'Frontispiece' is the title of the integrated artworks at Chester Hill Library and Knowledge Centre. The frontispiece is the decorative illustration facing a book’s title page, but it is also known in architecture as the combination of elements that frame and decorate the main or front door and façade of a building.

Fabricated in Corten Steel, a cold rolled weather resistant steel that protects itself; the piece will weather naturally to give a beautiful organic rich deep brown-red oxide appearance creating an ever changing canvas. The material was chosen as in a subtle way it is interactive, each time you visit the library you will notice a slight change in the surface.

‘Frontispiece’ is a statement on the varied ways in which we communicate, referencing the interests of young and old, ethnic groups and the various user groups of the library, it is a reflection of the diversity to be found in the people of Chester Hill.

The written language commenced in the Middle East about 5,500 years with invention of cuneiform. Cuneiform was based upon pictograms; pictograms were stylized versions of images of the natural world first recorded 30,000 – 60,000 years ago depending on what part of the world you look.

The sharing of information has changed our world and defined our civilisation. Libraries continue the sharing of information and knowledge to local communities and in ‘Frontispiece’ we have portrayed this through a timeline.

Our timeline begins with the first recorded form of communication and then progresses through the ages, highlighting events or occurrences that many experts regard of great importance. All these have good arguments for and against their inclusion in the work, our selection has been based upon our own research and BBC Radio 4 program ‘The Written World’ by Melvin Bragg, a 5 part series documenting the history of writing, encapsulating contemporary thought on the subject.

We culminate with technology, the new way of sharing information and knowledge represented by the QR code. This code links to Councils website and displays relevant information related to the screens.

A key feature is the musical language, a piece which an artist has composed specifically for this project, this screen has its own QR code which links to Council’s website where the piece can be heard directly through the smart phone.

‘Frontispiece’ is a statement on the varied ways in which we communicate, referencing the interests of young and old, ethnic groups and the various user groups of the library, it is a reflection of the diversity to be found in the people of Chester Hill.

The composer of "Della Libreria" is Shawna O'Neill who retains the copyright and has given the council permission to use on the website.

The artists and fabricators of the ‘Frontispiece’ are:   

• Peter Day - Environmental Art and Design
• Fernando Mosca
• Sandie O'Neill
• Vivien Tagalakis
• RCR Laser
• Crawford's Casting
• Rollco
• Stripco