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With a blaze of colour and an hysterical carnival atmosphere, Prime Two provided a lively six hour program of youth art and culture which utterly transformed the Queensland Art Gallery. Fashion displays and street dancing took over gallery spaces, while rock'n'roll circus acts illuminated the water mall. In the sculpture garden, an outdoor stage provided beats and rhythms that pulsated across Brisbane's south side. Inside, a DJ in the '80s style 'rumpus room' sent retro tunes spiraling around the formal architecture. A party atmosphere persisted as gallery visitors chilled out on bean bags, watched '80s television programs, played childhood board games, made paper 'identity dolls', had their portraits drawn, watched MC battles, played hacky sack, and experienced a pumping performance by local musical group the Resin Dogs. lt was exciting and often exhilarating, with around four thousand young people attending the event. Undoubtedly, such audience numbers highlight the success of Prime Two, yet this success has not come without a price.
Over a number of recent exhibitions, the Queensland Art Gallery has begun to incorporate extreme public programming tactics. Didactic panels, catalogue essays and guided tours are no longer the only accompaniment to an art exhibition. Rather, activities, which require the viewer's physical engagement are also being employed. Accompanying the 2001 William Robinson retrospective, for example, visitors were invited to sketch farm animals which were kept in a pen in the Gallery's upper sculpture garden. In many ways these activities can greatly enhance one's experience, yet in other ways, they can also compromise the artwork displayed. The instance of Archie Moore's artwork Chalk it Out at Prime Two exemplified such concerns.
Moore's work invited the viewer to express, on a