MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS

Art & Design Handbook 1996

Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996

CFT2462

History and theory of the crafts

Objectives Assisting students to develop an elementary understanding of theories and criticism from the sixteenth century onwards and enabling them to articulate this understanding through research and communication, as a means of making sense of recent developments in art, craft and design.

Synopsis We look at the development of perception from two sides: we explore instinctual, sensory, emotional and spiritual levels of perception and we look at ways in which materials, processes, techniques and gestures of making awaken and train our perceptions on those different levels. Apart from visual examples through slides, there will be some work with legends and myths, archetypal images and the notion of `play' as primeval source of culture.

Assessment Subject record: 50% + 2000-word essay or equivalent presentation: 50%

Recommended texts

• Bachelard G Water and dreams: An essay on the imagination of matter Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, 1982
• Focillon H The life of forms in art Zone Books, 1989
• Gombrich E H The sense of order: A study in the psychology of decorative art Phaidon, 1979
• Needleman C The work of craft: An enquiry into the nature of craft and craftmanship Arkana, 1986
• Pye D The nature and aesthetics of design Herbert Press, 1988