Melbourne-based artist and University of Canberra alumna George Rose has been recruited to create an interpretative piece of art for the university's open day.

To achieve the grand scale of her interactive work, inspired by her own reflections on logic, Ms Rose contacted Chinese manufacturers to purchase the brightly coloured chess pieces in bulk.

High-school students who may in time become UC students have been given pieces and asked to bring them to the open day inscribed with their own messages.

"I really wanted to express a feeling, like a moment in time," Ms Rose said.

"Essentially what we're doing is creating a big time capsule and asking people to write on the chess pieces … they can write anything, their name, or a message for the future. The idea is that it's going to be captured in this work for a very long period of time."

Ms Rose said the different colours of the pieces would form a pattern to be revealed on the day.

"I don't think that UC wants me to reveal what it is, but it's all relative … it all sort of relates, like the idea of using the chess pieces; and that kind of relates to the university in that chess is usually seen as a higher pursuit game of logic," Ms Rose said.

The artwork will be installed on site on a giant board. A purpose built easel for the installation will allow the finished piece to be sat upright for all to see.

"A work like this doesn't really make sense unless you can see it from afar. It'll look like pixels essentially," Ms Rose said.

The University of Canberra Open Day will be part of the Canberra Tertiary Open Day on Saturday, starting at 9am. In addition to UC, students will be able to tour campuses of the ANU, CIT, Australian Catholic University and ADFA. For more information go to tertiaryopenday.com.