• Posted on 8 Mar 2023
  • 4-minute read

Campus isn’t just for class. From healing costumes to a haunted library, here are 5 things you won’t want to miss at our city campus.

A person wearing a vibrant orange and blue costume surrounded by colourful installations

O

If you’re craving colour and excitement, start with the latest exhibition by UTS Gallery’s Artist in Residence. 

O combines performance, installations and sculptural works to explore healing through the body and costume. The artist, hossein, even places lucky charms in the stitches of clothing and sings into bags so the wearer can carry their restorative properties with them. 

And you can pick one up yourself – ho55ei ~ BLESSSENSE bags and accessories will be exclusively available to buy in the gallery during the exhibition. 

A smiling man, hossein, stands amongst his vibrant art installations as onlookers applaud
HOSSEI, O, 2023. Installation and performance at UTS Gallery. Photography: Jacquie Manning.

Where to find it 

UTS Gallery, level 4, Building 6 

The Book Witch 

The library is haunted. In a good way. 

“UTS Library is a beautiful, functional, highly rational space,” says Katy B Plummer, our library’s 2022 Creative in Residence. “I felt like it needed a little bit of friendly haunting, so I called Book Witch into existence.” 

She'll read your oracle at the push of a button. And you might even recognise the text – she generates each card from books most requested or recently returned by students.  

Image of a black, beaked character wearing a large cape.
The Book Witch by UTS Library's 2022 Creative in Residence, Katy B Plummer. Photography: Rosalia Catalano.

Where to find it

Level 7, to the right of the library, UTS Central 

The Bibliomancy Feast 

While you’re on level 7, stop by the Book Witch’s Bibliomancy Feast to make your own tarot card.  

She's dressed up in her finest party attire just for the occasion and will help you generate new meanings and find the answers you seek.  

But hurry – this haunted party wraps up on 24 March. 

Students laughing and sitting at a table covered in drawings and paper
The Bibliomancy Feast by UTS Library's 2022 Creative in Residence, Katy B Plummer. Photography: Mia Turner.

Where to find it 

Level 7, in front of the library, UTS Central 

Green Genie

Did you know microalgae is 40 times more efficient than trees at removing carbon from the atmosphere? 

That’s why Green Genie could be a game-changer for climate change. The humble shipping container transforms algae into commercial organic products (think bioplastics, building products and bio-fertilisers) – all of which can store carbon long-term. 

While you’re there you’ll get to learn more about the process thanks to panel designs by our talented alumna, Vanessa Hung! 

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Descriptive transcript

[Upbeat music plays] As we know, high levels of carbon are having extreme and long-term effects on our climate, economy and quality of life. To keep the planet under 1.5 degrees of warming, we have less than 10 years to develop technology to remove massive quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere. Currently, we're using either chemical solvent-based technology, which has been around for about 30 years and is struggling to operate at scale, or we're attempting to remove CO2 with large-scale tree planting, which is costly, takes time and is ultimately competing with food production.

We need to rapidly drive innovative technology from research and development to commercial implementation. Biotechnology offers a cheap and scalable option. Algae uses light and nutrients to capture carbon, thereby producing cellular biomass that can be converted into bioplastics, building products or biochar. All of these algae-derived products can store atmospheric carbon long-term.

Enter the Green Genie, a shipping container that contains a highly optimised algal photobioreactor where layers of microalgae capture atmospheric carbon using photosynthesis. Like a turbocharged mini-forest, fast-growing microalgae are 40 times more efficient than trees at removing CO2 from the atmosphere. This process is called CCU – Carbon Capture and Use – rather than CCS, which captures carbon and attempts to store it, often underground and with considerable risk.

A Green Genie processing module can be easily transported and installed to be used for a number of industries. Here are just three. It can be used to capture CO2 from flue gas or off-gas from hard-to-abate emitters, such as power plants, cement manufacturers or breweries. Atmospheric CO2 can also be scrubbed from the air for direct air capture, or DAC. Green Genie can also process wastewater from sewage treatment plants or agricultural waste as a nutrient source to grow microalgae and capture CO2.

Now is the time to think about how carbon removal and biomass production can benefit your business or industry. For more information about the Green Genie project, follow our website or email us. We'd love to hear from you. [Music fades out]

Where to find it

Jones St, between UTS Central and building 10 

UTS beehive

Walk onto the library terrace and you’ll be met with shady trees overlooking Alumni Green. It’s also home to our very own hive of Australian native stingless bees! 

And they aren’t just there for show. These busy insects help pollinate flowers around campus and are an important part of the ecosystem. 

So next time you’re in search for a study buddy (or 10,000), you know where to look. 

A small wooden beehive is surrounded by plants, with UTS tower as the backdrop
Australian native stingless bees, UTS Library terrace. Photography: Rosalia Catalano.

Where to find it 

Level 8 terrace, UTS Central 

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