The Physics Room Trust was set up in 1996 as a gallery space and office located in the Christchurch Arts Centre. However the trust was established in 1992 in its previous incarnation as South Island Art Projects, a siteless organization which presented temporary and public art projects. Among other activities, South Island Art Projects published a bi-monthly newsletter, developed film and video programmes for South Island main centres, hosted visiting artists and speakers, and presented several major projects, including The Body of the Land (1992) Public Practices (1993), and Tales Untold (1994).

A major focus for the South Island Art Projects was to coordinate events outside of gallery and museum spaces, working on a fast turn over of events, and engaging with a wide range of diverse communities and organisations. An important part of each SIAP project was to facilitate within each wider project a variety of artists works, a seminar or public forum, and an accompanying catalog, to expand each project and give exhibiting works a critical context. With a given brief of engaging with the South Island as a region, SIAP presented both inner city projects and more rural events. Artists involved in South Island Art Project events include (among many others!) Rob Garrett, Margaret Dawson, Pauline Rhodes, Denise Kum, Lisa Reihana, Andrew Drummond, Michael Morley, Grant Lingard, Nicola Jackson, Jacqueline Fraser, Vivian Lynn, Russell Moses and Di ffrench.

The South Island Art Projects founding trust members were Christopher Appleby, Andrew Drummond, Stuart Griffiths, Amanda Jenkins, Carolyn Menzies, Jonathan Smart, Tom Taylor, Linda Tyler, Evan Webb, and John Wilson. In 1996 SIAP developed into The Physics Room, with a gallery space based in the Arts Centre, running monthly exhibitions and publishing the tri-annual arts magazine LOG Illustrated. This move came about as a result of a shift in funding focus, board members, and a re-evaluation of what were considered at that point the most useful tactics for arts presentation and arts infrastructure. The stability and profile gained through having permanent premises was an important step in consolidating and expanding the Trusts activities, and making best use of limited funding and resources.

In 1997 Tessa Laird, the former Editor of Monica Magazine, was employed as General Manager of the new gallery space, and to set up an expanded version of The Physics Room Journal - LOG Illustrated. Shows from this period on are archived here on this site, a virtual gallery, archive, and forum for debate which has become crucial to our operations. The founding members of The Physics Room Trust were Marianne Hargreaves, Ronnie Van Hout, Rebecca Turrell, Jane Glentworth, Jane Gregg, Paul Sutherland, Sue Rout, Sean Kerr and David Hatcher.

In 1999, under then General Manager Jonathan Nicol, The Physics Room moved into its current space on High Street, a larger premises which has allowed us to expand our exhibition programme, and present screenings, artists talks, and performances. Although the gallery space has become the major focus of Physics Room activity, we continue to draw on SIAP’s heritage of public arts presentation, producing a number of projects each year that engage with wider audiences, and in environs outside of the physical gallery. A particular emphasis for these projects has become the commercial area of High Street outside the gallery, a close-knit community of boutique shops, galleries, designers and cafes.

Under the management of Emma Bugden from 2000-2002, The Physics Room presented several successful public art projects in Christchurch, including a six month series in The Kiosk and the Craft fashion art event. Emma also had major successes curating international exchange projects with the Experimental Arts Foundation in Adelaide and Southern Exposure, San Francisco.

In 2001 The Physics Room discontinued Log Illustrated magazine, which is archived on this site (www.physicsroom.org.nz/log). Edited by Tessa Laird and later Gwyn Porter, Log was a vital part of the New Zealand art discourse for over five years and 15 issues.

A new series of publications has been launched with a tighter focus on exhibition activities. With the aims of providing quality documentation plus further exposure and sparking debate around artist’s projects, The Physics Room publishes an Annual and several exhibition catalogues each year, complementing the strength of the exhibition programme.

From early 2003, The Physics Room has taken ownership of the public art site Kiosk. Initiated by artist group Oblique, this site is located in downtown Christchurch and offers a 24 hour venue for The Physics Room to showcase artists and specific projects