Undergraduate - UnitFNA4002 - Major project (fine art honours)

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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18 points, SCA Band 1, 0.375 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
Organisational Unit	Department of Fine Art
Offered	Caulfield Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Fiona Macdonald

Synopsis

Studio at honours level is research-oriented and non-prescriptive in the terms of its content. Students produce a proposal at the beginning of the semester but are free to carry out their work with any number of deviations from their original plans. The intentions of students and the results of their work are debated in group discussions and critical sessions.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will:

cultivate high ambitions to perfect their practice with technical excellence and to establish a relationship between mastery in technique and the visionary dimensions of their area of specialisation in Fine Art
be able to find working habits which prolifically engage the imagination and expedite both the realization of artistic intentions and critical reflection on the results
be keen to determine suitable artistic intentions which allow them to achieve an appropriate balance between the sensual faculties and the reasoning or critical faculties
enjoy the prospect of debating or defending a given direction of practice in their discipline against critical interrogation
be keen to engage in a dialogue with the history of their chosen genre, empowering them not only with familiarity and the ability to manipulate prestigious exemplars but with the confidence to challenge the authority of historical precedents or the uncritical values imposed upon them in received histories
be curious about identifying the poetic dimension of their practice, either with reference to the symbolic use of design objects, the imagery contained in works, the tensions between conflicting semiotic expectations, the artful use of metaphor or humour or anything else
identify inspiration not only with the innovative faculties related to finding new methods or novel imagery but with the power of consolidating old aesthetic ideas with a consistent impetus genuinely felt by the emerging practitioner
be happy, wherever personal inspiration indicates, to embrace traditional methods and intentions in Fine Art, and be prepared to define traditional practice as research, provided that new or continuing applicability in the recent history of ideas can be demonstrated.