It's also at the centre of Janis Lejins' colourful art installation Doric Stacks which rips data from websites, and even the viewer's face and heartbeat, and transcodes it into a display of light and sound.

Lejins isn't the only artist in the ANU School of Art Graduating Exhibition making work connected to the social space of the web, Head of school Denise Ferris said, with even textile artists making online videos to accompany their works.

"These people are working and knowing that they have to get up on Vimeo. They're so switched on," she said ahead of the exhibition's opening.

"There's this really strong connection that the students are having to the real world and issues that matter to society without them being didactic or highly political."

Ferris said she was particularly struck by the technical innovation in the works of this year's cohort of about 130 graduating students.

Some were pushing the boundaries with new kiln techniques in glass and risky ceramics firing specifically designed to disintegrate.

Ferris said the school was one of the few in the country retaining the traditional disciplines, but with students adding an "amazing" contemporary turn to history and tradition.

"People still refer to us as the Canberra School of Art and when people do I know they haven't been here for a long time and they're stuck in the past," she said.

"Those people need to look at us now because the way students are using all those traditions and disciplines to make contemporary art is fascinating and for some people really confronting.

"We do have people who paint figuratively here and are connected to the histories of abstraction obviously, but the way these students are pushing the envelope is really fascinating."

Ferris said as the year drew to a close she'd seen stress affecting students and staff alike, but seeing the works in the show was "stunningly inspirational".

"I talk to everyone and I say it's a really hard time of year," she said.

"Yes we are all tired, but it tells you why we're here, we have this wonderful proof and it's not just the beautiful things people make… you can see different people where they've been and where they've come and that as an educator… is incredibly gratifying."

The ANU School of Art Graduating Exhibition opens on Friday, November 27 November 28 and runs until Sunday, December 6.