TAD3106*

Abstraction, expression and their critique

6 points - One 2 hour lecture, one 1 hour tutorial and 9 independent study hours per week - Second semester Caulfield - Prerequisites: completion of two second-year level subjects in theory of art and design - Corequisites: None - Prohibited combinations: None

Objectives On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to possess acritical understanding of certain aspects of the formal basis to art and design this century; be familiar with the claims concerning the communicate powers of non-representational imagery and develop a critical conspectus of the communicative strengths and weaknesses of abstraction; be able to investigate certain major ideas that have contributed to the variety of the art and design of the twentieth century and be able to describe and critically evaluate them; and be able to formulate informed speculation concerning the destiny of abstractionism in the context of postmodern theory.

Synopsis This subject looks at the impact of abstraction on art and design. The ideas and issues underpinning the separation of representational imagery and its means of presentation are considered in regard to major art and design developments. The impact of movements like Suprematism, Constructivism, De Stijl and also the Bauhaus on the use of space, colour, content, typography, etc., are studied, to show how these have formed that basis of trends that are relevant to art and design in the present. Photography is explored in relation to the development of a photographic aesthetic, dependent on formal considerations and the impact of abstraction on film is also discussed. The emphasis is on the exploration of ideas that have been instrumental in the development of visual culture

Assessment Research essay: 50% Seminar presentation: 50%

Recommended texts

Hoffert B Art notes Longman Cheshire, 1993
Hoffert B et al Art in diversity Longman Cheshire, 1989
Meggs P A History of graphic design Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983
Arnheim R Art and visual perception University of California Press
Barthes R Image, music, art Fontana.

Back to the 1999 Art and Design Handbook