Year 11 Unit 1 Area of Study 1 User Guide
In Year 11, students studying the discipline of Studio Arts must address and respond to Unit 1, Outcome 1 and Unit 2, outcome 2 of the VCE Studio Arts Study Design. To increase my understanding and empathy for VCE Studio Arts students, I have undertaken this process. This will also provide a worked example to show future students. It is approached through the theme of Intercultural Understanding. This resource aligns with the VCE Studio Arts mandated curriculum for year 11 students. In the Victorian Curriculum, Intercultural Understanding is addressed in Intercultural Capabilities. The VCAA website informs us:
‘Intercultural capability aims to develop knowledge, understandings and skills to enable students to
- demonstrate an awareness of and respect for cultural diversity within the community
- reflect on how intercultural experiences influence attitudes, values and beliefs
- Recognise the importance of acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity for a cohesive community’. (VCAA, 2019).
When we consider the concept of Intercultural Understanding, we look at it through the lives of people that exist presently. I wanted to look at creative representations made by the ancient peoples of the Earth, from a time long before our cultures became so distinctively different.
My response to this theme was an exploration of various examples of Cave Art from the Upper Palaeolithic period of history. Interrogation of a historic timeline provided information into how ancient people lived, as well as prompting insights into the Palaeolithic artists’ creative process. This is supported by the contemporary artists, Vija Celmins and her creative process. Celmins draws everything possible from graphite as a medium to produce her meditative works of water, constellations and dessert terrain. Another artist of inspiration is Eiichi Tosaki who developed a technique called Bimanual Coordination Drawing which I am also interested in experiencing and experimenting with.
Viewed through Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and a personal theory about the motivation of the ancient artists (those of the Chauvet Cave in the South of France in particular), I was prompted to set a group of creative experiments and activities for myself in an area of art that I had not explored before. Working through these tasks would go some way to achieving greater artistic potential personally. This proposed set of tasks would address Unit 2, Outcome 2 in the near future.
This resource addresses the Key Skills outline in the Study Design. Studio Arts is a very personal and individually expressive discipline and there is no single way to respond to the specified tasks. My resource provides the viewer with one example. The key skills from the Studio Arts Study Design that I have responded to in my resource are listed below:
- generate ideas and identify sources of inspiration and artistic influences
- Progressively record the research and development of individual ideas in a visual diary
- use a variety of research methods to translate ideas, observations and experiences into a visual language
- select, create, organise and use visual reference material
- explore a range of art elements, art principles and aesthetic qualities in the studio process
- Research subject matter appropriate to individual ideas in a visual diary
- Discuss the characteristics of a range of art forms, including how materials, techniques and processes will be used in studio practice.
Throughout my resource, I have provided support material in the ‘making’ and ‘responding’ tasks for students to participate in. These tasks address proficiencies that the Unit 1 study load requires of students. The making and responding tasks provide learning in areas such as familiarisation of Art Elements and Principles, observational drawing, annotation with appropriate art vocabulary, research methods, investigation of art forms as well as providing students with interesting and challenging art activities that may trigger creative trajectories.
Because VCE Studio Arts is a highly personal an individual area of study, the High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS, 2017) of Questioning and Feedback are effective pedagogies to apply to student learning. Asking students well-formed inquiry questions (HITS, 2017, pg. 22-23), enables them to solve their own problems and provides them with meaningful learning. Timely and actionable feedback (HITS, 2017, pg. 24-25) enables students to reach their goals.
Like the artwork it examines, this worked example of Unit1, Outcome 1 is earthy and organic in its presentation. Warm colours and hand written notes make this a personal and approachable resource. Consideration has been given to the audience so that viewing the resource is engaging and contextualised to the grounded subject matter it explores, drawing them into and enveloping them in our ancient world where art began.
© Copyright Ingrid Schmidt