This compilation features 13 short video works by some of the original artists from the Oil Street Art Village, at the ex-Government Supplies Department on Qil Street, North Point.

In 1998, artists, architects and arts organizations joined forces to rent the unoccupied space, creating Oil Street Art Village, Hong Kong’s first “cultural hot spot” However, by late 1999 the government began its negotiations for the purchase of Oil Street to a private investor, and soon after the artists had been asked to leave. Oil Friction is a testimony of some of the artists’ anger and disappointment of the loss of the Oil Street Art Village. This compilation is curated by Ms Fion Ng and produced by Meta Tech Research and Development Centre.

由13套有關油街藝術村的錄像合成的專輯，當中包括了一些在油街藝術村內的藝術工作者，記錄他們因為失去油街藝術村的不滿，岔怒的見證。油街是北角政府物料供應署的前身，1998年一班有志的藝術工作者，建築師，及一些藝術團體向政府租用了這個地方，發展成為油街藝術村，成為了香港文化「熱點」，但在1999年政府開始計劃把油街出售給一個財團，及後這群藝術家被迫離開。作品集由吳彥真策劃，Meta Tach Research and Development 製作。

Lily LAU is a feminist and local comic artist who draws comics about gender, sex and politics. She studies graphic design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and worked briefly in the design field. Topics of her work include gender and sexuality, ecology and sustainable development, social justice and activism, art and culture. Her work reflects an abiding concern to humanities. She is trying to live a life that she enjoys most and looking for ways to eliminate the boundaries between activists, artistic and commercial spheres. Lily’s commitment to intellectual and activists activities, and her harsh and sassy graphic style, makes her work stands out from the comic world.

PUN Tak-shu began working as a local avant-garde musician making soundtracks for independent film productions in 1984.

KUM Chi-keung held his first sols exhibition “Once Upon A Time” at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre in 1993. He has participated in numerous joint exhibitions in the last decade, including “Inside Out: New Chinese Art” held in New York in 1998. He also participated in the “Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition” of 1996 and won the Urban Council Fine Arts Award of that year.

Wong Chi Wai, John graduated from Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. He was selected to participate in the Artist’s Regional Exchange (ARX5) program between 1998-9, and made installation arts in Singapore and Australia. Currently he is a member of the Zuni Icosahedron. His video work On Our Own won the Bronze Award in the open category in Hong Kong Independent Short Film & Video Awards 1999. His first feature-length video The Tourist was screened in the 27th Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Dorotea Etzler (English name Doreen) is a conceptual artist based in Berlin, Germany. As VJane lazyliu she interacts with the smart phone to create artistic imagery. Her work investigates the media by means of glitch art and visual noise. Her background is in architecture and video. From 1998 to 2000 she lived in Hong Kong and became part of the Oil Street Artist Village.

Ellen Pau was born in Hong Kong and enrolled as a student of radiography at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1982. She is a radiographer by profession, but being a professional radiologist didnot fulfil her creative obsessions with video art and media art. In 1984 Pau made her first film Glove, asuper-8mm artwork, which was screened internationally. She has since worked as an MTV director, cinematographer, video artist, curator, educator and arts administrator. Pau began her international career in 1995 at the Kwangiu Biennale in Korea curated by Kim Hon-Yee and Nam-June Paik. She is the co-founder and artistic director for the media art organization Videotage and has served as a member and curator of the organizing committee for the Microwave International Media Art Festival, Hong Kong since 1996. Pau teaches part-time at The University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts in addition to be a full-time medical image technologist. Pau is an advisor to the HK Museum of Art, the HK Arts Development Council and a number of festivals. She has exhibited in exhibitions including One World Exposition by Videotage and the Input/Output Gallery Relocation exhibition.