Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies
Unit outlines will be available through Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.
Visual Arts (Degree)
The following units are only available to Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies students
Visual Arts
Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies
To qualify for the award of Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies, a candidate must complete 192 credit points including:
(i) 72 credit points of Studio units
(ii) 24 credit points of Art History units, of which 12 credit points must be from 1000 level and 12 credit points must be from 2000 or 3000 level.
(iii) A major from Table S, excluding the Visual Arts major
(iv) 12 credit points of Open Learning Environment units from Table O
(v) a minimum of 24 credit points at 4000 level from this table
(vi) elective units from this table, Table O or Table S where appropriate
Bachelor of Visual Arts
To qualify for the award of Bachelor of Visual Arts, a candidate must complete 144 credit points including:
(i) 72 credit points of Studio units
(ii) 24 credit points of Art History units, of which 12 credit points must be from 1000 level and 12 credit points must be from 2000 or 3000 level
(iii) 48 credit points from Elective units in this table, Table O or Table S, which may, optionally include a minor or major, excluding the Visual Arts major or minor
Studio units
1000 level units of study
CASF1001 Studio Foundation 1
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x3hour studio class/week Assessment: reearch file/process diary (20%), academic led peer review (20%), project/s (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio Foundation 1 you will experience a variety of Image, Object, and Screen processes. Through these 2, 3, and 4 Dimensional projects you will engage with content particular to each field of enquiry. This is designed to develop your creative engagement, conceptual understanding, and problem solving skills within a studio environment.
CASF1002 Studio Foundation 2
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CASF1001 Prohibitions: CAST1001 Assessment: 1x1350wd equivalent PROJECT/S (60%), 1x450wd equivalent ACADEMIC LED PEER REVIEW (20%), 1x450wd equivalent RESEARCH FILE/PROCESS DIARY (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Studio Foundation 2 continues your investigation of 2, 3, and 4 Dimensional fields of enquiry and culminates in a final X Dimensional (Interdisciplinary) project. Here, you will build on the skills and thinking developed throughout the year and deepen your understanding of Contemporary Art by merging modes of studio practice.
2000 level units of study
CAST2001 Studio 1
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CASF1002 or CAST1001 Assessment: 1x1150wd equivalent Studio Project 1 (50%), 1x550wd equivalent Studio Project 2 (25%), 1x550wd equivalent Studio Project 3 (25%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio 1 you will engage intensively with one area of emphasis by choosing assessment tasks in Ceramics, Glass, Jewellery, Painting, Photography, Printmedia, Sculpture or Screen Arts. You will develop specialist skills and deepen your critical and conceptual competencies through structured feedback and the support of Production workshops.
CAST2002 Studio 2
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CAST2001 or EXCH2005 Assessment: 1x1350wd equivalent Studio Project 2 (60%), 1x900wd equivalent Studio Project 1 (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio 2 you will continue to engage intensively with one area of emphasis with growing independence. Through self-directed projects in Ceramics, Glass, Jewellery, Painting, Photography, Printmedia, Sculpture or Screen Arts you will further develop your specialised studio skills and theoretical and conceptual competencies.
3000 level units of study
CAST3001 Studio 3
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CAST2002 or EXCH2005 Assessment: 1x1600wd equivalent Studio Project (70%), 1x650wd equivalent Studio Proposal (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio 3 you will produce a body of work that is conceptually, technically and aesthetically of exhibition quality that also demonstrates a rigorous process of research analysis and critical awareness. Outcomes produced at the 2000 level can act as a starting point for this unit's self-directed project or you may take an entirely new direction. engagement with a critical context relevant to your professional practice. Reflective of an emerging art practice you will seek to make a significant contribution to innovation regarding the production and realisation of your work.
CAST3002 Studio 4
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CAST3001 or EXCH3005 Assessment: 1x1600wd equivalent Studio Project (70%), 1x650wd equivalent Studio Proposal (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio 4 you will produce a body of work for the graduate exhibition. You are expected to refine your skills to produce final outcomes that demonstrate a rigorous process of research, analysis and critical awareness. This is designed to prepare you for professional life, independent art practice and/or postgraduate study.
Art History units
1000-level units of study
ARHT1001 Style and Substance: Introducing Art History
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 2x1000wd object analysis (40%), 1x2500wd research project (50%), tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Taking a diverse, global view of art making from the Ancient to the Modern world, ARHT1001 will introduce students to key philosophical and methodological approaches in the field of Art History. As our experiences are increasingly mediated through a variety of visual platforms, this course will help students develop critical perspectives on visual communication. The development of professional skill sets will be a key focus. As such, the course serves as an essential introduction to Art History for those considering a career in the arts, education, or the museum and design sectors.
ARHT1002 Shock of the Now: Global Art since 1900
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr Lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x1000wd Visual Test (30%), 1x2000wd research essay (40%), 1x1500wd Exhibition/Artwork Review Blog (20%), 1x Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Art shapes our cities, streets, galleries, phones and minds. It is now made with every conceivable material, and sometimes none at all. It shocks, challenges, soothes, entertains, engrosses and overwhelms us. This unit charts the history of Modern and Contemporary Art across the world, as it is shaped by and shapes society, politics and environment. It shows current concerns in art , with materials, landscape, self-image, politics, and the body are grounded in a century of global experiment
2000-level units of study
ARHT2614 Pollock to Psychedelia
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in American Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1500wd artworks review (40%), 1x3000wd essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit studies the interplay between high art and popular culture in America from the 1950s onwards. Pop Art, Minimalism and Performance formed alongside emerging youth cultures of political protest, drugs and rock music. We examine the interactions of high art, youth culture and mass media.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
ARHT2616 High Renaissance Art
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2016 Assessment: 1x2000wd Visual assignment (40%), 1x2500wd Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The Unit of Study will explore a range of alternative approaches to some of the most famous works of art in the Western tradition, including works by Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Titian. Topics to be investigated include: problems of definition in High Renaissance and Mannerist art; Rome under Julius II and the creation of an imperial capital; Venetian visual poesie; art and dynastic display in Medicean Florence; civic ritual and public space; eroticism and mythology at princely courts; portraiture and gender.
ARHT2618 French Art, Salon to Cezanne
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2018 Assessment: 1x3000wd Essay (60%), 1x1500wd Gallery exercise (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit treats French Art in terms of the cultural structures that allowed academic art, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism to emerge. Mainstream art is studied alongside emerging avant-gardes. Other topics include nationalism, exoticism, and peripheral versus metropolitan modernism.
ARHT2632 Modern Australian Art and Cinema
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2032 Assessment: 1x2000wd Essay (50%), 1x1hr Short-answer exam (30%), 1x1500wd Seminar paper (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines Australian art, cinema and popular imagery from 1880-1940, situating them within the global history of modernism and modernity. Themes include the landscape tradition, national identity, war, gender, and indigenous issues, with special focus on the Australian film industry.
ARHT2636 Contemporary Indigenous Art
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Indigenous Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2036 Assessment: 1x3000wd essay (60%), 1x1500wd exhibition review (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Aboriginal and Torres Strait art is the major Australian movement of the last 50 years. Surveying its development from Papunya Tula to the present, the unit focuses on critical issues like appropriation and copyright, art and native title, women artists, the market and curatorial practices.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
ARHT2640 Contemporary Asian Art
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Asian Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2040 Assessment: 1x1000wd visual test (20%), 1x1500wd analysis of key term or area (30%), 1x2000wd essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores contemporary art from across Asia since World War II. The unit places artistic developments, curatorial practice, and artworks within the context of rapid geo-political and socio-cultural change, particularly exploring the effects of nationalism and globalisation.
ARHT2645 Arts in Imperial China
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Asian Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x750wd descriptive analysis exercise (15%), 1x1500wd comparative analysis exercise (30%), 1x2250wd research exercise (45%), tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the art, architecture and material culture of dynastic China (ca. 3000 BCE-1900), contextualizing works within the region's diverse social, political and cultural histories. The unit foregrounds focused interpretation of individual works through visual and material analysis.
ARHT2671 Art, Travel, Empires
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2071 Assessment: 1x2500wd essay (60%), 1x2000wd visual analysis exercise (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines art and the culture of travel from a post-colonial perspective. The work of European Orientalists will be analysed alongside work by North African, Persian and Ottoman artists and in conjunction with photography, international exhibitions, travel literature and film.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
ARHT2674 Fashion and Dress: Past and Present
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1000wd text analysis (25%), 1x1000wd visual analysis (25%), 1x2500wd research essay (40%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit offers an introduction to the study of dress through the discussion of major theories and methodologies that inform current scholarship in the field. With a focus on designers, wearers, and cultural practices of dressing the body, the unit will question how dress communicates as a form of visual expression.
ARHT2675 Fieldwork: Art at the Gallery
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x 1000wd Object Analysis (20%), 1x 500wd Acquistion Highlight (25%), 1x 3000wd Research Project (40%), 1x Participation (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Taught as a three-hour block. To meet the agreement we have established with our industry partner, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, this unit will be taught as a three-hour block. This structure allows us to engage in focused and extended object-based learning activities, the logistics and pedagogy of which require an extended block of time. Teaching in a three hour block means less disruption to the gallery's schedule.
Working in partnership with leading museums, this unit introduces students to object-based learning, and the study of artworks in situ. Driven by hands-on learning experiences, students will develop a core set of analytical and professional skills through the close examination of artworks as material and physical objects.
ARHT2676 Planetary Art: Nature, Ecology, Environment
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr x (face to face) lecture/week, 1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1500wd Research Essay (40%), 1x2,000wd Visual Analysis (40%), 1x1,000wd Paired learning research project (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit studies contemporary and historical artists in relation to today's environmental crisis. Students
engage with how art objects and artmaking relate to issues pertaining to nature, ecology, and the
environment. Through visual and textual analysis, students gain interdisciplinary perspectives on art's place within contemporary posthumanist theories, the significance of ecological thinking to contemporary aesthetics, art's historical response to the impact of science and technology, and art's recognition of the importance of Indigenous knowledges to planetary ethics.
ARHT2677 Art, Memory, and Identity
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr x (face to face) lecture/week, 1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1500wd Research Essay (40%), 1x2000wd Visual analysis (40%), 1x1000wd Paired learning research project (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students study contemporary and historical art in relation to collective or public memory, as well as personal memory. Memory as a subject, and memory as a tool, are considered in relation to the making of art objects and their reading. The unit looks at art's connection with the past, with history, trauma, loss and remembrance, as well as art's connection with identity, dreams, and childhood. Students gain informed perspectives on how memory is theorised as a phenomenon both real and imaginary, and why it memory often judged as more important to art than history.
ARHT2678 Islamic Art and Architecture
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 x hour lecture/week, 1 x hour tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts Assessment: 1x500wd (or equivalent) class oral presentation (10%), 1000wd short answer test (25%), 1x1000wd tutorial paper (25%), 1x2000wd essay or research project (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
We survey the complex arts, architecture and material culture of the Islamic world and explore critical debates that help us relate different traditions that encompass this broad category of visual culture. We introduce important global, transcultural, and transregional currents in art history through an object-oriented approach to teaching that includes the on-site study of gallery and museum collections.
FILM2000 From Silent to Sound Cinema
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Film Studies major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Art History major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major Prohibitions: ARHT2052 or ARHT2652 Assessment: 1x1000wd equivalent Video portfolio (30%), 1x1000wd Video essay plan (20%), 1x2500wd equivalent Video essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Examining cinema as a manifestation of modernity, this unit of study contextualizes early film as art, commodity, industry, institution and mass production of the senses. It introduces students to the study of the history and aesthetics of silent cinema, including major genres such as melodrama and slapstick, and the impacts of the transition to sound.
FILM2001 Memory of the World: Key Films
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Film Studies major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Art History major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major Prohibitions: ARHT2053 or ARHT2653 Assessment: 1x600wd short essay (10%), 1x1400wd film analysis (30%), 1x2500wd essay (50%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
From the postmodern nostalgia film to the holocaust documentary, cinema is implicated in complex processes of forgetting and remembering. This unit introduces students to thinking about how film represents memory formally and narratively and its thematic, cultural, and moral implications. It traces film's relation to nostalgia while approaching cinema more broadly as an archive of memory, especially of those ephemeral minor or affective experiences not often thought of as historical.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
3000-level units of study
ARHT3610 Art in the Age of Giotto
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History Prohibitions: ARHT2610 Assessment: 1x500wd bibliography (10%), 1x500wd essay proposal (20%), 1x3500wd essay (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit investigates art produced in Italy during the 14th century for a range of patrons from bankers and merchants to kings, princes, city states, and new religious orders like the Franciscans. Traditional narratives are critiqued and alternative interpretations encouraged.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
ARHT3617 British Art and Empire
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History Prohibitions: ARHT2617 Assessment: 1x1500wd exhibition review (40%), 1x3000wd essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit critically analyses the role of the visual arts in mediating the experience of urbanism in 19th-century Britain and its function across a global Empire. We undertake an in-depth study of the rich holdings of this art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
ARHT3633 Contemporary Australian Art and Film
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2633 Assessment: 1x2000wd equiv group curatorial project (40%), 1x2500wd essay (50%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
What are the current debates and issues driving Australian art and film? We explore contemporary studio practices through screenings, on-site gallery visits and the study of works in university and other local art and film collections.
ARHT3646 Modern Art in East Asia
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Asian Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2646 Assessment: 1x2500wd essay (40%), 1x1000wd visual analysis (40%), 1x1000wd oral presentation and paper (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit investigates key debates about the visual culture of East Asia in the early modern and modern eras. The impact of profound political and social changes on cultural identity will be explored in depth. We also consider the role of art in addressing evolving identities and increasing globalisation in the region.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
ARHT3662 On Photography and the Wretched Screen
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History Prohibitions: ARHT2662 Assessment: 1x1000wd object analysis (25%), 1x500wd tutorial presentation (25%), 1x3000wd essay/exhibition proposal (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will draw on a wide range of photographic material, including university and museum collections, to examine the pivotal role of photography in recording and shaping our image-culture across diverse global contexts. The unit will engage with key debates to examine the social, cultural, theoretical, historical and art practice contexts of the photograph as an image and as an object. Key theories from Walter Benjamin to Hito Steyerl will be used to interrogate themes of memory, documentary and the real, witnessing, conflict, gender and sexuality, decolonisation, and the digital.
ARHT3663 Gender and Sexuality in Asian Art History
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/wk Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: Tutorial participation (10%), 1x 500wd Visual Analysis Exercise (15%), 1x 1500wd Tutorial Presentation (25%), 1x 2500wd Final Research Paper (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit investigates issues of gender and sexuality in art, visual culture and art history in modern and contemporary Asia from the 19th century to the present. Students will explore women- and/or queer-centred histories of the production and reception of art, and the rise of feminist and queer art and art history in parts of Asia.
ARHT3672 Fieldwork: Art and the City
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 12 Session: Intensive July Classes: 6x2hr preparation seminars or web-based assignments, 10x4hr visit/day, 10x2.5hr reflection/presentation Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x2000wd preparation site study (20%), 1x20mins/2000wd write-up presentation (30%), 1x1500wd reflective journal (10%), 1x3500wd research essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Field experience
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This Senior Fieldwork unit takes students out of the classrooms and into major world cities to explore not only the history of architecture and public space but also the galleries, collections and artworks housed in the city. It offers a vital opportunity for students to learn with and from artworks, buildings, spaces and monuments in situ.
ARHT3673 Art and the Aesthetics of the Everyday
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x1500wd research essay (40%), 1x2000wd extended visual analysis (40%), 1x1000wd paired learning research project (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students study contemporary and historical art made in response to the ebb and flow of daily life and the material conditions of the street, the city, and the home. They study key texts of the art and politics of the everyday and topics related to the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century theory and practice. Students will focus on artists who heighten awareness of the banal and mundane, of the detritus of life, of gendered distinctions between home and city, and the paradoxical revelation of the marvelous in the everyday.
ARHT3674 Objects and Problems: Old Regime Europe
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Art History Major or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x2000wd Reflective Journal (30%), 1x1500wd Group Presentation and Write-up (30%), 1x1000wd Individual Object Presentation (20%), 1x1500wd Object Research task (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the art of Old Regime Europe, C. 1600-1789, through intensive study of objects from the period in local collections. Students will use their encounter with artworks in situ and up close to examine how art engages the power structures, ideologies, habits and daily lives of the courts and cities of eighteenth-century Europe.
ARHT3675 Objects and Problems at Chau Chak Wing Museum
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr object seminar/week, 1x1hr group meeting/week Prerequisites: 12 cred points at 2000 level in the Art History major Assessment: 1x1500wd Individual reflective journal (30%), 1x1500wd equivalent group exhibition project (30%), 1x600wd individual object research task, 1x900wd small group presentation (25%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit brings students into sustained contact with objects in the CCW Museum and challenges students to research and curate them. It is designed to build and test the key skills of art historians 'in the world' -from basic analysis of materials and techniques to complex questions of cultural meaning- by analyzing objects and the challenges they pose.
FILM3000 Cinematic Transformations
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Digital Cultures or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT3601 Assessment: 1x500wd Digital Cinema: Project Proposal (15%), 1x1500wd Digital Cinema: Project (25%), 1x1000wd Digital Cinema: Project Critical Reflection (20%), 1x2000wd Research Essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
What is cinema in the twenty-first century? Where do we locate the essence of a medium that has undergone such a radical transformation? This course examines the intersection of film, digital cinema, and new media platforms such as YouTube, mobile cinemas, and virtual reality technologies. Where many have spoken of the death of cinema in a digital era, we will conceptualise the complexity of cinema's evolution from its earliest celluloid incarnation to the technologies of digital simulation.
Elective units of study
1000-level units of study
CAEL1001 Contemporary Drawing: Experimental
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2-hour studio class/week Prohibitions: CADR1006 Assessment: visual diary/research file (30%) and curated set project work (40%) and self-directed project work (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Experimental Drawing encourages you to develop your own visual language as a catalyst for creative thought and a means to develop greater visual literacy. Through an in-depth studio investigation into a variety of modes, approaches, materials, tools and techniques, Experimental Drawing opens the field of drawing into the exploration and discovery of new and interdisciplinary methods of mark making and visual communication. You will be encouraged to take risks, be innovative, work collaboratively, and stretch your perceptions of the medium by translating these experiences into a unique and speculative approach to the processes of drawing and mark making. In addition to studio based activities and production where you will develop a portfolio and establish archives of source material that you can draw on for future creative endeavours and experimentation, you will participate in peer-evaluation and undertake theoretical research.
CAEL1002 Contemporary Drawing: Life
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2-hour studio class/week Prohibitions: CADR1005 Assessment: visual diary/research file (30%) and curated set project work (40%) and self-directed project work (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Life Drawing encourages you to develop your own visual language as a catalyst for creative thought and a means to develop greater visual literacy. The importance of observational drawing in the contemporary context can be observed by investigating the key conventions and precedents of the life drawing mode. By working through a series of practice led lab sessions investigating ways of evaluating, describing and illustrating the various elements of a visual image such as shape and form, space, line, values and texture, you will learn to apply, test and boldly question these techniques through the development of your own conceptually driven project. In addition to studio based activities and production where you will develop a portfolio and establish archives of source material that you can draw on for future creative and scholarly endeavours, you will participate in peer-evaluation and undertake theoretical research.
2000-level units of study
CAEL2039 Screen Arts: an Introduction
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: individual presentation and project proposal (15%) and assessment 1 (video project) (20%) and major self-directed project (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces you to the conceptual frameworks and technologies that shape the making of screen-based media and contemporary art practices. Through a series of lectures, seminars, tutorials and screenings you will explore the evolution of experimental film, video art and independent filmmaking from the 1960s to the present. You will engage in the production of a self-directed digital film that may be realized in any style or genre. The unit is supported by a technical program that provides you with the applied skills and competencies needed for the use of studio facilities and equipment.
CAEL2041 The Art of Sound and Noise
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: directed project (40 %) and major self-directed project (60 %) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study approaches sound in the broadest sense as it crosses barriers through physical and cultural space, and exists as a force in the world. In this unit, you will undertake a studio-based approach to the production of sound art works, including sound objects, instruments, sonic sculpture, sound installation, performance and new ways of working with sound. The unit begins with the physicality of sound and music physics. You will listen to sonic phenomena, materials, forms and existing sound works. This unit will be conducted in an open studio framework including a variety of workshops, sound studios and digital labs.
CAEL2042 Photography and the Darkroom
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Intensive July,Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: technique task (20%) and concept task (20%) and self-directed major project (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces the principles of black and white photography via the 35mm camera and the darkroom. You explore alternative documentary photography strategies by challenging the role of the camera to simply observe and capture. You experiment with the genres of reportage, street photography and conventional documentary practices, and are encouraged to take an interventionist approach to the urban environment. You are introduced to the 35 mm manual SLR camera, black and white film processing, dark room printing, film exposure and photographic print enlargement.
CAEL2044 Radical Rock Video
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: proposal documentation or journal (20%), introductory assignment (20%), major project (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores the intersection between contemporary visual art practice and contemporary music and sound. Is it possible to make innovative connections between sound and image that embrace experimental music, sound arts and screen based experimental work, without reverting to the moribund conventions of commercial music video? In an age where everything seems to have already been done, are there new formations of art and music to be discovered, even by people who have no traditional skills in these areas? This unit operates within an open studio framework that encompasses all skill levels from beginner, to intermediate, to advanced. You will make creative and practical responses based on your interest in art and sound through guided and self-directed individual and collaborative projects.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2045 Site Works: Sculptural Interventions
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: project proposal (30%), site work (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides a studio-based approach to designing and making art works for specific locations or in response to specific guidelines. Stepping outside of the gallery opens up possibilities for exploring some of the broader issues of art and everyday life. In this unit, you will consider the key issues and methodologies relevant for site specific, interventionist or tactically oriented art works, and develop a sound understanding of the proposals required in the competitive field of public art. The unit focuses on the development of your ideas with a view to encouraging inventive approaches to proposals and includes strategies for realising virtual and physical outcomes. The unit combines studio work, short presentations by the lecturer, student presentations and group discussion/critiques, and is conducted in the sculpture studio, the digital labs and various other locations.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2046 Painting Music
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: seminar presentation (30%) and production and exhibition of a painting (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
From Piet Mondrian to Albert Oehlen, artists have been influenced by music. This has had both direct and sublimated effects on the development of the techniques and styles of painting. From seriality to polyrhythms, synchronicity between painting and music has been a constant for a century now. Abstraction has especially taken its cue from the autonomy of music to create a painting that is free from a direct representational quality and instead focuses on an engagement with its own reality through colour, materials and action. This unit of study investigates the dovetailing of painting and music, from modernism to contemporary art, and examines the current trends of painting, relating these processes to those of contemporary music. You will research and investigate the influences of music on painting, and create a work that has music as its core value.
CAEL2047 Animation
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: project proposal (30%), major self-directed project (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces you to the fundamental concepts and skills associated with 2D animation production. The unit provides both a conceptual and technical framework for you to explore the possibilities of animation in relation to your existing practice or as a completely new endeavour. Working in the digital domain, you will explore a range of approaches including frame-by-frame animation and stop motion animation. The technical component of this course provides you with the necessary skills to realise a self-directed project while encouraging exploration and experimentation. Class discussions, seminars and individual tutorials support screenings of historical and contemporary animated works to allow you to situate your own projects within a contemporary context.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2048 Investigating Clay
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: experimental process folio (20%), proposal for final work (20%), final work (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides a studio-based approach to the production of creative work in ceramics. You will be introduced to concepts, methodologies and technologies integral to contemporary ceramics. You will also be introduced to historical and contemporary frameworks that underpin the processes and paradigms of ceramics today and provide the foundations of a 3D vocabulary. Thematic approaches accompany technical introductions to handbuilding, wheelwork, surface treatments and kiln firing to encourage exploration with ceramics methodologies. The unit develops and enhances critical skills through group and individual tutorials and critiques. This unit is suitable for those who have no or limited experience with the ceramic material and its technologies.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2049 Vessel as Concept: Hot Glass Intro
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3hr lecture/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit point at 1000 level Studio Foundation units in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: 1x1000wd equivalent class presentation of creative work (25%), 1x1500wd equivalent class presentation of project proposal (35%), 1x2000wd equivalent final creative work assessment (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study examines the glass vessel in everyday life and its application as a conceptual agent in contemporary art. By nature, the glassblowing process creates a vessel or container from a mass of molten glass. Through research projects you will investigate the psychology of the glass vessel through its function and physical properties. You will develop fundamental hand skills and glassblowing techniques through structured weekly workshops, and combine practical skills with contextual knowledge in the development of conceptually themed projects. You may work exclusively with glass or in conjunction with other media and processes.
CAEL2053 Screen Printing: an Introduction
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: project proposal (20%) and major work (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces you to screen printing and its broad application across media. The unit explores the technical basics of this process through various projects. It provides for the development and enhancement of critical skills through group and individual tutorials and critiques and the acquisition of technical knowledge required to independently access and use the Printmedia studio facilities.
CAEL2054 Silversmithing: Exoskeleton Extension
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: technical samples (15%) and research presentation (20%) and major work (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
From the symbolically charged through to the functionally utilized, the hammer formed metallic object builds upon the dynamic landscape of the body. In this unit of study you investigate the potential for an object to expand the metaphysical self. The malleable and ductile qualities of metal will be examined as a creative catalyst enabling material characteristics to form a transformative element of a work that is made for the body by the body. You will explore silversmithing processes, in alignment with your individual research interests, as a technical and conceptual starting point to negotiate ideas of metamorphosis and growth. The appropriate forming processes, including sinking, raising, hot forging and planishing, will be introduced alongside an examination of the historic foundations and key principles of contemporary metalsmithing, as a means to generate your own individual project.
CAEL2055 Bodyworks: Jewellery as Communication
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: technical samples (15%) and research presentation (20%) and major work (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides a studio-based approach to the production of creative contemporary jewellery work that engages with the space and physical dimensions of the body. Fundamental to this approach is an investigation of the role of the worn or carried object in social communication. The unit provides for the development and enhancement of critical skills through group and individual tutorials and critiques and the acquisition of technical skills appropriate to the assigned projects.
CAEL2060 Experimental Writing Studio
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: directed project (40%) and major self-directed project (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Text now is found in a multiplicity of art forms. This open studio interdisciplinary unit investigates text and language in art, from street art to high culture, via self-directed projects that are unbounded by medium and yet use writing as the genesis or as primary material for the production of a work of art. Final works could range from a screenplay or work of fiction, to a body of paintings or sculptures, to artists' books, zines, net art and editions, from video, to sound, and performance art. You will work by way of a self-directed project and on one short in class project. This unit of study is taught by way of tutorials, group critique, workshops, lectures and guest lectures.
CAEL2069 Screenwriting and Directing
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: participation in seminars (30%) and script (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces you to the art and craft of writing for the screen. Through a series of lectures, seminars, tutorials and film screenings you will explore a range of approaches to screenwriting. These include looking at the structure of dialogue and character driven scripts, then moving to an analysis of more experimental approaches to script writing that rely less on character or dialogue and more on mood, situation and atmosphere. You will write an original script for a digital film that can be realized in any style or genre.
CAEL2072 Ceramics: Potter's Wheel as Sculptural Tool
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: experimental process folio (20%) and written research report (20%) and final studio work (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores notions of the void and the aperture through the development of hollow formed objects created by hand or the potter's wheel. You will be introduced to the creation of various common forming techniques on the potter's wheel and will be encouraged to use these to create new techniques and develop modular and sculptural assemblages. This unit also examines the philosophical underpinnings associated with the traditional and contemporary practice of this genre of ceramics through group discussion and individual research.
CAEL2076 Upcycled Glass: Introducing Warm Glass
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: 1x1000wd equivalent class presentation of creative studio work (25%), 1x1500wd equivalent class presentation of studio project proposal (35%), 1x2000wd equivalent final creative studio work assessment (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines conceptual and practical applications of fused glass through contemporary art and design. In studio based research projects and contextual presentations you will develop your understanding of the role of glass as an everyday and cultural material that can be fused together to produce new forms and creative narratives. You will explore a variety of processes, including: diamond cutting, polishing, lathe-working, engraving and hot and cold glass joining. You will select a range of studio projects that combine sustainable, critical and practical skills to develop and realise creative works. You can work exclusively with glass or with other media andand creative processes.
CAEL2080 Etching: Expanded Workshops
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: preliminary small project (20%), research proposal (20%), major work (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces and enhances skills in etching. You will follow a project-based curriculum in a broad range of technically based workshops intrinsic to the medium of etching. You will be encouraged to engage in a sustained self-directed project addressing concepts and methodologies central to your creative ideas. This project will be supported by more specialised workshops that expand on conventional etched plate techniques. You will learn innovative methods that enable digital processes to be integrated with traditional print media and offer a greater flexibility in output and presentation. The unit promotes investigation and exploration across media to develop your creative practice.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2081 Fusion: Jewellery and Ceramics
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: research proposal and moulds (50%), final work (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Fusion refers to the merging or melting of different materials into one. Working across jewellery and ceramics, in this unit of study you consider this concept also in relationship to the construction of an object from multiple parts. In this sense the artist becomes alchemist, scientist, or musician, mixing, constructing and blending to create a new object. By experimenting with processes of moulding, you explore notions of multiplicity, the original, the copy and the archetype. This unit addresses the development of conceptual, formal and aesthetic approaches in making.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2083 Virtual Objects 2D
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: directed project (40%) and major self-directed project (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides a studio based approach to translating design drawings from analogue and digital sources into componentry through industrialised machine processes found in the technology of laser cutting, vinyl cutting, plasma cutting etc. These digitally mediated processes open up possibilities for reproducing or translating graphic ideas and drawings in a variety of different ways and would be applicable to all artists interested in working with the digital and the new forms of modular fabrication technology. In this unit you will work through the processes necessary for making graphic artwork ready to work with these technologies that allow for mechanical reproduction of, for example, a large quantity of smaller elements that make up a large scale work, the cutting of intricate patterns, working with materials that are difficult to cut, or using the process to distort shape or manipulate the scale of the final work. Our focus will be on translating digital drawing into materials. The software we will be using will be a combination of commercial and open source software and we will be outsourcing the actual cutting process and working with the relevant companies that provide this service.
CAEL2085 Photography and the Lighting Studio
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x 3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: project 1 (40%) and project 2 research presentation (20%) and project 2 major work (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study offers you an introduction to lighting and its effects in photography. Considering the lighting studio as a site for experimentation and critical exploration, you will learn the fundamentals of lighting while exploring both how it has been historically used and how contemporary artists use it today both in and out of the studio. Through the nexus of photographic portraiture and still life, lighting is explored as a mechanism for both documenting and transforming its subjects/objects. You are encouraged to work in groups to create original photographic work for two major photo assignments. Please note this unit of study is for students who have had little or no experience in high-end digital photography, software and lighting. The unit of study introduces you to photo editing software, file management and the fundamentals of digital printing.
CAEL2086 On Site: Fieldwork and Practicums
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 6x2hr seminarssemester 6x2hr online tutorialsemester Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or Studio Foundation Assessment: 1x3000wd equivalent Major Work 60 1x2000wd equivalent Reflective Journal 25 1x1000wd Interim report proposal 15 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides the opportunity for you to take your learning out of the University and into the field It may be taken as an individual placement in a selfnominated professional environment or it may be taken through participation in a group Field Trip Depending on the context this may take place throughout the semester or in intensive mode
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2092 Sculpture: Introduction
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: project proposal (20%) and final artwork (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides you with an introduction to building processes within Sculpture and Installation. You will be introduced to working in the sculpture studio, and in particular, will gain practical experience in plaster and wax and discover key contemporary artists who reinterpret the casting process in innovative ways. You will be invited to consider a range of ideas -including negative forms and anti-monuments - that challenge the preconceptions of what sculpture can be. Initially, you work through a series of material-based workshop activities to learn basic construction techniques as well as to gain confidence in the safe use of machinery and equipment within the studio and workshop. The unit introduces a broad range of traditional and contemporary sculptural practices (including the use of wood, metal, fibre, plastic) and encourages you to develop original and creative solutions. The unit combines studio work, short presentations by the lecturer, student presentations and group discussion/critiques. In consultation with the lecturer, you will develop a studio work proposal and create a finished work that responds to the notion of 'negative sculpture.'
CAEL2093 Sculpture: Installation and Space
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: project proposal (20%) and final artwork (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will explore installation as a spatial practice within the expanded terrain of sculpture. You will examine installation as a hybrid form that negotiates and incorporates the boundaries of traditional art practices like painting, sculpture and video. The unit of study provides an overview of contemporary installation art practice and explores methods for producing work in a variety of media to activate and utilise space. Students explore innovative applications of conventional materials, found objects and time-based media such as video, sound and custom technologies in the development of their work. This unit engages with dedicated installations spaces and the adapting of environments and locations. The unit combines studio work, short presentations by the lecturer, student presentations and group discussion/critiques. In consultation with the lecturer, you will develop a studio work proposal and create a finished work.
CAEL2094 Painting: Transcultural Collaborations
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 1-hour seminar/week and 1x 2-hour studio class/week Prohibitions: CAEL2067 Assessment: in class participation, preparation of reading material, active contribution to group discussions (10%) and reflective journal (200 words or equivalent weekly) (20%) and production and exhibition of fully resolved body of work (painting/s) (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
For Aboriginal people of Australia, the place where saltwater and freshwater meet, is a site of intermingling, mixing and sharing of knowledge. The Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land call this place where the river meets the sea: Ganmu and it is usually used as a metaphor for 'two way learning.' This unit of study explores how contact with other cultures through the reciprocal sharing of images, stories, histories, experiences, ideas, skills and culture can activate collaborative practices to create meaningful connections both locally and globally. The investigation of issues such as representation and presentation, protocols and practices, combined with a critical understanding of the cultural complexities of Indigenous culture, will foster greater understanding and enable students to facilitate the development of a collaborative and sustainable practice.
CAEL2095 Video Art
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: directed project (40 %) and major self-directed project (60 %) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study approaches video art in the broadest sense as it unites a great variety of practices regarding time based manifestations of abiding artistic concerns. Video has become a pervasive medium in contemporary art and makes an appearance in many different contexts that span from the most experimental exhibition settings all the way through to the museum. In this unit, you will undertake a studio-based approach to the production of video art works, including video installation, single channel and synchronized multichannel artworks, streaming video and video as it appears in other digital forms. The aim of the unit is to produce original artworks that forge new image worlds and innovative production methodologies. This unit will be conducted in an open studio framework including a variety of workshops, studios and digital labs.
CAEL2096 Non-Objective Painting
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts major or 12 credit points of 1000 level Studio Foundation unit in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: 1 x studio-based reflections on outcomes of workshops (30%), 1 x studio based guided self-led project (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit covers historical and contemporary concepts and techniques relating to non-objective painting. Painting is addressed in its history and as a category of contemporary art. It is broadly defined as an extended practice with a broad range of material, spatial and intellectual possibilities. Geometric abstraction, gestural abstraction and minimalism have all made their marks on contemporary painting, which often mixes them together. In the course a variety of these approaches are explored through focused and self-initiated projects. As their studies progress, students are encouraged to develop their own approaches and set out their own parameters to create a valid studio practice.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2097 Performance Art for the Internet
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3hr workshop/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit points of 1000 level Studio Foundation unit in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: Studio Assignment 1:Modalities of approach and presentation (20%), Studio Assignment 2: Modalities of approach and presentation (20%), Studio Final project (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In only the last decade video platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo have established innumerable virtual presences that have challenged the forums and approaches of more recent and traditional practices, from comedy to art. Looking at the history of performance art, this unit will explore the different opportunities and possibilities of either reasserting traditional approaches or of crossing genre boundaries, and of connecting with art and non-art audiences, domestically and globally. Students will explore the new languages of online performance while also connecting with new audiences, testing the virtual against the formerly live.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2098 Intermediate Hot Glass
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr workshop/week Prerequisites: CAEL2049 or relevant prior experience commensurate to a 12 x 3hrs per week introduction to glass blowing Assessment: 1x1000wd equivalent class presentation of creative work (25%), 1x1500wd equivalent class presentation of project proposal (35%), 1x2000wd equivalent final creative work assessment (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Building on Introduction to Hot Glass this course will deepen your hands-on experience in glassblowing. The unit explores additional techniques such as mould blowing and hot sculpting, cold working and polishing skills such as lathe working. You will learn a range of different traditional methods as well as sustainable contemporary practice approaches. You will learn through series of directed and self-directed studio based assignments, and contextualise your ideas through the lens of contemporary global glass focused art and design practices. This unit is designed for students who have some previous experience in glassblowing.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2099 Intermediate Glass: Fusing and Slumping
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr workshop/week Prerequisites: CAEL2076 or relevant glass fusing experience commensurating with a 12 week introductory glass fusing unit Assessment: 1x1000wd equivalent class presentation of creative work (25%), 1x1500wd equivalent class presentation of project proposal (35%), 1x2000wd equivalent final creative work assessment (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Building on the foundations of Warm Glass, this elective aims to deepen your understanding of contemporary practice and the possibilities of manipulating Glass in the kiln. Looking into material use around the world, this this course will cover both traditional and contemporary approaches to mould making, fusing, coldworking and reforming techniques. Through a series of directed and self-directed projects you will learn about the possibilities and limitations of this super cooled liquid. This unit is designed for students who have some previous experience in fused glass work.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL2100 The Art of Documentary
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr practical workshop or tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit points of Studio Foundation units in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: 1x2min (750wd equivalent) photo essay (20%), 1x750wd equivalent documentary treatment (20%), 1x3min (3000wd equivalent) documentary (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The Art of Documentary immerses students in the theoretical, ethical and creative elements of nonfiction filmmaking. Exploring the evolution of documentary, from early newsreels and Cinéma Vérité to mockumentary, docu-drama and fact/fiction hybrids, this elective reveals the key techniques needed to take a documentary concept from page to screen. Through screenings, lectures and workshops, Students learn how to research, script, shoot, edit, pitch and distribute a nonfiction film, and how to interview and direct non-actors: gaining an advanced conceptual and practical understanding of this timely and constantly evolving form.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAPP2003 Professional Placement for Artists
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: visual diary (30%), final report (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit of study provides you with direct experience of working closely with nationally and internationally acclaimed professional artists in the context of key art events including the Sydney Biennale and ISEA , as well as in leading museums and contemporary art spaces and significant artists' studios. You will have access to discussions and interactions between artists and national and international curators, as well participate in the exhibition production process, including production management, technical and preparatory methodologies, publicity and promotion. In addition, you can choose to undertake an internship with the organisation itself, to develop your understanding of the expectations and responsibilities of professional practice, including insights into: the creation and presentation of contemporary art, marketing and promotion, curatorial decision making, administration, funding structures, audience development, publication, and working relationships with artist, writers and conference speakers.
3000-level units of study
CAEL3014 Image/Object in Photomedia
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Prohibitions: CAEL2043 Assessment: project 1 (40%) and research project (20%) and project 2 (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores how photography intersects with sculpture. You research and explore the relationship between objects and photography and how sculptural ideas can stretch the function of an image. You consider what a photograph may be materially when extended to encompass sculptural, performative and interactive dimensions. Projects may utilise and combine image-based practices such as digital photography and analogue photography, projection, print, performance, objects and installation to encourage an expanded approach to photographic practice.
CAEL3015 Glass in Time: Advanced Hot Glass
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Visual Arts including CAEL2049 Prohibitions: CAEL2078 Assessment: research project and presentation (20%) and self-directed project (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In this unit of study you consider the scientific, cultural and artistic impact of Venetian glassblowing from the Renaissance to present day through research projects. Structured weekly workshops traverse contemporary use of a range of Venetian glassblowing techniques and methods. You will apply learned theoretical knowledge and developed practical skills to a self-directed work that reinterprets the Venetian glassmaking tradition. You may work exclusively with glass or in conjunction with other media and processes.
CAEL3016 Experimental Film
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: found footage film project (25%) and 16 mm film project (60%) and in-class presentation and product documentaion (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores key processes and issues related to the production and exhibition of experimental film works. The unit includes discussions, readings and screenings of relevant historical and contemporary film works. It focuses on the creative potential of the physical properties of film. You will produce a short 16mm film project. A Bolex 16mm camera workshop and hand processing of 16mm film will also be an integral part of this unit of study.
CAEL3017 Skin and Sign: Ceramic Surfaces
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prohibitions: CAEL2073 Assessment: experimental folio (20%) and proposal for final work (30%) and final work (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study will focus on the development of an in-depth understanding and application of the ceramic surface. It will explore notions of trace, impression, wound, scar, identification, memory and memento through material layering and surface specificity, and the construction of meaning associated with surface qualities such as depth, absorption and incorporation. You will be introduced to a range of applied ceramic surfaces including ceramic pencil, paint and crayon, glaze, screenprint and decal production, as well as found and mixed media surfaces, and kiln firings. Initial instruction and individual experimentation will form the foundations for the completion of a student-generated studio project. This unit would be of particular interest if you want to develop your investigation into three dimensional form and/or broaden the possibilities of the two dimensional surface.
CAEL3018 Introduction to Digital Publishing
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prohibitions: CAEL2052 Assessment: digital booklet (20%) and typography design (20%) and digital publication (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores the boundary between artwork, publication and portfolio. The unit acquaints you with the principal tools of InDesign, a software program that has become industry standard for designing digital and paper publications. Focusing on experimental magazines and other small scale artist's publications the unit explores the visual language of contemporary publishing from an artist's perspective. You learn about the complex interplay of text, image and sequence involved in producing multipage documents/artworks through the practical experience of creating your own InDesign publication. A series of lectures and in-class digital tutorials will equip you with the technical skills and critical framework to produce intelligent, engaging and innovative output.
CAEL3019 Advanced Photography and the Darkroom
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Visual Arts including CAEL2042 Assessment: project 1 (20%) and research project (20%) and major project 2 (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This advanced darkroom unit challenges students to rediscover photography in the age of the jpeg. Through two projects, the unit introduces the wet and wonderful world of alternative analogue processes to encourage students to produce experimental images that consider the conceptual, material and alchemical possibilities of the 'outmoded'. The unit also encourages the development of hybrid practices that combine contemporary digital technology with analogue processes.
CAEL3020 Critical Bodies: Performance Art Practice
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr studio practical/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: 1x1500wd essay (20%), 2x1500wd equivalent visual art project (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Critical Bodies explores innovative and exploratory approaches to contemporary Performance art practice, placing the body at the centre of these investigations. Using studio-based skills students will explore performativity as a broader concept through re-enactment, photo construction as tableau and video performance alongside 'live' actions.
CAEL3021 Expanded Painting
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x0.5hr tutorial/week, 1x1.5hr studio practical/week, 1x0.25hr technical workshop/week for 3 weeks Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or Studio Foundation Assessment: 1x3600wd equivalent self-directed project (60%), 1x1200wd equivalent proposal (20%), 1x1200wd equivalent studio projects 1-3 (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In this unit of study you will explore the interfaces between painting, installation, digital technology, monoprinting, sculpture and performance. In considering these hybrid forms you experiment with painting in the expanded field. You will work on a self-directed project developed through studio work, lectures, tutorials and group critiques.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
CAEL3022 Posters to Paste-ups
This unit of study is not available in 2021
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or Studio Foundation Prohibitions: CAEL2051 Assessment: 1x1900wd equivalent Presentation of works in context (40%), 3x600wd equivalent Production of experimental print (40%), 1x800wd equivalent Poster production and research (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Images made for public space have been integral to modern art. This unit looks at printmedia's role in this history, surveying agitprop graphics and subcultural poster making to examine the currency of screen-printing and digital processes in urban intervention. This will support studio research and the production of print works intended for public display.