BA (Hons) Fine Art with Textiles

Workshop 1 – Digital Drawing & Investigation

You will learn digital skills which will set you up for the rest of the course. The module will encourage you to combine digital approaches, to be experimental and to provide an important digital underpinning for fine art studio practice and your future career.

Digital mediums you will use include Illustrator (vector drawing), Photoshop (bitmap and colour dynamics etc) and video and sound (capture and sequence editing). Each student produces a digital journal or sketchbook clearly documenting all software and processes and artist’s research.

The module supports studio practice, with an emphasis on the development of digital making skills.

Projects 1 – Approaches to Drawing and Investigation

An introduction to Fine Art studio projects, this module will develop a framework of working methods that apply throughout the course. You will be encouraged to develop ideas through practice and will have an increasing grasp of techniques and skills in your chosen art forms.

Through practical projects and discussion, you will be encouraged to develop an explorative, and increasingly individual, sense of enquiry. A critical approach to your own work and the work of other artists will be informed by your investigations of contemporary and historical visual art practice.

This module usually involves an exhibition trip to an art gallery, practical exercises such as drawing classes, independent practical work in the studio, personal research, group critiques, as well as group and individual sessions with tutors and visiting artists.

The module concentrates on formal and cultural concerns in order to equip you with the necessary framework of practice and criticism for progression onto Projects 2.

Contextual 1 – Forms Analysis Contexts

This module will establish the importance of direct experience and analysis in an understanding of the visual arts as cultural practice. You will learn the importance of direct scrutiny, research, knowledge of forms, genres and contexts through analysis of art works.

Themes, methods and examples of context and practice are introduced through a series of lectures, followed up with directed reading, study visits to art galleries and seminar discussion.

Issues and debates about society are referenced, reflecting contemporary concerns around questions around identity, gender, race, the environment, politics, global perspectives, etc., helping define art as a cultural practice. You will be assessed through a group presentation and an essay.

Workshop 2 – Materials and Methodologies

You will develop your skills in paint, print, sculpture or textiles, and either specialise or combine techniques to develop a hybrid practice. You will grow your knowledge and understanding of traditional techniques while taking an experimental approach.

This module will help you hone your making and technical skills with your choice of materials and processes, alongside your research into the work of other artists.

Workshops are taught through a variety of methods, including group teaching, process demonstrations, individual tutorials, group discussions and technical support to allow you to learn and practice your chosen processes and specialisms.

Projects 2 – Process and Experimentation

You will work on a process-led project with an experimental approach. The module increases the emphasis on self-direction in your work, leading towards your own distinctive vision and practice.

You are free to develop your own ideas, directions and material practices. You will undertake research to deepen your understanding of the context of practical work, helping to define your material practice.

You will take a self-directed approach when working on your studio project, supported by individual and group tutorials, group critiques, visiting artists’ lectures, exhibition trips and demonstrations of digital media applied to traditional art studio materials and processes.

Contextual 2 – Signs Interpretation Criticality

This module builds on insights gained in Contextual 1, emphasising the importance of direct experience and scrutiny of art. You will be introduced to key terms, ideas and methodologies for interpretation and reading of visual works, exploring questions about meaning and value.

Challenges to underlying cultural assumptions are further explored through questions about identity, gender, race, the environment, politics and global perspectives. You will learn through a series of lectures, directed reading, study visits and seminar discussion.

You will identify a relevant artwork to examine and research in greater depth through an identified ‘lens’ of critical theory, and will then be assessed on a written proposal and subsequent essay.

Materials and Evidence

Typically, this module is intended as a ‘catch-up’ for those who are short of credits in Level 4.

You will find a new personal and self-directed approach to developing a defined art practice. This module will ensure you develop the practical and visual research skills to enable you to establish a working method to support your studio-based practice.

The module is centred on a studio proposal and tutor-led discussion to support the development of an individual enquiry. You will be required to produce evidence of a self-reflective approach to your own work and the work of other artists that demonstrate an increased knowledge of materials, concepts and contexts.

Workshop 3 – Process & Development

You will develop your practical manual skills within your chosen specialism of paint, print, sculpture, textiles or hybrid practice.

The emphasis in this module is on the development of making skills, the use of processes associated with your chosen discipline, an increasingly personal approach to the use of materials, and a deepening focus in researching the work of other artists.

Workshops are taught by a variety of methods, including group teaching, process demonstrations, individual tutorials, group discussions and technical support to allow you to learn and practice your chosen processes/specialisms.

Digital Photography

You will learn the principles of capturing and manipulating digital images through a mix of lectures and workshops. Technical sessions will provide you with basic skills in using photo-editing software. The module places a particular emphasis on being able to critically evaluate your own work and the work of others which then forms the basis of a portfolio of photographic work for the end-of-module assessment.

Lectures are supplemented with practical workshops on specific approaches and techniques in the use of Digital DSLR Cameras, focusing on core concepts and their practical application. You will be taught across a range of areas which could include: file formats, aperture, shutter speed, editing images, and critiquing the work of influential photographers.

Studio 1 – Territories and Defining Practice

You will work on an individual project, experimenting with materials, digital media, techniques and ideas, to develop a personal and inventive approach to making art.

This module sees a shift from set-projects to a more self-directed approach where you will start to define your own material practice, whether hybrid or more specialist.

The module comprises studio practice with tutorial contact and independent study, and your work will be increasingly self-determined, allowing students to take control of artistic direction, with your own choice of medium and process, genre, themes and imagery. The module encourages more adventurous work on a larger scale.

Contextual 3 – Sites Discourses Rhetoric

You will build on the insights and skills gained in Contextual 1 and 2, further emphasising the importance of direct experience/scrutiny for the effective critical discussion of contemporary art.

The module introduces key terms, ideas and methodologies for the contextualisation, interpretation and evaluation of visual works, exploring questions about meaning and value, agency and display, as well as an introduction of further relevant theoretical perspectives, including psychoanalysis, feminism and relational aesthetics.

You will learn through a series of lectures and texts, explored through personal reading and interactively interrogated through study visits and seminar discussion. You will also identify an artwork to critique in depth through an identified ‘lens’ of critical theory and will share your findings in a live presentation and an essay.

Studio 2 – Site, Externality and Display

You will explore the breadth of issues that relate to the location and placement of art as well as to broader ideas of society. You will be encouraged to explore the theme of ‘site’ in relation to the development of your own material practice, particularly the context (critical, conceptual, physical and social), display, scale and location.

This module involves extended studio practice in the development of a body of increasingly self-determined and independently managed work, and will allow you to take increased control of your own artistic direction.

External Placement 1 – Digital Review

The module aims to engage you with external cultural agencies and the larger community. It will give you insight into how a passion for the visual arts can translate into a career and suggest realistic paths towards graduate employment where creativity and an artists’ sensibilities are valued.

It will also aim to consolidate the ability to adapt and combine techniques and media in an external context, enhance career skills in critical reflection and independent study, and provide experience of art and its applications in a ‘real world’ context beyond the studio.

You will also develop ways of working with others as both a colleague and a potential employee.

Production Design

This module aims to provide a solid foundation for the main areas of Production Design; from concept initiation to realisation including elements of art direction, set design and building techniques, mood boards and props.

The module will illustrate how to decipher aspects such as design metaphor, colour scheming and spatial awareness. It will also explain the aesthetic, narrative and technical facets of the craft.

Research and Process

This module presents an opportunity for you to review and re-contextualise your understanding of Fine Art with a deeper awareness of approaches to contemporary art practice.

You will develop a critical approach to your studio work, and the work of other artists, through investigation of visual art practice and discourse supporting continued studio work.

The module aims to help you develop a framework of research skills in support of more self-directed working methods and underpin a sustainable and sophisticated studio practice, equipping you for progression.

Typically, this module is intended as a ‘catch-up’ for those who are short of credits in Level 5.

Degree Show – Recognition & Consolidation – Studio 3a – Digital Photography

This module enables full time Single Honours students to engage with a substantial self-initiated project through the development and resolution of visual and contextual research into a significant and substantial body of works selected for a public exhibition (the Degree Show) that articulates a distinctive and personal visual language, aspires to professional standards, and functions within a framework of relevant historical and contemporary Fine Art practice.

This is a quadruple module running over both semesters 1&2.

Note: for full time fine art students this is the default ‘personal study’ but you can choose to make ‘manifesto 2 dissertation’ into your personal study by informing the coordinator in writing.

Manifesto 1

You will undertake critically engaged study of the key artists and influences, theories and ideas that manifest in your own studio work. You will produce an essay which develops your academic research initiated in Year 1 and 2, and which supports/strengthens your studio practice.

You will present your proposal to a small seminar group and will work on an essay as a result of your self-directed study and research, with support from lectures and tutorials.

External Placement 2 – Digital Review

You will take on a work placement to further develop your relevant making, critical and organisational skills, contextual knowledge, and a deeper understanding of a variety of possible career outcomes in the arts.

You will make a placement proposal and negotiate with a ‘project partner’ according to your own personal career aspirations. This could be further work with the ‘External Placement 1’ partner or a new project/partner.

This module also includes ‘I am an artist’, with key-note lectures introducing a range of professional and vocational skills important for success as an artist or related arts practitioner.

Manifesto 2 – Dissertation

You will produce a dissertation which supports and strengthens your studio practice, with critically engaged study of the key artists/influences, theories and ideas that manifest in your own work.

The emphasis of this module is on depth of enquiry and research aiming to achieve high levels of critical thought coupled with intellectual rigour and scholarly skill.

Manifesto 2 mirrors and overlaps the structure of Manifesto 1, but students taking Manifesto 2 have an extended period in which to produce an extended essay (dissertation). Study activities will include lectures, group seminars, tutorials and significant self-directed study and research.