Visual Arts Question Thread

[svnflower]

Hey, svnflower!

Great question  I personally didn't introduce the artwork titles in my introduction. I would introduce them in the body paragraphs as I discussed them and included information such as the year, form/medium (sculpture, painting etc.) and where it was first exhibited (name of exhibition if applicable). I only mentioned the artists and what period they came from (Renaissance, Modernist etc.) That, I believe, provides more context about the artist and the nature of their work over providing birth and death dates. Here's an example

Introducing Artists

Postmodern artists Patrick Dougherty, Alison Sigethy and Ai Weiwei have explored their artmaking practice with an awareness for the cultures and lives they are representing, researching and experimenting with innovative materials, techniques and forms to engage contemporary audiences.

As for other ways of expressing artist practice, you could use "artmaking" as a similar term. I also separated their process into "material practice" and "conceptual practice" because I found it easier to talk about the artist's practice like this and to then draw connections between the two as a means to explain how the artwork embodies both concrete and abstract qualities. Hope this helps!

Angelina 

Thanks a lot Angelina

[muneezaaa]

Hi!

I'm just beginning to start planning my ideas for my body of work and I have a bit of a concept in mind but I wanted to get some opinions on it So my strongest medium is probably drawing and that's what I'm probably going to use, but I basically wanted to explore the myth of Icarus through my work. I was thinking of doing 3 pieces.

1. would be him with his wings
2. would be him flying with his wings
3. would be him falling as his wings fall apart/melt

I'm not however too sure if this is a good concept to represent through drawing, and I've also heard that you shouldn't just stick to one medium and would obtain higher marks if you integrate multiple mediums in your work. Any thoughts?

Thanks guys!!

[angewina_naguen]

Hi!

I'm just beginning to start planning my ideas for my body of work and I have a bit of a concept in mind but I wanted to get some opinions on it So my strongest medium is probably drawing and that's what I'm probably going to use, but I basically wanted to explore the myth of Icarus through my work. I was thinking of doing 3 pieces.

1. would be him with his wings
2. would be him flying with his wings
3. would be him falling as his wings fall apart/melt

I'm not however too sure if this is a good concept to represent through drawing, and I've also heard that you shouldn't just stick to one medium and would obtain higher marks if you integrate multiple mediums in your work. Any thoughts?

Thanks guys!!

Hey, muneezaaa!

Welcome to the forums  I think your concept sounds awesome! My BOW concept originated from looking at the story of Prometheus so I'm loving that the appeal of Greek mythology is continuing to inspire artistic ideas such as yours! I definitely think it is wise to play with your strengths if drawing is that for you. What you might want to do though is perhaps deepen the concept a little more by perhaps choosing to draw someone in place of Icarus himself. This could present new layers of meaning in your BOW! The first thing I actually thought of was Alexander Hamilton because in Lin's musical with the number Burn, one of the lyrics is "You have married an Icarus; he has flown too close to the sun" so thought I'd just share an example of how you might use the myth as an intertextual reference that symbolises someone else's ascent and downfall 

I also have definitely seen people who have stuck to one medium and achieved high performing results. You should work with whatever media can best allow you to demonstrate your technical skills and strength, as well as reflect and express the conceptual aspects of your artmaking practice. Hopefully that helps. I'd love to hear what you end up deciding to do!

Angelina 

[muneezaaa]

Hey, muneezaaa!

Welcome to the forums  I think your concept sounds awesome! My BOW concept originated from looking at the story of Prometheus so I'm loving that the appeal of Greek mythology is continuing to inspire artistic ideas such as yours! I definitely think it is wise to play with your strengths if drawing is that for you. What you might want to do though is perhaps deepen the concept a little more by perhaps choosing to draw someone in place of Icarus himself. This could present new layers of meaning in your BOW! The first thing I actually thought of was Alexander Hamilton because in Burn, one of the lyrics is "You have married an Icarus; he has flown too close to the sun" so thought I'd just share an example of how you might use the myth as an intertextual reference that symbolises someone else's ascent and downfall 

I also have definitely seen people who have stuck to one medium and achieved high performing results. You should work with whatever media can best allow you to demonstrate your technical skills and strength, as well as reflect and express the conceptual aspects of your artmaking practice. Hopefully that helps. I'd love to hear what you end up deciding to do!

Angelina 

thank you so much!! 

[svnflower]

Hello

In the HSC 2015 paper q3 plate 5, are there any positive and negative shapes? (i'm unable to post it here, file is too large )


Also, what does "sensitivity of material practice" mean?

[angewina_naguen]

Hello

In the HSC 2015 paper q3 plate 5, are there any positive and negative shapes? (i'm unable to post it here, file is too large )


Also, what does "sensitivity of material practice" mean?

Hey, svnflower!

I don't really remember using positive and negative shapes as a discussion point (but I also haven't done VA since my HSC so perhaps I'm just out of practice) but you might want to describe the way the graffiti artist has constructed the artwork through its use of positive and negative space instead. I think it really subverts your expectations and perceptions on what positive and negative space are because you would expect for positive space to usually be filled and busy with activity and negative to be clear and blank. In this plate, it appears that the positive space which contains the coloured wall and details are more so the background and the negative space is the salient female subject who is depicted. You could make an interesting argument about how the structure and materials of the artwork has challenged how we conceptualise artistic composition!

Could you also provide some more context as to where you've seen the expression "sensitivity of material practice" used? It might help me with giving you a more exact explanation

Angelina 

[svnflower]

THANKS!

I saw it under the suggested answers for Question 3 (2015 paper) (12th dot point down the list!)

https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/39b2458a-16a9-41ae-a2e8-3e9e1ad00fba/visual-arts-hsc-mg-2015.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-39b2458a-16a9-41ae-a2e8-3e9e1ad00fba-nbDp1l7

[angewina_naguen]

THANKS!

I saw it under the suggested answers for Question 3 (2015 paper) (12th dot point down the list!)

https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/39b2458a-16a9-41ae-a2e8-3e9e1ad00fba/visual-arts-hsc-mg-2015.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-39b2458a-16a9-41ae-a2e8-3e9e1ad00fba-nbDp1l7

Hey, svnflower!

I hope this isn't too late of a response. I actually have no idea what they're referring to, I have to admit. You might want to enquire your VA teacher about it tomorrow prior to the exam if you think it might be important 

If it helps in any way, the suggested answers are only suggestions at the end of the day. I remember seeing the suggested answers for one of the HSC questions I did a practice attempt for and none of them were relevant to what I discussed. I asked my VA teacher to mark my response and she said it was still worth full marks because it answered the question using relevant examples and art metalanguage. That is the beauty of VA; any answer is a valid one if you justify yourself. This is ultimately what matters at the end of the day  I hope that helps and wishing you all the best with tomorrow's paper!

Angelina 

[muneezaaa]

Hi!

Its me again I've kind of had an epiphany and sparked a new idea, but again I wanted some feedback. So I decided to extend a bit further from my icarus and greek mythology idea, and I wanted to base my body of work on how greek mythology has transcended into our modern lives and how it shows us the true dark realities of our world. So I was thinking that maybe I could have like a panel of 3 works including

- icarus: a symbol of youth and perhaps drug usage, how at first its exhillirating, but the side effects could be fatal
- persephone and hades: showing the illusion of happiness but in real life it symbolises domestic violence
- medusa: I actually am still thinking on how to depict this but I was thinking of maybe giving it a feminist perspective?

Would these themes be too dark and inappropriate for my major work or are they alright to stick with? Would my original idea with just Icarus be better?

Thanks!!

[angewina_naguen]

Hi!

Its me again I've kind of had an epiphany and sparked a new idea, but again I wanted some feedback. So I decided to extend a bit further from my icarus and greek mythology idea, and I wanted to base my body of work on how greek mythology has transcended into our modern lives and how it shows us the true dark realities of our world. So I was thinking that maybe I could have like a panel of 3 works including

- icarus: a symbol of youth and perhaps drug usage, how at first its exhillirating, but the side effects could be fatal
- persephone and hades: showing the illusion of happiness but in real life it symbolises domestic violence
- medusa: I actually am still thinking on how to depict this but I was thinking of maybe giving it a feminist perspective?

Would these themes be too dark and inappropriate for my major work or are they alright to stick with? Would my original idea with just Icarus be better?

Thanks!!

Hey, muneezaaa!

Sounds like you've got some interesting ideas coming along! I am really loving the way you're bringing the Greek myths into modern life but I might recommend just checking with your teacher first to see what their thoughts are about taking a slightly darker and potentially more controversial approach  I think the best artworks are the ones that provoke shock and thought within us and, more often than not, those are the ones that reveal the uncomfortable truths in our society. However, the last thing you want is to present something too radical that it impacts your results in a less favourable way  If your teacher thinks it's a good pathway to take, they will not only be supportive of your endeavours but will also be able to guide you in the best ways to represent these ideas that make them layered and complex in meaning.

Another suggestion would be to have the opposite approach and have BOW still exploring this idea of re-contextualising Greek mythology but working with a more consistent theme. You might want to look at something like "everyday struggles" and have a business-man rolling up a boulder made of papers like Sisyphus does, or to have a Medusa teacher who has all these students staring back at her with blank faces as if they were turned to stone. This could give the BOW a more defined concept and allow you to make some interesting commentaries on the nature of modern careers, for example. Hopefully that gives you some more ideas  The key piece of advice I'd offer would be to present all these ideas to your teacher and see which one they think will translate your intentions best to a marker, as well as to us as your general audience. I'm keen to hear what you decide to do!

Angelina