Course Title: Originate concept for own work and conduct critical discourse
Part B: Course Detail
Teaching Period: Term2 2012
Course Code: BUSM6278C
Course Title: Originate concept for own work and conduct critical discourse
School: 340T Art
Campus: City Campus
Program: C5234 - Diploma of Visual Art
Course Contact : Ninna Cikoja
Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 4472
Course Contact Email:TAFEArt@rmit.edu.au
Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff
Anthony Riccardi - City campus
anthony.riccardi@rmit.edu.au
+61 3 99254472
Sharon West - Bundoora campus
sharon.west@rmit.edu.au
+61 3 9925 7501
Nominal Hours: 60
Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.
Pre-requisites and Co-requisites
None
Course Description
In this course you will learn the skills and knowledge required to originate the concept and conduct critical discourse about the concept for your own work. The concept encompasses ideas, form and context for the work. The course includes the need for research and analysis of ideas and references, plus the creation of innovative concepts. It also includes a requirement for critical and informed discourse with others about one’s own work.
National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria
National Element Code & Title: |
CUVCOR04A Originate concept for own work and conduct critical discourse |
Element: |
3. Conduct critical discourse |
Performance Criteria: |
1. Identify relevant individuals to participate in critical discourse about work concepts |
Element: |
1. Research concept ideas |
Performance Criteria: |
1. Identify and source references which may inform concept development |
Element: |
2. Generate concept |
Performance Criteria: |
1. Develop a range of different, innovative and creative approaches for the concept based on the nature of own artistic practice |
Element: |
4. Adjust and refine concept |
Performance Criteria: |
1. Undertake own analysis of concept and challenge ideas and approaches taken |
Learning Outcomes
In this course, you learn through:
1. In-class activities:
lectures
teacher directed group activities/projects
class exercises to review discussions/lectures
peer teaching and class presentations
group discussion
class exercises to review discussions/lectures
2. Out-of-class activities include:
practical exercises
reading articles and excerpts
preparing for discussion
project work
independent research
You are expected to manage your learning and undertake an appropriate amount of out-of-class independent study and research and industry guests speak about professional practice.
Details of Learning Activities
Each class consists of a lecture and a discussion. These are illustrated with slides and overheads as well as using the whiteboard to convey ideas visually. Some lectures also come with slide sheets listing the images, which will be shown during the course of the lecture. Occasionally documentaries may also be shown, if relevant and available.
Teaching Schedule
SEMESTER 1
SESSION 1. INTRODUCTION.
Introductory Talk
Assessment requirements for the semester and the nature of the module is explained to them.
Content Historical context to postmodernism and the other topics of this module; overview of Poststructuralism and postmodernism; challenges to the ideas of creativity, originality, modernism, etc; The importance of culture, identity, theory; the various uses of the term postmodern.
SESSION 2 POSTMODERNISM 1
Content A history and overview of Structuralism and Post-Structuralism. The influence of Rationalism, Freud, Marx and Nietzsche. The main thinkers of Structuralism (Saussure, Levi-Strauss, Lacan, Althusser, Eco, Barthes). The reaction to Structuralism and the advent of Post-Structuralism.
Structuralist thinkers discussed in depth:Saussure. Levi-Strauss.
SESSION 3 POSTMODERNISM 2
Content Structuralism continued. Barthes. The nature of the Post-Structuralist reaction to Structuralism. Post Structuralist thinkers in depth: Lyotard. Baudrillard
SESSION 4 POSTMODERNISM 3
Content Post-Structuralist thinkers continued. Derrida Foucault.
SESSION 5 POSTMODERNISM 4
Content Postmodernism: Concerns, Qualities and Characteristics.The attributes of postmodernism are discussed. .
A series of artists’ works are shown and discussed in accordance to the ideas presented in the handout.
SESSION 6. POSTMODERNISM 5
The continuation of Postmodernism 4
SESSION 7 FEMINISM AND GENDER 1
Content A discussion of the term “feminism” and the different types of feminisms; a short history of feminism from the French Revolution to the present day.Definition and explanation of the term “gender” and related issues; essentialism vs. non-essentialism; psychological background to feminist theory, especially post-feminist theory; an account of the ideas of Freud in regards to infant sexuality and the formation gender; Freud’s influence on feminism and feminist critique of Freud.
SESSION 8 FEMINISM AND GENDER 2
Content Psychological background to feminist thought continued; the ideas of Jacques Lacan regarding gender development; Lacan’s influence on feminism and feminist critique of Lacan; Feminist thinkers- their ideas discussed: Luce Irigaray, Helene Cixous, Julia Kristeva.
SESSION 9 FEMINISM AND GENDER 3
Content An examination of women artists and how they implemented feminist ideas into their work.
SESSION 10 ART AND POLITICS 1
Content The ideas of Karl Marx;Marx and art;; Post Marxism and revolutionary politics post 1968: the relation between Post Marxism and Poststructuralism.
SESSION 11 ART AND POLITICS 2
Content The function of art in a Marxist context; an examination of the works and ideas of Hans Haake;. an examination of the works of other artists
SESSION 12 POSTCOLONIALISM 1
Content The idea of Postcolonialism as a discipline; its aims and practices in relation to art; an examination of some postcolonial thinkers- Fanon, Said, Bhabha, Spivak
The application of postcolonial ideas in relation to art by examining modern African art as practiced in Africa and as practiced in America by artists of African descent
SESSION 13 POSTCOLONIALISM 2
Content Use of Magic Realism in literature and art in Latin American, India, etc
SESSION 14 ISSUES IN AUSTRALIAN ART 1
Content Post modernism, Politics, Feminism and Postcolonialism in an Australian context
SESSION 15 ISSUES IN AUSTRALIAN ART 2
Content Post modernism, Politics, Feminism and Postcolonialism in an Australian context
SEMESTER 2
SESSION 1. INTRODUCTION TO AESTHETICS.
Introduction to the C/C4 topics.
Assessment details- presentation and explanation of Brief 1.
Content An account of the major questions and issues concerning Aesthetics accompanied by an exercise given to discover/ formulate one’s own aesthetic criteria. This is followed by a discussion.
SESSION 2. THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Content A general coverage of the creative process, its stages, problems, strategies and solutions and ideas taken from various visual and non-visual artists.
SESSION 3 THE CREATIVE PROCESS (continued.).
Content A general coverage of the creative process, its stages, problems, strategies and solutions and ideas taken from various visual and non-visual artists.
SESSION 4. AESTHETICS 1-FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE 1800’S
Content This covers: Plato, Aristotle; Aesthetic history fom the reaissance to the 18th century Renaissance aesthetics-.
SESSION 5 AESTHETICS 2- FROM ROMANTICISM TO MODERN ART
Content Romanticism: Baudelaire. Formalism: Bell, Fry
SESSION 6 AESTHETICS 3 – MODERN ART
Content Surrealist Aesthetics; Croce; , Greenberg.
SESSION 7. AESTHETICS 4. POST MODERNISM
Content Critique of Greenberg; Institutional theory of art; Post-modern concepts of aesthetics
SESSION 8 GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS 1
THE MUSEUM IN HISTORY
A film on museum practice is shown
Content On the development of museums from the Renaissance to the age of Napoleon;
SESSION 9. GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS 2
CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUMS.
Content Early 20th century museum practices; changes after world war 1
Modern art practices: Museum of Modern Art; Post Modern practices, concerns, politics of display; The museum as Text / as narrative: Contemporary problems regarding display; Museum as spectacle;.
SESSION 10. GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS 3
Content The use of museum practices and forms by artists:
SESSION 11 IDEAS REGARDING CREATIVITY THROUGH HISTORY 1
Content The nature and role of the artist and the nature of creativity as seen through Western History. Medieval views. Artist as craftsperson; Renaissance views- The changing social role and status of the artist; The changing values of art, Cennini and Alberti on creativity; Issues regarding the training of artists; the nature of creativity, the artist’s psychology and behaviour from fifteenth to eighteenth century; The development of issues related to the creative individual: artistic image, madness, eccentricity, genius, sexuality.
SESSION 12. IDEAS REGARDING CREATIVITY THROUGH HISTORY 2
Content Nineteenth century to contemporary views on creativity and the nature of the artist
Examples of creative practices explored: Picasso’s development of the Saltimbanques, Demoiselles d’Avignon, Guernica and various other works
SESSION 13 .IDEAS REGARDING CREATIVITY THROUGH HISTORY 3
Content Examples of creative practices continued;
SESSION 14 IDEAS REGARDING CREATIVITY THROUGH HISTORY 4
Content Examples of creative practices continued; Discussion
SESSION 15 CRITICISM 1
A general talk and exercise is given followed by a discussion.
Collect essay
SESSION 16 CRITICISM 2
Content. The idea of value-intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental. Approaches to criticism; personal subjectivity, intuitionism, emotivism, relativism, critical singularism: Examples of criticism: catalogue essay, academic treatise, cultural criticism, Conservative harangue, Philosophical essay, Descriptive art criticism, Poetic art criticism.
Learning Resources
Prescribed Texts
References
Other Resources
BIBLIOGRAPHY POSTMODERNISM:
(Note: many of the texts under Postmodernism also include information regarding Feminism, Politics and Post colonialism.)
General References
Archer, M – Art since 1960. (1997)
Atkins, R – Art Speak: A Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements and Buzzwords.: 1945 to the Present. (1997)
Dempsey, Amy – Styles, Schools and Movements: An Encyclopedic Guide to Modern Art.
Edgar, A & Sedgwick, P – Key Concepts in Cultural Theory. (1999)
Fineberg, J – Art since 1940: Strategies of Being (2000)
Hopkins, D – After Modern Art 1945-2000 (2000).
Lucie-Smith, E – Movements in Art since 1945 (ed. 2000)
Lucie-Smith, E – Visual Arts in the 20th Century (1996)
Taylor, B – The Art of Today (1995)
Wheeler, D – Art Since Mid Century. (1991)
Vergine, L – A Guide to Contemporary Movements (2001)
Anthologies
Cahoone, L.E – From Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology (1996)
Harrison, C & Wood, P – Art in Theory 1900-1990: An anthology of changing ideas (1993)
Jencks, C – The Post Modern Reader (1993)
Natoli, J & Hutchen, L – A Post - Modern Reader
Truett Anderson, W – The Fontana Post Modernism Reader (1996)
Wheale, N – The Postmodern Arts: An Introductory Reader. (1995)
Main References
Appignaresi, R & Garratt, C. Post Modernism for Beginners (1995)
Berman, A – From the New Criticism to Deconstruction: The Reception of Structuralism and Post Structuralism. (1998)
Bertens, H – The Idea of the Postmodern- A History. (1995)
Brunette, P & Willis, D – Deconstruction and the Visual Arts : Art, Media ,Architecture. (1994)
Butler, C – Postmodernism: A Very Short History (2002)
Danto, A.C – Postmodern Culture: An Introduction to Theories of the Contemporary (1997)
Docker, J – Postmodernism and Popular Culture: A Cultural History. (1994)
Heartney, E – Postmodernism (2001)
Hoesterey, I – Pastiche: Cultural Memory in Art, Film, Literature (2001)
Eagleton, T – The Illusions of Postmodernism (1996)
Jencks, C – Architecture Today (1993)
Jencks, C –Post-Modernism: the New Classicism in Art and Architecture (1987)
Jencks, C – The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1991)
Jencks, C – What is Post Modernism (1996)
Leitch, V.B – Post Modernism: Local Effects, Global Flows (1996)
Moxey, K.P.F – The Practice of Theory: Poststructuralism, Cultural Politics and Art History (1994)
Norris, C – Deconstruction Theory and Practice (1991)
Parmesani, L – Art of the Twentieth Century: Movements, Theories, Schools and Tendencies. 1900-2000 (2000)
Risatti, H – Postmodern Perspectives: Issues in Contemporary Art (1990)
Sandler, I – Art of the Postmodern Era (1996)
Schapiro, G (Ed) – After the Future: Postmodern Times and Places (1990)
Sim, S (Ed) – The Icon Critical Dictionary of Postmodern Thought. (1998)
Sim, S (Ed) – The Routledge Companion to Post Modernism
Tester, K – The life and Times of Post Modernity (1993)
Various – The New Romantics (1988)
Various – The New Modernism: Deconstructionist Tendencies in Art. (1988)
Wallis, B & Tucke, M – Art after Modernism: Rethinking Representation (1984) ART
Woods, T – Beginning Post-Modernism. (1999)
Postmodernist Philosophers
BARTHES
Barthes, R – The Death of The Author (1968) (Essay)
Barthes, R – Mythologies. (1957)
BAUDRILLARD
Baudrillard, J – For a critique of the political economy of the sign. (1981)
Baudrillard, J –The Ecstasy of Communication (1987)
Baudrillard, J – Seduction (1979)
Baudrillard, J – Simulacra and Simulation (1997)
Danto, A.C – Baudrillard, J. (1997)(STA)
Kellner, D (ed) – Baudrillard: A Critical Reader.(1994)
DERRIDA
Derrida, J - Dissemination (1982)
Derrida, J - Writing and Difference (1995)
Caputo, J.D (ed.) – Deconstruction in a nutshell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida. (1997)
Johnson, C – Derrida: The Scene of Writing. (1997)
FOUCAULT
Foucault, M – The Order of Things (1970)
Foucault, M – The Archaeology of Knowledge (1989)
LYOTARD
Lyotard, J.F – The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. (1991)
Readings, B – Introducing Lyotard: Art and Politics (1991)
Sim, S – Jean - Francois Lyotard (1995)
ART AND POLITICS
Becker, C – The subversive imagination: Artists, society and social responsibility. (1994)
Felshin, N – But is it Art?: The spirit of Art as Activism (1995)
Hadjinicolau, N – Art history and class struggle (1973)
Jordon, G ; Weedon ,C – Cultural politics: Class, Gender, Race and the postmodern world (1991)
Robert, J – Postmodernism, politics and art (1990)
Wood, P – Conceptualism (2002)
FEMINISM
Broude,N; Garrad,M.D – The Power of Feminist Art Emergence, impact and triumph of the American
Feminist Art Movement (1994)
Broude,N Garrard,M.D;– Feminism and Art History : Questioning the Litany (1982)
Chadwick,W – Women, Art and Society (1996)
Chicago,J – The Dinner party (1996)
Ecker,G (ed) – Feminist Aesthetics (1985)
Gamble, S(ed) – The Routledge Companion to Feminism and Post Feminism (2001)
Humm ,M.-.The Dictionary of Feminist Theory (1989)
Isaak,J – Feminism and Contemporary Art: The revolutionary power of women’s laughter (1996)
Lovell, T; Wolkowitz, C; Andremahr, S – A concise glossary of Feminist Theory
McDonald, H – Erotic Ambiguities: The Female Nude in Art (2001)
Nicholson,L – Feminism/Postmodern (1990)
Parker,R; Pollock,G – Old Mistresses: Women, Art and Ideology ( )
Reckett, H (ed) – Art and Feminism, (2001)
Robinson (ed) – Feminism-Art- Theory: an Anthology 1968-2000 (2001)
Tuttle, L – Encyclopedia of Feminism (1986)
Weedon, C – Feminist Practice and Post Structuralist Theory ( )
POST-COLONIALISM
Joseph, M; Fink, J.N (eds) – Performing Hybridity (1999)
Loomba, A – Colonialism/Post Colonialism (1998)
Mongia ,P – Contemporary Postcolonial Theory (1997)
Spivak, G – A Critique of Post Colonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present (1999)
Overview of Assessment
Assessment may incorporate a range of methods to assess performance and the application of essential underpinning knowledge, and might include:
- participation in a critical discourse on the candidate’s work concepts
- discussion and questioning about research and development processes
- written and/or verbal reports
- visual presentation, including diagrams, charts, slides, using digital technology
- review of portfolios of evidence
- third party workplace reports
Assessment Tasks
Assessment for both semesters will be in the form of an essay. The essay for the first semester is of a more formal and academic type while that for the second semester consists more of a collection of texts
Semester 1.Research report.
You will be asked to choose an art related topic, the research of which, will help in the development of the conceptual context behind their practical work and thinking. All chosen topics are discussed with the teacher before you begin your research in order to tailor the topic as well as possible to the your needs. In addition to this, you will be required to demonstrate your knowledge of the units content, by relating one or more of the discussed subjects (e.g. feminism, marxism, etc) to the study of your chosen topic.
Words 3,000+
Semester 2 Report on own work
You will be asked to write an report on your own work. This report consists of a number of discrete texts dealing with different issues.
These include:
- An account of your artistic vision, your ideas, aims and influences. This gives you a greater awareness and an overview of what exactly you have been doing and what has been developing.
- An account is given of their creative process-an awareness of how it works; when it doesn’t work; and what steps are taken to overcome blockages and problems. This helps to build an awareness in the students that they need to be creative not only in making their work but also in working out problems in the creative process itself
- An account is given regarding a hypothetical or real exhibition of their work. It includes not just the details of the exhibition but conceptual issues dealt with by the student in their choice of the specific form of exhibiting. This textis designed to raise a greater awareness of the conceptual, philosophical, political and cultural meanings that the students can convey through their mode of exhibiting.
- Finally you will need to choose and address two aesthetic questions dealt with during the semester and relate them to your own work.
Words 3000
Assessment Matrix
| Assessment task | Elements | Performance criteria | Underpinning skills and knowledge | Critical aspect of evidence |
| Research report | 1. Research concept ideas 2. Generate concepts |
1.1,1.2,1.3 2.1,2.2,2.3,2.4, 2.5 |
|
The following evidence is critical to the judgement of competence in this unit:
|
| Report on own work | 3. Conduct critical discourse 4. Adjust and refine concept |
3.1,3.2,3.3,3.4 4.1,4.2,4.3 |
Other Information
Feedback
You will receive verbal and written feedback by teacher on your work. This feedback also includes suggestions on how you can proceed to the next stage of developing your projects.
Plagiarism
RMIT has a strict policy on plagiarism. Please refer to the website for more information on this policy.
Special consideration Policy (Late Submission)
All assessment tasks are required to be completed to a satisfactory level. If you are unable to complete any piece of assessment by the due date, you will need to apply for an extension.
Please refer to the following URL for extensions and special consideration:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=qkssnx1c5r0y;STATUS=A;PAGE_AUTHOR=Andrea%20Syers;SECTION=1;
Course Overview: Access Course Overview