Secondary art students explore exciting exhibitions

24th Biennale of Sydney – Ten Thousand Suns

Uriah C (Year 11)

We visited the White Bay Power Station in the afternoon to view the 24th Biennale of Sydney titled “Ten Thousand Suns”.  The building had just been opened to the public, it was interesting since it was a historic time capsule showing the environment and equipment that had been used to generate electricity for Sydney from 1917 till the late 1950s. The art exhibition, within the walls of this industrial gallery, was great to look at and I am glad we got to see all the incredible pieces of art. 

One of the artworks displayed in the factory, which had very tall ceilings, was 3 kites made by a group of deaf women from Guatemala. Observing the kite, we could see that there were lots of flowers and beautiful sights showing how they as deaf people relied on their other senses. 

Another artwork that we saw was different as it contained digital elements such as a video and an interactive game. There was a screen hidden behind the ‘gates’ of the Summer Palace in Beijing whose facade had been taken to a Museum in France. The artwork was about the importance of repatriating artifacts. 

The art excursion was informative and inspiring, especially as we are required to study contemporary art practice and it gave us ideas for possible artworks that we could do and how to express conceptual thoughts in our artmaking. 

Portia C (Year 9)

Immediately walking in, everyone was in awe of the building. It was so cool, I loved it. One of the best parts of the power station was the building itself – it was as if the building was a piece of art.

I loved how they kept the building in its original condition and had lots of information about the power station. The artworks were beautiful and I loved how they had so many from different cultures and it wasn’t all the same style of art. All the art in the station was so unique and different. My favourite art piece from the power station is ‘Kaylene TV’ by Kaylene Whiskey. 

Art Express HSC Exhibition

Reilly T (Year 11)

I really enjoyed going to the Hazelhurst Art Centre to see previous HSC students' artworks. We saw many different art mediums, such as painting, sketches, 3D modelling and printing, video, and digital artworks.

My Favorite artwork was probably "A Child's Paradigm" by Annada Suryantoko, which was a series of digital artworks that represented the loss of childlike innocence. 

Portia C (Year 9)

The gallery was beautiful, the artworks were all so unique and pretty. I loved getting to walk around and take in all the artworks and getting to listen to the audio that was a part of the artworks, it was wonderful.

The gallery’s selection of art was all so different, it was so nice getting to look at so many different styles of art. All the artworks were incredible but my favourites were ‘The Garden Picnic’ by Gemma Lee, ‘Beneath the Surface… a Banquet of Biodiversity’ by Penelope Andrew and ’Snapshots of Sydney Summer’ by Lily Low.