ARTS400 to ARTS609

ARTS400 Visual Arts Research Methods                                                                                               10 cp

Prerequisites Entry into the Honours course

Teaching Organisation 1-hour seminar for two semesters.

This unit is a study of art theorists and other relevant commentators – both historical and contemporary – focusing on critical analysis. These will be drawn from a range of disciplines providing sociological, cultural, historical, philosophical and psychological viewpoints. This unit defines the parameters of the art research topic through discussions between staff and students. Examining approaches to the collection and presentation of research data. Progress reports on research topics.

ARTS402 Mass and High Art in the 20th Century                                                                                  10 cp

Prerequisites Entry into the Honours course

Teaching Organisation 3 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent, with occasional gallery visits.

This unit provides a study of 20th Century movements in Visual Art and the effect of mass culture upon them. An analysis of the theories that constitute the mass culture debate with particular reference to low and high art. Specific examination of mass media’s rapid development in the post war years and its effect on art.

ARTS403 Design Studies 5                                                                                                                   10 cp

Prerequisites Entry into the Honours course

Teaching Organisation 3-hour workshops (with occasional field trips).

Colour theory. Working knowledge of film, exposure, filters, optics and lenses. Copy board work, lighting and cropping. Research: theoretical and technical research data and background based on individual preferences.

ARTS404 Visual Arts Communication                                                                                                   10 cp

Prerequisites Entry into the Honours course

Teaching Organisation 3-hour workshops.

Advanced processes, philosophies and skill development that cater for the needs of the individual. Fundamental research tasks that explore aspects of history, theory and procedure coupled with private investigations and critical judgement.

ARTS405 Practices of Research in Art and Design                                                                               10 cp

Prerequisites Entry to the BVAD Honours

Teaching Organisation Three hours per week for twelve weeks or equivalent.

The aim of this unit is to enable students, through the analysis of exemplars of research, to rehearse these practices in a manner consistent with the apprenticeship model of learning. In particular, students will be able to integrate and apply systematically key agencies of research practice in art and design, including the role of explanatory theory, the functional stance of the researcher, the constraints imposed by art and design as the object of investigation and the conventions of proposal writing.

Students will write a project proposal, in consultation with the assigned supervisor or mentor, and informed by scholarly approaches to proposal writing gained in this research methods unit. The proposal will relate to their designated area of specialisation and will develop a new area of inquiry.

ARTS406 Issues of Ethical Practice in Art and Design                                                                          10 cp

Prerequisites Entry to the BVAD Honours

Teaching Organisation Three hours per week for twelve weeks or equivalent.

This unit examines debates about how ethical considerations should enter into the practices of art and design. It considers a range of contemporary issues such as truth in advertising for graphic designers, plagiarism in a post-modern world and appropriation of cultural images and artifacts. The ethical and legal implications of the interaction generated between artist, exhibiting institution, and the viewing/purchasing public will be examined, along with the ethical and legal relationships that exist between the artist, designer and client. Students will have the opportunity to focus on a particular area of interest as it relates to their practice as an artist, designer or theoretician.

ARTS407 Advanced Studies in Art and Design                                                                                     10 cp

Prerequisites Entry to the BVAD Honours

Teaching Organisation Three hours per week for twelve weeks or equivalent.

This unit emphasizes the development of the student’s conceptual, aesthetic, historical and technical knowledge within the context of contemporary art practice. The area of specialisation will determine the content of the work that is undertaken for this unit, and will vary from student to student, although for studio-based work there will be an emphasis on the development of technical skills and knowledge within the framework of the conceptual basis of the project proposal. This unit may be undertaken at ACU National, or may be taken cross-institutionally, subject to the approval of the Course Coordinator. Artworks, images and objects that explore the spiritual and religious contexts of human experience will be encouraged.

ARTS408 Research Thesis/Research Studio Practice A                                                                       20 cp

ARTS409 Research Thesis/Research Studio Practice B                                                                       30 cp

Prerequisites Entry to the BVAD Honours

Teaching Organisation Twelve weeks or equivalent.

In consultation with a supervisor, students will undertake a research project in a self-initiated area of specialisation. The student will pursue the intention of the original proposal, refining and developing concepts, processes, and techniques. At the conclusion of the unit students will submit their project for exhibition and assessment, or in the case of art and design history and theory specialists, a thesis for examination. Graphic design specialists may exhibit their work on-line, if this is deemed appropriate. The ACU National Galleries will provide a public venue for the display of student artwork and will enable the wider community to participate in a significant cultural event. Students will be expected to deliver an artists’ floor talk about their work during the course of the public exhibition. Art and design history and theory specialists will assist in the curatorial process by contributing to the catalogue essay, when this is required.

ARTS500 Art and Design Seminar                                                                                                        10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit will provide a forum for discussion and debate about current and relevant issues pertaining to the practices of art and design. Guest lecturers and students will combine in the critical analysis of the impact that philosophical, cultural, social, economic, environmental and technological issues have on the responsible solution of art and design issues.

ARTS501 Marketing and Promotion for Art and Design                                                                        10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit focuses on issues in marketing for those working in art and design related fields. Topics covered include methods of audience and client research and ways of undertaking group surveys and their implementation. The definition of the unique qualities of a target audience or institution and the creation of a public image will be examined.

ARTS502 Practices of Research in Art and Design                                                                               10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

The aim of this unit is to enable students, through the analysis of exemplars of research, to rehearse these practices in a manner consistent with an apprenticeship model of learning. In particular, students will be able to integrate and apply key agencies of research practice in art and design systematically, including the role of explanatory theory, the functional stance of the researcher, the constraints imposed by art and design as the object of investigation, and the conventions of proposal writing.

ARTS503 Issues of Ethical Practice in Art and Design                                                                          10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit examines some of the significant moral questions that arise in the practices of art and design. It considers a range of contemporary issues such as the responsibility graphic designers have for truth in advertising, the use of racial, ethnic, religious, political and gender stereotypes in design, the censorship of art and design in public spaces, and the widespread appropriation of cultural images and artefacts in post-modern art and design. The ethical and legal relationship that exists between the artist or designer and the client will be discussed, together with the ethical and legal implications that are generated by the interaction between the artist or designer, exhibiting institutions, and the viewing/purchasing public. Students will have the opportunity to focus on a particular area of interest as it relates to their practice as an artist, designer or theoretician.

ARTS504 Design Studio in Graphics and Multi-Media 1                                                                       20 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit aims to provide students with the opportunity to investigate advanced theoretical and practical aspects of graphics and multi-media design in a self-directed environment. New research and developments in the techniques, materials and concepts of the print, multi-media and photographic areas of graphic design will be critically evaluated.

ARTS505 Design Studio in Graphics and Multi-Media 2                                                                       20 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit provides students with further opportunities to investigate advanced theoretical and practical aspects of graphics and multi-media design. Specific attention will be paid to the application of digital imaging in the creative development of innovative concepts in graphic and web page design.

ARTS506 Studio Practice 1                                                                                                                  20 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit aims to provide students with the opportunity to investigate advanced theoretical and practical aspects of studio practice in a self-directed environment. New research and developments in the techniques, materials and concepts of studio practice in areas such as painting drawing, printmedia, sculpture, photography, film-making and ceramics will be critically evaluated.

ARTS507 Studio Practice 2                                                                                                                  20 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit provides a setting in which students extend and advance their practical and theoretical knowledge as it pertains to practice in a self-selected area. Inter-disciplinary contexts will be highlighted as a way to understand the way in which contemporary practice can be framed.

ARTS600 Art, Design and New Media                                                                                                  10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

Art, technology and new media will be examined in the context of contemporary practice. A range of practices will be examined, including holograms, digital imaging and techno-performance. Besides investigating the work of new and emerging artists, the unit will look at the way in which museums and galleries have responded to the demands of exhibiting new media works. Visits to galleries and artists studios will be a focus of this unit.

ARTS601 Art, Design and Cultural Difference                                                                                      10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

The conceptualisation and critical evaluation of cultural difference has occupied a central position in Western art and design practice. Cultural difference can be interpreted as a series of narratives and counter-narratives tied to concepts of social, cultural or psychic constructions of identity. The unit examines the aesthetic representation of power and definitions of identity.

ARTS602 Design Studio in Integrated Design                                                                                      10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit explores the multi-disciplinary nature of design integration. The development of complex and appropriate design solutions, in the context of cross-disciplinary approaches will be the focus of the unit. The advanced study of computer imaging (2D and 3D) will enhance the students’ capacity to design innovative examples of graphic and web page design.

ARTS603 Advanced Design Studio in Graphics and Multi-Media                                                         10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit provides students with opportunities to consider innovative approaches to graphics and multi-media design. Relevant concepts, knowledge and skills will be applied to digital imaging in the creative development of innovative concepts in graphic and web page design. Solutions to design problems examined in previous units will be the focus of student investigation. In particular, students will identify and master the technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary designer in a self-selected area of specialisation.

ARTS604 Design Studio Project 1                                                                                                        20 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit will provide students with the opportunity to develop concepts for a sophisticated body of work that will be developed further in the Design Studio Project 2 unit. The work will consolidate and extend previous experiences in graphics and multi-media and will focus on a reflective evaluation of the skills, knowledge and values that underpin practice in their chosen field.

ARTS605 Design Studio Project 2                                                                                                        20 cp

Prerequisites ARTS604 Design Studio Project 1

This unit will provide students with the opportunity to advance further the self-initiated project that was developed in the Design Studio Project 1 unit. A complex and resolved body of work (either in the form of graphic, multi-modal or web-page design) will be produced under the guidance of a lecturer or mentor, and will be exhibited in the ACU Gallery and on-line at the conclusion of the unit.

ARTS606 Advanced Studio Practice 1                                                                                                  10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

Students will critically evaluate their own work and the work of their peers in the context of contemporary practice. Regular visits to art galleries, artists studios and museums will enable students to position their own work and that of their peers within the framework of cutting-edge practice.

ARTS607 Advanced Studio Practice 2                                                                                                  10 cp

Prerequisites Nil

Students will focus on a self-selected area of specialisation in 2D, 3D or object design forms (or a combination of these). They will reflect upon the knowledge, skills and conceptual frameworks that shape contemporary practice in their chosen field and they will clarify the aesthetic and conceptual intentions of their own work. A sophisticated understanding of the appropriate application of technical skill and knowledge to their emerging work will be an important consideration.

ARTS608 Studio Project 1                                                                                                                    20 cp

Prerequisites Nil

This unit will provide students with the opportunity to develop concepts for a sophisticated body of work that will be developed further in the Design Studio Project 2 unit. The work will consolidate and extend previous experiences in studio practice in 2D, 3D, or object design and will focus on a reflective evaluation of the skills, knowledge and values that underpin practice in their chosen media area.

ARTS609 Studio Project 2                                                                                                                    20 cp

Prerequisites ARTS608 Studio Project 1

This unit will provide students with the opportunity to develop a sophisticated, complex and resolved body of work that will culminate in a public exhibition, to be held in the ACU Gallery. Monitored, self-initiated studies will enable the student to move towards the development of an innovative and original approach to their art making practice, demonstrating a sophisticated level of understanding of the frameworks within which contemporary practice operates.