“Annihilated. Annulled. At the end of the day. Stopped. Swan song. Terminated. That’s all folks. That’s it. The end.”

These words – all synonyms for “the end” – are uttered eerily by the voice of Siri over three glowing window frames built to replicate the facade of the Sirius Building in The Rocks.

The art piece by Callum Morton, on display at this year’s Sydney Contemporary art fair, focuses on the building’s trajectory from a housing commission block to a slice of luxury real estate with a loft apartment worth $35 million.

Thursday marks the return of the fair after “two years and 51 weeks” said director Barry Keldoulis.

“One of the interesting things about the fair will be to see what works actually are dealing with the disruption of the last couple of years, and what artists have put that behind them already and are looking forward,” Keldoulis said.

He expects 26,000 art collectors, buyers and casual oglers to attend the fair, which includes art from almost 100 galleries and 34 countries. For the first time, all participating galleries are just from Australia and New Zealand.

The fair will also showcase art by students from the National Art School and The Michael Reid Gallery, from Murrurundi in the Upper Hunter, is the first regional gallery invited to the fair.

In the fair’s lead-up, some pieces are still slick with fresh paint, ceramics await their time in the kiln and performances are yet to be choreographed.

“A museum show takes years to put together, whereas an art fair is very contemporary,” Keldoulis said. “An artist can say to the gallery, ‘Here’s a new work’, and they shove it on the back of a truck and it’s at the fair in a few days’ time.”