanghai publication and an in-store exhibition. We invited Chris Rhodes for a week of open-ended creation—no garments, no shoes, no storefront shots. Only intuition, and the moments that stay hidden in plain sight. It was a new attempt for noisé to work beyond the magazine format.

SK: What practical advice would you give to someone dreaming of launching their own independent magazine today? What should they be prepared for—both the beautiful parts and the difficult ones?

ST: Don’t be afraid of doing difficult things. Stay honest with yourself.