If you’re lucky enough to be able to visit Fisher Library in person these days, you might notice a colourful new display in the Level 3 and 4 corridors.
ARTBOX is a student exhibition space that showcases an ongoing rotation of artworks in Fisher Library. It is an initiative created by Verge Gallery and hosted by the University of Sydney Library.
Currently on display in the Level 3 corridor is the exhibit pause.play by student curator Anthia Balis. This exhibit aims to connect the University of Sydney community through the retelling of personal experiences to do with their physical absence from campus, home isolation, re-entering public spaces and uni life.
Balis curates the artworks of the University of Sydney Calligraphy Society in a text-based exhibition which uses conversations with the University of Sydney community as the foundation of the artworks.
The Level 4 corridor features a work by student artist Yu Zhao entitled Lockdown in a room of one’s own.
Through the media of printmaking, photography, new technology and installation, Zhao explores ideas about identity and social interaction under the impact of social media, with an emphasis on COVID-19.
Zhao sees the pandemic creating copious information but lacking the physical dimension of touch and therefore emotional connection. The work is interactive and through a QR code, invites the viewer into the artist’s virtual space.
The exhibitions form part of Verge Gallery’s ongoing investigation of a developing global situation and are the first of a schedule of exhibits for the ARTBOX project within Fisher Library.
Photographs: Sarah Lorien