6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL
Undergraduate - Unit
Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.
Faculty
Organisational Unit
Coordinator(s)
Not offered in 2017
Notes
This unit was formerly coded TAD3801
Synopsis
This unit examines the medium and its materiality across a range of visual art practices including: painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video, multi-media, social practices and performance art. It focuses on a historical lineage of art's mediums and disciplines and how they are framed, constituted and judged in a diverse range of academic fields. Concepts and traditions of modern aesthetics, the effect of late-capitalism, socio-economic critiques of art and technology are pivotal to any understanding of how art's form moves between modes of medium-specificity to trans-disciplinary realms. The unit introduces key theoretical tenets to analyse late modernist and contemporary art practices as case studies. It introduces students to the critical dialogue around the medium and artists' material processes.
Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
- understand and articulate what a medium is both conceptually and practically
- analyse the debates surrounding the defence and criticism of medium specificity and the trans-disciplinary
- contextualise studio practice within the conceptual models explored in the unit
- reflect and engage in critical dialogue about the medium and its importance in twenty-first century art
Assessment
Assignment 1,500 words (40%)
Research essay 2,500 words (60%)
Workload requirements
12 hours per week including 3 contact hours and 9 hours of independent study or equivalent.
See also Unit timetable information
Chief examiner(s)
Prerequisites
12 credit points at second year level in Art History and Theory, or Theory of Art and Design, or Visual Culture, or permission from Unit Coordinator
Prohibitions
TAD2801, TAD3801, AHT2801