Fine Art Degree Handbook

Open College of the Arts Michael Young Arts Centre Redbrook Business Park Wilthorpe Road Barnsley S75 1JN

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2 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Contents Degree information Course Title: BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree aims Degree outcomes

Degree structure Degree Pathway Programme summary Introduction

Learning and teaching Learning and teaching strategy PDP Independent learning Online learning Time frames Employability

Additional resources Study visits Unit materials Study Guides Reading Lists Blogs Formative and diagnostic feedback

Assessment Assessment methods Assessment criteria

Level four units Student profile

Level five units Student profile

Level six units Student profile

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Degree information Course Title: BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree aims • • • • • •

To widen access to Creative Arts Education at Undergraduate level through flexible supported open learning. To offer high quality and stimulating study material and tutor support through which students can develop a specialist understanding of Fine Art practices. To provide flexibility for students to meaningfully establish their own creative voice and a personal and/or professional understanding of their practice. To develop learners capable of applying their skills, knowledge and understanding creatively within a range of contexts. To develop students’ theoretical, conceptual and contextual understanding of fine art and contemporary debate in the discipline. To develop autonomous learners capable of applying intellectual and practical skills in a chosen fine art medium appropriate to enjoyment, further study or life-long learning.

Fine Art student, Jackie Gaskell

4 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Degree outcomes Upon successful completion of the course students are able to:

Knowledge • • • •

Demonstrate a personal creative voice through the use of creative, analytical, visual and practical skills, techniques and media. Articulate a critical and contextual understanding of contemporary fine art practice and their location within it. Manage the learning process resourcefully and independently and make appropriate use of primary sources and scholarly reviews. Evaluate your own work and that of others critically and objectively

Understanding • • • •

Generate creative and innovative ideas and solutions, adapting and translating Them into outcomes that communicate effectively Demonstrate informed and rigorous research, enquiry and reflection. Understand the relationship your work has to wider contemporary and historical culture

Application • • •

Select and apply creative, visual, technical and analytical skills in the realisation and presentation of ambitious work to a professional standard. Demonstrate a breadth of inventiveness, ideas generation and techniques in the creation of creative work. Develop an autonomous, sustainable and reflective practice that can be applied to professional, post-graduate and/or personal development contexts

Did you know? As an Open College of the Arts student, you are eligible to apply for student discount such as NUS (www.nus.org.uk/en/) and Unidays (www.myunidays.com/). Visit this website to view more offers and discount codes www.studentbeans.com/.

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Degree structure The diagram below shows the structure of the degree, and how many units you must study at each level. Use the Pathway on the next page to select the units you wish to study.

Fine Art Degree Pathway

Degree Pathway

OCA Level 1 units (HE Level 4) Total credits 120

OCA Level 2 units (HE Level 5) Total credits 120

OCA Level 3 units (HE Level 6) Total credits 120

You need three units at this Level There are two mandatory units which you must undertake.

You need to undertake two of the following units:

You need three units at this Level You will need to do all the units listed below.

Drawing 2: Investigating Drawing

Mandatory Units

(Pre-requisite any Drawing 1)

*Fine Art 3: Advanced Practice *Fine Art 3: Contextual Research *Fine Art 3: Sustaining Your Practice

Mandatory Units Drawing 1: Drawing Skills Visual Studies 1: Understanding Visual Culture

*Drawing 2: A Personal Approach to Drawing (Pre-requisite any Drawing 1)

*Painting 2: Studio Practice You need to select one of the units below:

(Pre-requisite any Painting 1)

Painting 2: Concepts in Practice (Pre-requisite any Painting 1)

Painting 1: The Practice of Painting Painting 1: Understanding Painting Media *Painting 1: Exploring Media Printmaking 1: Introduction to Printmaking Sculpture 1: Starting out in 3D *Drawing 1: Exploring Drawing Media

Printmaking 2: Developing your Style (Pre-requisite Printmaking 1)

Sculpture 2: Studio Practice (Pre-requisite Sculpture 1)

*Additional units will be added during the period 1 September 2015 to 1 August 2020.

Fine Art student, Harriet Johnson

Did you know? With our flexible open learning approach you enrol on one course or one level at a time as you study towards your degree. The degree pathway sets out the options for you to study, allowing you to tailor what you study as your interests develop.

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BA (Hons) Fine Art

Programme summary

Painting student, Victoria Whiting

9 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Introduction The BA (Hons) Fine Art degree offers students the opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of fine art as a creative, technical and intellectual activity. The course offers an accessible, flexible, and well-supported course of study through which students can develop their creative voice in the media of choice within a specialist understanding of the discipline. It is an academically rigorous course that integrates theory and practice and develops autonomous learning skills within a stimulating learning environment. It supports the development of a sustainable and reflective creative practice for a professional career, further study, or continued personal development. The course philosophy is informed by OCA’s charitable commitment to provide a flexible and open learning experience that supports a broad range of student expectation and needs. The OCA attracts a diverse range of students, who are at various stages of their lives and careers and motivated by professional and/or personal aspirations. The course offers an accessible entry point to art education for this range of students through part-time and distance learning. Additional support and resources are in place to ensure students are at an appropriate level of study to succeed. The curriculum focuses on the core media within fine arts - Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, and Printmaking. Respecting and acknowledging the historical atelier based, fine art approach, the course builds on and respects the traditional as well as exploring contemporary approaches in fine art practice. This course will appeal to those who want to study their chosen media in depth, establishing a solid, traditional skills and knowledge base from where they can explore and innovative.

Fine Art student, Peter Pateluch

10 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Learning and teaching Learning and teaching strategy The course’s learning and teaching strategy is framed by OCA’s purpose to widen access to Creative Arts Education through flexible supported open learning. By ‘widening access’ we mean: • this course can be studied from any location and does not require students to travel to attend classes – this is of particular relevance for those with mobility constraints, who live in remote areas or are in custodial institutions; • the needs of students with disabilities are factored into the design and delivery of the course. By ‘supported’ we mean: • this course is supported by personal tutors who advise and guide their students’ learning; • students have access to their peers through discussion forums that are animated and moderated by the OCA; • students can request adjustments or additional help to enable them to study successfully with the College.

By ‘Open and Flexible Learning’ we mean: • this course can be studied successfully at a distance; • this course has flexible start dates and pace of study is negotiated between the Student and the tutor (within defined limits). This approach translates into a core offer to students, which consists of: • paper-based and/or digital learning materials for each unit • one-to-one written and/or verbal formative feedback and support from a named tutor • support materials (such as guides on aspects of study and course handbooks) • access to dialogue with peers via the OCA student website / Google Hangout critiques • learner support for any difficulties with the practicalities of studying via email ortelephone • digital library resources (including Oxford Art online, Bridgeman Education Art Library and scanned copies of essential and recommended essays and chapters) In addition to these core aspects of study, students may access: • study visits to exhibitions, workshops and other events in different parts of the country • current creative arts reviews, articles and discussion via the WeAreOCA blog • student-led initiatives such as study visits and seminars, supported by the student body, OCASA • a range of social media resources that provide additional OCA content or signpost students to existing online material (via Flickr, Pinterest, Vimeo, YouTube)

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PDP Personal and professional development is linked to all levels of the course through the learning log which is integral to each unit and helps to plan, integrate and take responsibility for their personal, career and academic development. The log is used as a tool for self-reflection to document and reflect on creative progress, reflect on tutor feedback and to identify areas for development. In dialogue with tutors through formative feedback, students are encouraged to identify strengths and learning needs and establish learning goals that might improve perceived weaknesses and enhance strengths. The learning log is considered as part of the assessment process and contributes towards final marks.

Independent learning The Art and Design Benchmarks say that ‘Active learning through project-based enquiry has always been a feature of the art and design curriculum in higher education. Through this approach students have been encouraged to develop both the capacity for independent learning and the ability to work with others.’ Through the OCA open learning model of project and research-based activities students learn to study independently with tutor support, and learn to work with others by interacting with them, providing and receiving support and exchanging ideas via the OCA forum. For each unit, students receive paper-based or digital copies of course materials and access to a tutor. Course materials provide a contextual overview of the subject and a range of projects for students to engage with. Each project will contain written and visual content, a number of exercises and research tasks, leading towards a final assignment activity. Typically there are five assignments per unit, which each take between 8 to 12 weeks, depending on the rate of study and how the deadline has been negotiated between students and tutor. At the end of each part of the unit, students submit their exercises, assignment and learning log via post or digitally. Tutors establish a working relationship with students through initial email, telephone or video contact and welcome packs. Tutors respond to student submissions by providing written and/ or verbal formative feedback that reflects on the work they have produced, provides guidance on areas to develop and frames the work within the assessment criteria for the unit. Tutors and Course Advisers are available to deal with any ad hoc support needs the student may encounter. Tutor feedback reports are typically around 1000 words and provide the main interaction between student and tutor. Students are asked to reflect on this feedback in their learning logs. Tutor reports are copied to the OCA head office and subject to periodic review to ensure standards are being maintained. These reviews are conducted on a rolling programme, with tutors reports regularly reviewed by course leaders and the Director of Teaching and Learning Quality. All new tutors have their reports monitored for the first six months and mentoring is provided. Subsequently reports are looked at during each formal assessment event, in conjunction with student work and feedback is given to tutors, where necessary. If any cause for concern about a tutor’s reports is raised, the tutor is closely monitored and mentored for a period.

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Online learning Communications between the OCA, tutors and students is predominantly by email. We are encouraging the use of Skype and Google Hangout for tutorials, as this can enliven the interaction between tutor and student. OCA has a dedicated website for students which includes online resources, discussion forums and portfolios for individual student’s work. Peer communication takes place in the student forums, or via comments on the WeareOCA blog or other student blogs, as well as study visits. The student forums represent the main method of communication between students and their peers. Concepts are discussed and knowledge developed through debates that are informally moderated by OCA tutors. Critiques of work, both in development and completed, are sought from peers through the forum. Support materials are available to students via the OCA website and are sent to students at the start of each unit. These provide guidance on all aspects of OCA study, including keeping sketchbooks and learning logs, developing study skills and criticality, an introduction to higher education, course specific reading lists, and course handbooks. Graphic design students are provided with copies of the quarterly Eye typography journal. Digital library resources include: • VADS, V&A Museum online resources for visual arts • Bridgeman Education image library • Oxford Art Online • Scanned copies of essays and chapters from essential and recommended readinglists across all units (permitted under CLA Higher Education Licence) • OCA study guides • OCA videos • Links to existing online resources, including Process Arts, TATE etc. online journal, JISC Media Hub and The Metropolitan Museum journal

Find out more Visit http://weareoca.com/category/study_visits/ to look at our most recent study visits

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Time frames The flexibility of the OCA means you can complete your degree to suit you, taking anything from 3 to 12 years. The full degree programme must be completed in 12 years. Interested in this degree?

Employability Students are encouraged to develop a sustainable model for their practice, whether this relates to their personal or professional development, through the establishment of their own studio space, local support networks (which may include fellow OCA students) and access to resources. Learning materials and project work encourages students to frame their practice within wider professional contexts, present their practice to a professional level and identify potential opportunities for further study or employment. The Sustaining Your Practice Unit supports the development of a portfolio of work, marketing material and an external exhibition that can provide a platform for students to seek employment or establish their practice.

Printmaking student, Christine Bruce

14 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Additional learning and teaching resources Study visits Optional study visits to exhibitions, workshops or events are available free to all students but access to them are limited based on location or personal circumstances. To mitigate, study visits are summarised in blog posts on the WeAreOCA blog. Recent study visits include: • Jeff Koons: Artist Rooms, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, 2015 • The Art of John Golding, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art, Norwich 2015 • Jerwood Drawing Prize 2015, Jerwood Space, London, 2015 • Phyllida Barlow, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 2015 • The British Art Show, Leeds, 2015 • Richard Long, Arnolfini, Bristol, 2015

Unit materials The written unit materials have been specifically produced for distance learning delivery and are designed for individual self-study. They consist of subject-specific learning content and a series of learning projects each culminating in an assignment, the results of which are discussed with the tutor. The unit materials contain a balance of practical exercises and large scale projects and research tasks/points

Study Guides There are guides on keeping sketchbooks, writing learning logs, study skills, and keeping blogs, among others. All of these are available as downloads form the OCA website.

Reading Lists The BA programme has a comprehensive study list composed of key texts, journals and websites for each unit. At higher levels, when students undertake their own projects, reading lists are negotiated with tutors.

Blogs Blogs are maintained by students as public versions of the learning log. Their public status allows opinions to be expressed by fellow students, or the general public if desired, on the work being produced. Being accessible to other students, they offer a wide range of interpretations of unit projects to be seen, read and commented upon by others, allowing learning to take place through social activity centered around a programme of study. If maintained as a learning log, the address of the blog is submitted at assessment time, instead of a physical learning log.

Formative and diagnostic feedback Ongoing guidance and formative feedback on assignments is given by the student’s tutor and offers clear guidance with regard to future development. A copy of each tutor feedback report given to the student is logged with OCA in order that OCA can monitor tutor quality and performance.

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Assessment Assessment methods Students are assumed to be planning to enter for summative assessment unless they declare otherwise during the unit. Tutors works with the student to advise them on presenting their work for assessment and students can access a number of OCA resources to help support their understanding of the assessment process. There are no examinations. Assessment is through the examination of personal development planning and continual reflection in learning logs or blogs, practical projects, critical reviews and essays. The student uses OCA guidelines to prepare a body of work complete with sketchbooks, storyboards and learning logs (or blog) to send to OCA for assessment. This submission includes the summative assignments of each section of the unit. Assessment tasks are linked to the objectives of each unit. As the student progresses through the unit the assessment increasingly encourages autonomous learning and self-evaluation. Tutors provide feedback during the unit, with constructive criticism, and assessment takes place once the student has completed a unit in full. Summative assessment takes place at one of three annual assessment events at OCA Head Office with a team of tutors associated with the course and course leader overseeing the assessment process. For each unit, students submit a body of physical and/or digital project work, their learning log and a portfolio selection for assessment. First and second markers view the work in relation to level assessment criteria, before discussing the work and, if necessary calling on a third marker to moderate. Summative feedback and grades are provided to students and examples of good practice and student work are disseminated via the WeAreOCA blog. Formative feedback reports are reviewed by assessors to monitor feedback quality and tutor performance.

Did you know? The University of the Creative Arts validates all of the Open College of the Arts degrees.

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Assessment criteria All of the visual arts units follow the same assessment criteria with the different level weightings shown here: Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills (40%) Materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills

Level 4: 40% Level 5: 35% Level 6: 20%

Quality of Outcome (20%) Content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas

Level 4: 20% Level 5: 20% Level 6: 40%

Demonstration of Creativity (20%) Imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice

Level 4: 20% Level 5: 25% Level 6: 20%

Context (20%) Reflection, research, critical thinking

Level 4: 20% Level 5: 20% Level 6: 20%

Printmaking student, Carol Smith

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Fine Art student, Michael Coombes

Find out more Visit http://www.oca.ac.uk/about-oca/oca-galleries/ to view our online galleries.

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BA (Hons) Fine Art

Level four units

Fine Art student, Christa Hotham

19 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Patricia Farrar Drawing and Painting 2 student “I began studying with the OCA a few years before retiring as school principal. You know, the word ‘retirement’ is a completely misleading description of this time in a person’s life. For me life has always been about self discovery. When you leave a successful and very demanding job in which you have had to develop and refine skills and qualities required for that level of responsibility, it doesn’t end there when you give that up! The next phase, whatever it is, is just as demanding in its requirement for continued growth and understanding. The journey goes on! In my present course of study for a Degree in Painting with the OCA, the journey is compelling me to look deep within myself to find a true expression, an innate response to the world around me and I am finding this infinitely more challenging than running a school.”

Find out more To view more student profiles, visit www.oca.ac.uk/our-students/

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Developing Concepts and Skills At Level 4, a sound base of drawing skills is established alongside the study of visual culture in the two core units at this level, establishing a practical and contextual understanding. Students can choose a further unit from a wide choice, for example, art history, sculpture, painting, printmaking or drawing. Level 4 unit assignments support the student through a series of investigations to application.

Painting student, Anna Bernard

21 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Drawing 1: Drawing Skills | 40 credits The unit provides a structured introduction to the skills of drawing using a wide range of media and methods and enables you to see in a selective way and record your observations. The unit introduces you to a range of drawing media, as well as different approaches to mark making and drawing. You are required to look at objects in different ways and translate what you see into drawings, exploring mark making and drawing media. A range of different subjects and approaches are introduced including working outdoors, perspective, composition and other drawing systems - the figure, drawing and photography, plans, elevations and axonometric projection and drawing with collage. The unit requires written work, following-up and commenting on historical and contemporary artists and drawings mentioned in the teaching materials, and recording and reflecting on visits to museums and galleries. You will reflect on your discoveries and observations in a learning log. Drawing 1: Drawing Skills is a compulsory unit for the fine art degree pathway.

Indicative syllabus content • • • • •

Mark making and tone The human figure Observation in nature Drawing outdoors Draw and experiment (choose one of four options related to the preceding assignments)

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • introduce you to a range of media and methods in drawing • develop an understanding of the practice of drawing by exploring a range techniques and skills • introduce you to composition and perspective • introduce contemporary and historical drawing practices and reflect on your own practice

Learning outcomes On successful completion of the unit you will be able to: • experiment with a wide range of drawing media and its use to produce a range of effects • demonstrate the acquisition of basic skills and techniques in drawing • evidence an understanding of composition and perspective • articulate an awareness of the context for drawing and reflect on your own learning experience.

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Visual Studies 1: Understanding Visual Culture | 40 credits This unit is an introduction to a complex field of study. It takes you through the core theories that underpin a contemporary understanding of visual culture, looking at theories about how we look at the world and understand the visual vocabulary that describes it. The unit focuses on the practical application of those theories and will provide a sound introduction to the subject in an interdisciplinary fashion. The unit looks at the ideas in Structuralism, Post-Structuralism and Post Modernism. You will be introduced and guided to a clear understanding of the key texts in the study of visual culture. You will be required to research a variety of subjects and will therefore need access to the Internet as a research resource. Visual Studies 1: Understanding Visual Culture is a compulsory unit for the fine art degree pathway.

Indicative syllabus content • • •

An understanding of the parameters of visual studies. An introduction to the major themes that underpin the discipline (e.g. signs and symbols) Experience in the application of theory to projects (looking and subjectivity and concepts of reality)

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • introduce you to visual and cultural theory • enable you to use cultural theories to explore visual culture in contemporary society • improve your research skills and become familiar with key sources, and develop an understanding of critical and artistic theories • develop your reflective skills and your ability to document your reflections.

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • investigate and identify appropriate sources of information for the study of visual culture in relationship to contemporary cultural theorists • through investigation develop an understanding of the critical, theoretical and artistic developments in visual culture • demonstrate through your writing research skills and an understanding of forms and modes of gathering information • reflect upon your own learning.

23 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Sculpture 1: Starting out in 3D | 40 credits This unit introduces you to three-dimensional art and helps develop your independence in working. It aims to develop your understanding of the techniques and skills of sculpture; introduce use of construction techniques involving a variety of media and tools; develop basic skills in drawing and the use of drawing to develop ideas; develop the ability to think in the round; and look at and learn from the work of other sculptors. You will also use drawing for accumulating and refining ideas, and are encouraged to follow up references in unit texts and keep a log of reflections on your work. The unit includes work on construction reliefs, stacked construction, modelling in clay and plaster, casting and carving.

Indicative syllabus content • • • • •

Constructing relief sculpture Construction in three-dimensions Modelling in clay and plaster Casting in plaster, creating bas-relief and casting internal spaces and external forms Drawing as a way to explore form, content and structure within sculpture

(Developing your imagination and themes within sculpture no longer a part of this course.) This unit is a prerequisite to undertaking Sculpture 2: Studio Practice.

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • introduce you to a range of techniques, methods and skills for making contemporary sculpture • introduce you to the use of construction techniques and their relationship to contemporary sculptural practices • introduce you to the work of historical and contemporary sculptors and their working methods and reflect on your own practice • use reflection to develop your learning

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • employ a range of techniques to investigate making sculpture • demonstrate the appropriate use of construction techniques and materials in making contemporary sculpture • demonstrate the use of research skills to investigate historical and contemporary sculptors and identify how their work has informed your own practice • reflect on your own learning experience

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Painting 1: The Practice of Painting | 40 credits This unit enables you to see in a selective way, developing your own visual ideas and means of expression. You will explore given subject matter systematically, experiencing different approaches to painting and will be introduced to some of the major artists and movements, including those in C20 and C21 painting. You will learn to paint by being encouraged to analyse and select from the visual world what seems to be important and discover ways in which this visual experience can be translated into painting. Working from direct observation, the importance of drawing is emphasized. There are projects on tone values, colour theory, perspective, pictorial composition, use of studies and photographs, an introduction to figure painting, emotional aspects of painting and painting outdoors. You are required, through a series of theoretical studies, to investigate artists and visit galleries and museums. You will record your discoveries and observations in a learning log.

Indicative syllabus content • • • • • • •

Painting materials and techniques Understanding and using colour Perspective and the third dimension Picture composition Working from studies and photographs Painting the figure Painting outdoors

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • experiment with key processes of drawing and painting • explore a range of media and use them expressively • examine the works of significant historical and contemporary painters and artistic movements and consider how they might inform your own practice • use reflection to develop your learning

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of this unit you will be able to: • explore and employ key processes for drawing and painting • explore a range of media to create visual work • begin to understand how historical and contemporary painters and artistic movements can and have informed your own practice • reflect on your own learning experience

25 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Painting 1: Understanding Painting Media | 40 credits Artists today use a huge range of materials and techniques. Some refer to the traditions of oil painting and watercolour while others like Turner Prize nominee George Shaw, explore the use of Humbrol enamels and other non traditional materials. The Understanding Painting Media unit helps you understand the role of painting media in production of artwork. It will provide a structured but experimental approach to a range of painting and drawing media giving you the confidence to develop and express ideas creatively and to expand your understanding of the use of a variety of painting media in contemporary art practice. This unit is ideal for students who wish to discover and experiment with new media and also to specialise and understand a painting medium in more depth. The Understanding Painting Media unit will lead you through a number of projects, which will allow you to: • Experiment freely with a range of drawing and painting media. • Gain an understanding of the range of painting media and make informed decisions about how to choose media that are appropriate to your ideas. • Broaden your knowledge and understanding of the working methods and media used by a range of contemporary and historical artists. • Select and explore, in depth, a medium appropriate to your own ideas and practice.

Indicative syllabus content • • • • •

Experimenting with traditional media, surfaces and techniques Experimenting with non-traditional media surfaces and techniques Understanding context, media and meaning Choosing your medium Written element.

Aims This aims of this unit are to: • introduce you to painting media and its applications • experiment and develop your confidence with a range of painting media • explore and research a painting medium in depth • develop your knowledge of the historical and contemporary contexts across a range of painting media and articulate its relevance to your own work.

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of this unit you will be able to: • explore a range of painting media techniques • use a range of techniques to develop your own practice • demonstrate research into visual ideas using a broad range of sources • understand the historical and contemporary contexts that inform your practice

26 BA (Hons) Fine Art

History of Art 1: Understanding Western Art | 40 credits The unit aim is to understand the cultural and historical context of art and develop observational skills using drawing, annotation and photography and to be able to work with a systematic structure for analysing, researching and recording information that can be applied to any art form. The unit enables you to observe acutely, appreciate and analyse works of art through the study of a written text. The unit presents art history in chronological order, from classical times to the 20th century. You are encouraged to respond to works of art not just by essay-writing but by using any skills in drawing, photography or painting you may have. The unit leads you through annotation exercises. This activity helps you to get into the habit of devoting considerable time and thought to particular works of art, rather than giving them cursory attention.

Indicative syllabus content • • • • • •

The Classical tradition Gothic and Renaissance Baroque Romanticism to Impressionism The twentieth century Still-life, portraits, the figure, interiors and landscapes

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • introduce you to the history of western art • develop your research skills to analyse works of art • develop a structured and critical method to recording your observations and research • use reflection to develop your learning

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • discuss artistic movements within the history of western art • research and analyse works of art • demonstrate your ability to summarise key information in a methodical way and to research and record key points • reflect upon your own learning experience.

27 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Painting 1: Exploring Media | 40 credits The Exploring Media unit helps provide a structured but experimental approach to your personal practice, giving you the confidence to develop and express ideas creatively and to expand your understanding of current contemporary art practice and its influences. The Exploring Media unit will allow you to work with a wide range of media that will test both familiar and new materials. You will be guided through this unit by working on a series of exercises that will allow you to develop and understand the use of appropriation methods, devising new and quick ways to rework the old. You will acquire techniques in how to become more experimental in the interpretation of an idea, learn how to deconstruct and edit, work in series with throwaway and found materials and work at a pace that is not intended to allow you to re-work, perfect or master a given technique. You will study how to borrow materials and methods from a range of artistic disciplines both two and three dimensional in aspect that will include paint, collage, sculpture, drawing, film, photography, textiles and the digital. This unit is designed to allow the work to become fluid, be time based and less precious in regard to outcome but be underpinned by thoughtful, considered and contextually appropriate research. The materials you use will also be defined by examining the relationship between your own research and practice within the context of practice led research. Each section will focus on a particular area of Exploring Media within contemporary Fine Art practice, will develop your understanding of the wider cultural context of relevant works, artists etc. and, through the testing of a variety of practical models and techniques, encourage you to pursue an individual and inventive art practice. You will be documenting the work throughout in your learning log (blog) with photographs, annotations and critically engaged written evaluation.

Did you know? You can also study this unit on the BA (Hons) Drawing pathway. Find out more: www.oca.ac.uk/creative-arts-degrees/ba-hons-drawing/

28 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content • • • • • •

Textural and multiple surfaces The abstract image The appropriated and displaced image Image and text The expanded picture plane Ongoing critical research

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • experiment with a range of techniques and materials • explore mark making, techniques and material handling in isolated and combined media • use reflection to develop your own learning • develop your knowledge of historical and contemporary artistic practices in the field of mixed media

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • through experimentation demonstrate a range of techniques and materials in your practice • develop your practice using a broad range of techniques and materials in isolation or a combination of media • reflect on your own learning experience • understand the historical and contemporary contexts that inform your practice

29 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Visual Studies 1: Creative Arts Today | 40 credits This unit is a broad-based introduction to a range of contemporary creative arts for students new to the creative arts. It explores some ways in which two key themes (place/space and time/ journey) are explored in the fields of art (painting and drawing), creative writing, textiles, visual communications (illustration, graphic design) and photography and looks at how different creative disciplines interact. It introduces basic research tools and techniques in the creative arts; students will therefore need access to the internet. Students are made aware of the theoretical underpinning to the creative arts in preparation for more detailed study at Level 2. Exercises and assignments will require students to research, evaluate and write about artworks in a range of disciplines; practical exercises are optional.

Indicative syllabus content • • • •

An awareness and basic knowledge of a broad range of creative arts, including contemporary art, creative writing, textiles, visual communications and photography. Experience in exploring two key themes through the creative arts and some interrelationships between creative disciplines studied. An awareness of a theoretical underpinning to the creative arts. Experience in using key research tools to explore and investigate the creative arts and application of critical thinking to research material

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • explore a broad range of contemporary practice in the creative arts • examine a range of creative disciplines through the investigation of contemporary creative practitioners • introduce you to research skills and key theories in the creative arts • use critical thinking and reflective writing skills to develop your learning

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • demonstrate an awareness of the broad range of contemporary practice in the creative arts • discuss the scope and interrelationships across a range of creative disciplines • apply your research skills to explore the theoretical underpinning of the creative arts • reflect upon your own learning experience.

30 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Drawing 1: Exploring Drawing Media | 40 credits Exploring Drawing Media investigates a range of approaches to drawing that open up the possibilities for making, thinking and enabling you to enrich your creative outcomes with new methods. This unit expands upon a contemporary view of drawing with an exploration of a wide range of media. This is complimented with examples from contemporary practitioners and within the wider contemporary arts world. You will be required to develop your use of drawing media, including fluid media and collage as well as appropriating mediums for the development of a drawing in three-dimensions. You will also explore the contemporary idea of drawing as ‘process’, where your choice of medium and act of making opens up the imaginative realm. The final assignment will allow you to develop your own ideas in relation to the preceding assignments. You may choose to work with one media or a combination of processes and media which demonstrate your technical abilities as well as your passionate response to all that you have learnt on the course. The unit also requires the development of critical research and a reflective commentary in the form of a learning log. This will involve the following-up and researching of art, artists and methods within the teaching materials as well as those suggested by your tutor. You will also learn to discern your successes and weaknesses of your completed work through the writing of a reflective commentary that aims to develop in you a growing awareness of your practice.

Fine Art student, Gillian Morris

31 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content • • • • •

Fluid Media Collage Drawing in three-dimensions Process Exploring Drawing Media (develop the final project based on your own interests and what has appealed to you in this project)

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • experiment with a broad range of drawing media and methods • explore new skills, techniques and methods in your drawing practice • develop an understanding of your drawing skills and how to use them in your practice • develop your knowledge of historical and contemporary drawing practitioners and use reflection to develop your own learning

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • employ a broad range of media in your drawing practice • demonstrate an ability to employ new skills and techniques in your drawing practice • use your drawing skills to develop a body of work that explores a personal line of enquiry • understand the historical and contemporary contexts that inform your work and reflect on your own learning experience

32 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Printmaking 1: Introduction to Printmaking | 40 credits This unit enables you develop your own visual ideas and means of expression with a critical eye. You will gain experience through exploring different printmaking techniques and media including monoprint, relief printing and collatype printmaking and the unit introduces and builds awareness of the work of historic and contemporary printmakers and the history of printmaking. You will learn a variety of printmaking processes through a series of projects and experiments. Preparatory work includes analysis and selection from visual sources and carrying out observed and expressive drawing. Design, composition and colour projects are designed to extend your ideas into printed images. Exploration and experimentation of printmaking media and techniques further extend creative developments. Throughout the unit you are required to record discoveries and observations concerning printmaking in a learning log, together with your sketchbook work, self-assessment and development which are recorded.

Indicative syllabus content • • • •

Monoprinting, positive and negative masking, coloured masks, textured and combination monoprinting. Relief printing: linocuts, single colour, multi-block. Collatype collage prints Combined processes, including chine colle and other experiments.

This unit is a prerequisite to undertaking Printmaking 2: Developing your Style.

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • use drawing to investigate and generate ideas • explore a range of printmaking techniques and media • develop your knowledge of the history of printmaking and the work of historical and contemporary printmakers • use reflection to develop your learning

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of this unit you will be able to: • demonstrate the use of drawing to develop your visual ideas • use a range of printmaking techniques and media skilfully • understand the historical and contemporary contexts that inform your work • reflect upon your own learning experience

33 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Fine Art student, Harriet Johnson

34 BA (Hons) Fine Art

BA (Hons) Fine Art

Level five units

Fine Art student, Michael Green

35 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Caroline Wright Programme Leader “My practice encompasses site responsive visual and performance work using media as diverse as glass and gold. I have made work for cities and rural spaces, community spaces, galleries, theatres, churches, on desolate uninhabited islands and for audiences in the 100s and of one. I studied at Norwich University College of the Arts where I graduated with a BA (2000) and MA (2002) followed more recently by a PG Certificate in HE (Art and Design) at University of the Arts, London and I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I am interested in issues around professional development for artists and in assimilation of teaching and creative practice by educators. My practice is heavily research led; my approach is that of a conceptual archaeologist, trying to uncover and take control of the past and present, by resurrecting, enacting or undoing. In so doing, I explore the relationships we each have within the world, with each other and with the objects that surround us, looking at our histories and narratives. I am currently interested in constructing new stories by transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, often using a contextual or physical change to achieve new perspectives…”

Find out more To view the rest of Caroline’s tutor profile and look at some more, visit www.oca.ac.uk/our-tutors/

36 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Intermediate stage At Level 5, students progress in their chosen discipline, with each Level 5 unit taking the student on a journey towards greater autonomy and a wider awareness of the contemporary practice of fine art. These units encourage students to investigate their media beyond the studio considering what fine art practice can be in the 21st Century.

Painting student, Sandra Kendall

Did you know? The flexibility of the OCA means you can complete your degree to suit you, taking anything from 3 to 12 years. The full degree programme must be completed in 12 years.

37 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Drawing 2: Investigating Drawing | 60 credits This course takes an in depth look at the nature of drawing. It encourages you to take apart the elements of drawing practice and scrutinise them. The course also focuses on the crucial relationship between contextual research, visual research and drawing practice. It is expected that you will leave the course with a robust and healthy working method; able to articulate and synthesise your knowledge, understanding and skills effectively and creatively. This will enable you to move confidently onto the next level. You are expected to use the projects as starting points, generating your own ideas, proposals and arguments. As the focus of the course is on the nature of drawing and the thinking processes that underpin it, there is a great deal of freedom in terms of selection of visual source material. The parallel project and critical review both place responsibility on you to choose suitable subject matter for enquiry. You will be given opportunities to think creatively and are expected to work reflexively using processes of observation, investigation, speculative enquiry and making. Your critical engagement in the wider subject area will enable you to analyse information and experience, formulate independent judgements and develop articulate and reflective work. Throughout you will be required to select and edit your research material, bringing this to your practice in a reflective context. This course is experimental and exploratory in nature. You will be asked to challenge your assumptions about what drawing is or can be, to test your existing skills by taking risks and working in ways that raise further questions. The outcomes of these creative processes will be synthesised into your ongoing practice, ultimately enabling you to develop your individual creativity using a wide range of tools and methods. Drawing hones our visual sense and teaches us to see the world around us in a unique way. It is expected that you will maintain your observational drawing independently throughout this course in your sketchbook and elsewhere, taking it into projects as appropriate. Open learning requires resourcefulness and motivation; both essential qualities for future artistic endeavour. You are expected to work with the required momentum to ensure that your ideas are given the best chance to develop and to make full use of sketch and log books to evidence your research and processes. The OCA website provides many opportunities to engage with peers and it is expected that you will make full and regular use of the online resources available to support your studies and collaborate with fellow students.

38 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content •

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Exploring Composition - This section will lead you into a way of working that uses elements of the visual world to make an image, rather than drawing a single object or group placed centrally on a page. Through exploring routes into composition you will be asked to question what a drawing is or could be; looking at scale, negative space, rhythm, and formal relationships. This opening chapter will focus on the picture plane but initial reference will be made to the space in front of the object and installative potential through a project relating a drawing to an object in a room. Assignment piece – A review of project work leading to a final assignment piece where the relationships within the drawing set up an intriguing and engaging composition. Contextual focus point – Prunella Clough Tate Archive. Material Properties - This section will ask you to question your assumptions about what can be used to make a drawing. Through extensive experimentation students will build up sensitivity to the properties of materials. Projects will explore the fundamental properties of materials and are designed to highlight these properties in the manufacture of art work by setting up parameters where your technical control is reduced and the ‘personality’ of the materials take centre stage. Assignment Piece - a drawing made of a subject of your choice, made by using the subject itself or tools constructed from the subject dipped in ink or paint. Contextual focus point – Cornelia Parker Physicality & Gesture - This chapter will focus on drawing as the archaeology of touch. You will think about how your own movements can be used in drawing and how drawing can affect your movements. In this way you will investigate drawing as an activity, harnessing movement in the world around you. Assignment Piece – You will select a piece of music (preferably classical or at least rhythmically complex) and produce a drawing, allowing your movements to be affected or generated by it. To begin with the lines and marks produced should be generated solely in response to the music. After the first hour, you may introduce an observational element such as a self-portrait and begin to explore the interplay between gesture and representation. Alternatively you can elect to video yourself making the work to emphasize the performative nature of gestural drawing. Contextual focus point – Rauschenberg’s Erased De Kooning Environmental Interventions - You will be introduced to a variety of artists who use of the environment in their practice. Projects will encourage you to make interventions in your own homes and gardens; changing the angles in a room by adding more lines for example. Assignment Piece – You will find a place of significance to you to create a site specific art work. Responding to features of the site you will add a drawn element or select a found drawn element which you will extend to express something you find interesting about the site. Contextual focus point – Ana Mendieta

39 BA (Hons) Fine Art

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Time Lines - You will be encouraged to consider the way that a drawing is made over time and the traces of history that it carries on its surface. Projects will investigate the expressive potential of time, including meticulous painstaking work, as well as drawing in which the passage of time is integral to the eventual form that it takes. Assignment Piece – A review of project work leading to a drawing that needs a period of time to elapse during it’s production. Examples could be postcards sent to a friend, the outline of an expanding pregnant belly redrawn each month or a cyanatope image. Contextual focus point – Frank Auerbach’s approach to portraiture Parallel Project - Develop a line of enquiry of your choice through appropriate contextual research, visual observation and practical experimentation, using ideas from the course as a starting point for a personal response. Critical Review - Identify a contemporary artist who adopts similar themes or ideas to your own, but who comes to different conclusions, and another who works in a similar way but for very different reasons. Write a critical review of these artists, identifying their relevance to your own project , and outlining and analysing their contribution to drawing practice today. (2000 words)

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • explore in depth processes and techniques for drawing • use a range of visual and contextual research to inform your practice • experiment with drawing as a means of developing creative thinking • engage with historical and contemporary sources of drawing and reflect on your own practice

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of this unit you will be able to: • demonstrate a rigorous engagement with drawing skills • communicate complex ideas through your practice • evidence your engagement with experimentation through your practice • situate, reflect and critique drawing in historical and contemporary contexts and reflect on your own learning

40 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Painting 2: Studio Practice | 60 credits Through this course you will learn ways of pushing your painting practice forward in new, exciting and innovative ways. By building on your practice to date this course will introduce you to ways of developing your individual material and visual concerns through reflective practice, gallery visits and a learning log. Each of the painting projects will open you to different ways of seeing, interpreting and making that build on each other. In parallel you will be encouraged to research relevant theories that might underpin your own investigations in order to begin to contextualise your practice. You will be guided through ways in which to ground your practice both historically and in terms of contemporary practitioners painting today. Situating your practice within the wider field of visual culture, such as film, poetry, etc, is a key component of this course. This research led method of working will be a means to specify and focus your interests, research and development, which will be reflected in your learning log and critical evaluation. This course will also look at the relationship of other media to painting; ways in which painting can borrow from, hijack and absorb other forms of image making and ideas as well as painting from 1900 up until the ’expanded field of painting’. Throughout you will be given the opportunity to investigate ways of sparking off poetic combinations of images, narratives and materials to create curious and intriguing works.

Painting and printmaking student, Janet Gomes

41 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content • • • • • • •

The expanded field of painting; materials and techniques Found, invented and local colour Relationship between the Picture Plane and Picture Surface Contemporary approaches to composition Contemporary approaches to the Still life Contemporary approaches to painting the figure Independent project (with support).

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • explore in depth a range of processes and techniques for painting. • use a range of visual and contextual research to inform your practice • experiment with a range of techniques and processes to expand your practice • understand the development of painting since the 1900s and reflect on your own practice

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • demonstrate a rigorous engagement with painting skills • communicate complex ideas through your practice • evidence your engagement with experimentation through your practice • situate, reflect and critique developments in painting since 1900s and reflect on your own learning

42 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Painting 2: Concepts in Practice | 60 credits The unit provides a conceptual framework for your practice, and during the course you will work through a set of projects, exploring a range of approaches via historic and contemporary exemplars. Through these projects, you will engage with traditional themes (such as still life, the figure and landscape) as well as more abstract and conceptual approaches to Painting and Fine Art practice. The unit brings together textual and practice based explorations, in a mutually responsive context. Through these proposals and your continuing art practice and further independent research you will explore seminal 20th and 21st century works in order to understand how your own work might relate to art and artists past and present. Relating your work to that made by past and contemporary artists is a key aspect of this unit where you will investigate changing attitudes, themes, materials and tools. As you explore and test out new ideas, you will become more ambitious as you progress through the course. This unit encourages you to become increasingly self-reliant and produce individual and inventive work that acknowledges other art and artists but goes beyond the examples in the course book. To do this, you will be discerning in your research and exploration, engage in self reflection and as a result edit your work to be evermore rigorous and coherent.

Summary This unit requires you to engage with a wide range of concepts in Painting and Fine Art, to try new and old attitudes with the aim of finding different and more ambitious ways of working. This involves a combination of practical, visual and written work; testing ideas through making and writing; the research component (including your learning log and ‘essay’) an important component of this course.

Fine Art student, Tanya Thomas

43 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content • • • • • •

Detail - Still Life and other close observational approaches Figure - animated and inanimate creatures Landscape - rural, urban, coastal and other environments Abstraction - experimental and contemporary approaches Personal project - proposal to be agreed with tutor Written Element: a critical review of an exhibition, a comparison between the works, methods, themes (etc.) of an historic and contemporary artist, or other topic exploring contemporary concepts in painting and/or fine art

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • explore a range of genres, conceptual approaches and practical skills to expand your fine art practice • use visual and contextual research to inform your fine art practice • use experimentation to inform your practice and develop personal expression • understand the contexts of contemporary fine art practices and fine artists and reflect on your own practice

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • develop a body of work that is rigorous in its engagement with both conceptual and practical skills • demonstrate how research has informed your practice • evidence your engagement with experimentation through your practice • situate, reflect and critique on contemporary fine art practices and reflect on your own learning

44 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Printmaking 2: Developing your Style | 60 credits The unit builds on the experience gained in Printmaking 1: Introduction to Printmaking and allows you to select and develop your own subject matter for printmaking. The unit introduces new techniques and printmaking media that further extend your opportunities for creative expression. Preparatory analysis and development of ideas are integrated with the student’s increasing knowledge and experience of printmaking and printmakers through the history of art. Creativity is developed through the exploration of new media, technology and approaches. This unit builds on Printmaking 1, and will develop your skills and confidence in printmaking. It is assumed that you know basic relief printmaking techniques before embarking on this unit, including how to do a monoprint, linocut and, collotype (sometimes called collagraph) and woodcut. The unit will allow you to focus on particular techniques you enjoy, while encouraging you to practice less familiar techniques. The course includes projects focusing on landscape, portraiture, and creating abstract prints, as well as a project based on imagination. The technique of chiaroscuro is also introduced. You are required to write a study of a printmaker, looking at their work in detail, in order to inform your own work. Finally you are asked to emulate this printmaker's work in a piece of your own.

Printmaking student, Margaret Holder

45 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content • • •

Study of the history of printmaking Design & technical processes Creation of your own prints including portraits, prints from memory, landscape and abstract prints

Students must have Printmaking 1: Introduction to Printmaking to undertake this unit.

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • explore a range of traditional and technological skills and conceptual approaches to expand your printmaking practice • use visual and contextual research to inform your practice • use experimentation to inform your practice and develop personal expression • understand the historical and contemporary contexts of printing and printmakers and reflect on your own practice.

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • develop a body of work that is rigorous in its engagement with conceptual and practical skills • demonstrate how research has informed your practice • evidence your engagement with experimentation through your practice • situate, reflect and critique on the work and practices of printmakers and reflect on your own learning

46 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Sculpture 2: Studio Practice | 60 credits In this unit you will build on your knowledge and skills to enable you to operate increasingly independently as a practitioner. You will increase your knowledge both of yourself in terms of what interests you in subject terms and of the subject of sculpture as a whole. You will be encouraged to develop your research as it relates to your practice and to develop a more risk taking approach to your work. You will negotiate a course plan that will be formed with your tutor. You will produce a 250 word written statement that lays out your plan for the course and will structure your personalised programme of study. From this course plan you will develop a body of work through six assignments which will include one piece of written work. The unit will also provide direction and encouragement for you to explore your practice in an investigative and increasingly professional way.

Indicative syllabus content • • • •

Course plan. (Includes writing 250 word written with your tutor to provide a framework for your six assignments). Development of a theme (This focuses on building a personal voice, skills and understanding of your ideas through context.) Synthesis of ideas (a written essay of 2000 words: an insight into your working practice and your completed work). Learning log (This unit requires you to show growing ability to reflect on your learning outcomes and write with increasing contextual awareness of relevant contemporary art).

Students must have Sculpture 1: Starting out in 3D to undertake this unit.

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • explore a range of traditional and technological skills and conceptual approaches to expand your sculptural practice • use visual and contextual research to inform your practice • use experimentation to inform your practice and develop personal expression • understand the historical and contemporary contexts of sculpture and sculptors and reflect on your own practice

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • develop a body of work that is rigorous in its engagement with conceptual and practical skills • demonstrate how research has informed your practice • evidence your engagement with experimentation through your practice • situate, reflect and critique on the work and practices of sculptors and reflect on your own learning

47 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Drawing 2: Personal Approach to Drawing | 60 credits Personal approach to drawing considers the role of drawing as an extension of your thinking and seeks to define the context and methods by which you see your drawing practice operating within your own work. This will in turn create a pathway for progression into your final level of studies. This unit takes a specific look at a number of methods of drawing. You will be asked to develop these within your work and reflect on the way that these methods impact upon your development of ideas. Your consideration of a theme will form a parallel project that runs alongside your practical work, providing direction for your engagement with the syllabus. You will also develop your critical research culminating in a written essay of 2000 words that investigates a drawing method used within contemporary art that you identify as important and relevant to your own approach to drawing. This unit develops your application of drawing as the focus of your artistic practice. Upon completion of this course it is expected that you will have a robust understanding of how you want to apply your personal approach to drawing in your creative work.

Painting student, Harriet Johnson

48 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content •

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Narrative – This section will open up the possibilities for your drawing to be applied to the unfolding of your theme and for you to consider a narrative as something that communicates to the viewer through a journey of ideas. Contextual examples include Robert Gober, Paula Rego, Paul Noble, Kara Walker as well as student examples. Mapping – Here you will apply your drawing as a method for exploring the systems of information that make up the world and consider this as a conceptual process for your ideas to respond to. Looking at examples including Langlands and Bell, Sol Le Witt, Guillermo Kuitca. Reportage – Drawing the world around you as it is, applying your developed skills and techniques responding to the immediacy of a journalistic point of view as well as considering drawing of reality as mimesis (imitation of the real). Contextual examples including Dryden Goodwin, Michael Landy, Gilbert and George, as well as student examples. Language - Language as a source and tool for the content of your drawing and its translation as a means for communicating ideas. Contextual examples including Fiona Banner, Keith Tyson, Bob and Roberta Smith. Motion – Introduces you to the practical application of drawing specificity through its use in contemporary art, as a means for opening up experimental and dynamic creative possibilities. Contextual focus includes William Kentridge, Qiu Anxiong, Tacita Dean as well as student examples. A personal approach – You will consider a theme that you will develop through appropriate contextual research. Your theme will evolve alongside your practical work, your drawings for this final part will create your personal response to what you are learning.

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • explore a range of traditional and technological skills and conceptual approaches to expand your drawing practice • use visual and contextual research to inform your practice • use experimentation to inform your practice and develop personal expression • understand the historical and contemporary contexts for drawing practices and practitioners and reflect on your practice

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • develop a body of work that is rigorous in its engagement with conceptual and practice skills • demonstrate how research has informed your practice • evidence your engagement with experimentation through your practice • situate, reflect and critique on the work and practices of drawing practices and practitioners and reflect on your own learning

49 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Painting student, Peter Pateluch

50 BA (Hons) Fine Art

BA (Hons) Fine Art

Level six units

Sculpture student, Gael Fisher

51 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Beverley Duckworth Painting 2 student “I was initially looking for a painting course that I could do part time from home as I had very young children and a busy job. The OCA offered me that flexibility and I began studying with them in 2008. The quality of feedback and challenge from my tutors has been invaluable. Over time, my practice has become a lot more abstract and experimental.”

52 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Becoming an independent practising artist Level 6 represents the culmination of the student’s enquiry. Students are encouraged to analyse the contemporary art world and their position within it and to use this knowledge to present themselves and their work professionally and coherently. Unit 1 Advanced Practice is complimented and informed by Unit 2 Contextual Studies; the student plans and negotiates their research into their own specialist subject area; practice and writing become mutually dependent as creative work is underpinned by growing knowledge and understanding, through analysis of contextual influences and studio methodologies. At this level, students are encouraged to expand their definitions of fine art, and the possibilities for their own work, by exploring contemporary fine art practice beyond the frame and gallery. Integration of theory and practice in the course supports critical reflection in accessible ways and widens the cultural, social and political contexts that frames students understanding of fine art and their own work. This critical and contextual reflection is evidenced through research and reflective tasks at HE Level 4, critical writing at Level 5 and a body of visual and written research for Level 6. The course provides stimulating and high quality learning materials, tutor support and resources to help develop a sense of visual and intellectual enquiry. Learning materials are authored by a team of educators and/or practitioners, drawing on current academic research and teaching practice in the discipline. The course team is made up of a range of appropriately qualified and experienced tutors who are all either current practitioners within the field of fine art and/or lecturing in the subject at other UK art colleges or Universities. The learning environment provides opportunities to join and contribute to a diverse learning community through forum discussions, study visits and other platforms that allows for wider interaction, networking, collaboration and reflection. The course encourages students to develop a sustainable approach to their practice by establishing studio spaces, support networks and by setting up individual or collaborative exhibitions and/or publications.

Christine Bruce

53 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Fine Art 3: Advanced Practice | 40 credits Painting 3 comprises three closely linked units: the first of these involves intensive studio practice (1) Advanced Practice which is informed by a research and written unit (2) Contextual Studies, followed by the third and final unit (3) Sustaining your Practice. The aim of Advanced Practice is to introduce you to the rigour of study demanded at this level, and as such demands commitment and self-motivation in the production of a collection of ambitious paintings (in scale, material, method and concept), which are experimental, accomplished and contemporary. The unit is designed to enable you to put into practice and demonstrate your learning during this and previous units. The focus is on the development of your practice leading to a confident body of work for this level, to work independently, and to instil a critical awareness in relation to your own practice and the practices of others. You will build your own bibliography pertinent to your interests and practice.

Indicative syllabus content • • • • •

Assignment one: completion of project plan, with a list of initial research questions, plus a selection of test pieces for review Assignment two: completion of first work(s), written self-assessment and submission of draft proposal for Contextual Studies project Assignment three: completion of second work(s) with written self-assessment Assignment four: completion of third work(s) with written self-assessment Assignment five: completion of fourth work(s), and commentary on the works' relation to the written element for Painting 3: Contextual Studies

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • further develop your technical and practical skills to realise an ambitious body of work • extend your visual and research skills to identify a line of enquiry and produce a critically informed body of work • use experimentation to extend your practice and to develop your visual language • develop a critical and analytical understanding of approaches to fine art and contemporary cultural contexts

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge and technical and practical skills through your work • produce an ambitious body of work that is critically informed • demonstrate how experimentation has informed your practice and visual language • articulate your critical and conceptual knowledge and understanding of a range of fine art and contemporary contexts

54 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Fine Art 3: Contextual Studies | 40 credits Painting 3 comprises three closely linked units: the first of these involves intensive studio practice (1) Advanced Practice which is informed by this, the research and written unit (2) Contextual Studies, followed by the third and final unit (3) Sustaining your Practice. The Contextual Studies unit underpins and strengthens the skills, knowledge and understanding acquired in previous units and represents an opportunity to synthesise theory and practice through a self-initiated research project of an appropriate standard for this level. This unit encourages a high degree of self-motivation and autonomy. The written work prepared for assignments will be used to support the development of self-reflection, critique, time/project management and academic rigour. With tutorial support, this is a self-directed unit, structured to support the process of undertaking substantial textual and written research, with the aim of developing contextual and conceptual awareness of your own practice and the practices of others. For contemporary artists, understanding the complexities of visual language and having an authoritative voice is important. Being able to respond to contemporary issues and communicate effectively and creatively to different audiences and viewers helps define and strengthen your practice and confidence. In consultation with your tutor you will prepare a proposal (1000 words) for research that will culminate in an extended written project or dissertation (5000 words). This complements the programme of practical work from the other two units within Painting 3. The Contextual Studies unit offers the opportunity to concentrate on an area or areas of fine art practice from a critical, historical and practical perspective. You will engage in a focussed and personal enquiry, working on questions arising from your own practice and from the practices of other artists and writers on art. In this way the research journey and the dissertation underpins the Advanced Practice and Sustaining your Practice units. As such, the three units that make up Painting 3 are co-related and mutually dependent. The Painting 3: Contextual Studies unit will enable you to develop skills in research and writing about fine art, alongside critical awareness of a range of contemporary art practices. This is achieved by extending your knowledge of primary and secondary research methodologies, and the adoption of appropriate styles of academic writing, using consistent referencing and presentation skills. The dissertation will show the necessary critical and contextual awareness of level 6 academic studies. This unit encourages a high degree of self-motivation and autonomy. The assignments will provide a structure to support your proposal, research process, writing and presentation. A properly referenced research journal will be used to support the development of self-reflection, academic enquiry, and evaluation.

55 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content Research and documentation, Research methodologies (primary and secondary research, written and visual research), Academic writing skills (identifying, sources and analysing appropriate material; developing analytical and evaluative skills. Different approaches to writing about fine art using appropriate language and critical frameworks (major ideas, theories and debates surrounding contemporary painting practices) • Assignment one: completion of project proposal for review with description of the proposed layout of the text (sections/chapters, images etc.) and a brief description of written work's relation to the student's own practice. To include a list of initial research questions, outline of artists/movements to be explored and bibliography • Assignment two: completion of first draft with evidence of research • Assignment three: second draft using appropriate terminology and references • Assignment four: submission of the full text with introduction, conclusion and images for review • Assignment five: final copy of text fully referenced with quotes, footnotes, bibliography, contents/image list etc.

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • undertake an extended written project that provides a theoretical and contextual framework for your practice • undertake focused and sustained research into an individually negotiated subject area (subject to approval by your tutor) • develop a comprehensive knowledge and critical and contextual understanding of your subject area • produce a clear and sustained written argument, supported by appropriate evidence that conforms to academic conventions

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of your subject area and build a theoretical framework for your practice • demonstrate the application of appropriate research methods in the identification and understanding of broad contexts and specific practices • synthesise, articulate and evaluate critical, contextual and conceptual knowledge and understanding of your subject area • provide a clear and sustained written argument presented according to academic conventions

56 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Fine Art 3: Sustaining Your Practice | 40 credits Painting 3 comprises three closely linked units: the first of these involves intensive studio practice (1) Advanced Practice. This is informed by a research and written unit (2) Contextual Studies, followed by this, the final unit (3) Sustaining Your Practice. Artists today work in a range of contexts, in the cultural industries, as self-employed practitioners, within socially engaged practice, on personal artistic research journeys and many other ways. Sustaining Your Practice helps you to investigate what it means to have an established practice and to recognize and understand strategies for sustaining this beyond study. It will help you to locate your practice and learn about the realities of professional art practice today. You will explore the arts ecology, discovering ways that artists engage with the public beyond the studio as well as analyse the place and role of artist communities today. By identifying your personal goals, you will be supported in trying out ways of working leading to the development of a practice plan for the future. Sustaining Your Practice will consolidate and reinforce the ideas, materials and methods encountered in the two other Level 6 units, and you will work with and may add to the collection of works created in Advanced Practice to realise a presentation of work that shows ambition and builds on the themes, ideas, materials and methods researched and employed in your study to date. You will produce a collection of works that show ambition and build on the themes, ideas, materials and methods researched and employed to date. You will be asked to consider how these works can be made public and who is the audience for your work. This awareness will allow you to question how to present your work professionally and what other accompanying materials you will need to work to a professional standard on your chosen pathway.

57 BA (Hons) Fine Art

Indicative syllabus content • •

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ExplorIng contexts - an exploration and investigation into a wide range of way that artists practice. The context for making, the art market, both local and global Audiences and makers – the relationship between maker and their audience and work and audience, developing an audience, visual culture and the gallery, museum and wider spaces for showing work Sustaining practices – the artist community, the place of criticality, the arts press, what does a successful practice look like? Developing a Practice Plan – identifying goals from a realist viewpoint Associated Materials – statements, CV’s, proposals, visual documentation, writing, insurance Studio Practice – continuing research and development of work as started in other Level 6 units

Aims The aims of this unit are to: • demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge and application of technical and visual skills • locate your practice in a professional context and devise a strategic practice plan • present a substantial body of work in a professional environment • develop further your knowledge of historic and contemporary approaches to making and presenting fine art

Learning outcomes On satisfactory completion of the unit you will be able to: • produce an ambitious and focused body of work that demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge of technical and visual skills • demonstrate an understanding of the professional context that your practice is situated in and identify strategies for sustaining your practice • select, produce and present a substantial body of work to a professional standard • demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of historic and contemporary approaches to making and present fine art

58 BA (Hons) Fine Art