To complete the three components successfully the student must meet the following requirements:

 

Visual arts in context 

The visual arts in context part of the syllabus provides a lens through which students are encouraged to explore perspectives, theories and cultures that inform and influence visual arts practice. Students should be able to research, understand and appreciate a variety of contexts and traditions and be able to identify links between them.

Through the visual arts in context area, students will:

• be informed about the wider world of visual arts and they will begin to understand and appreciate the cultural contexts within which they produce their own works

• observe the conventions and techniques of the artworks they investigate, thinking critically and experimenting with techniques, and identifying possible uses within their own art-making practice

• investigate work from a variety of cultural contexts and develop increasingly sophisticated, informed responses to work they have seen and experienced.

 

Visual arts methods

The visual arts methods part of the syllabus addresses ways of making artwork through the exploration and acquisition of skills, techniques and processes, and through engagement with a variety of media and methods.

 Through the visual arts methods area, students will:

• understand and appreciate that a diverse range of media, processes, techniques and skills are required in the making of visual arts, and how and why these have evolved

• engage with the work of others in order to understand the complexities associated with different art- making methods and use this inquiry to inspire their own experimentation and art-making practice

• understand how a body of work can communicate meaning and purpose for different audiences.

 

Communicating visual arts

The communicating visual arts part of the syllabus involves students investigating, understanding and applying the processes involved in selecting work for exhibition and public display. It engages students in making decisions about the selection of their own work.

Through the communicating visual arts area, students will:

• understand the many ways in which visual arts can communicate and appreciate that presentation constructs meaning and may influence the way in which individual works are valued and understood

• produce a body of artwork through a process of reflection and evaluation and select artworks for exhibition, articulating the reasoning behind their choices and identifying the ways in which selected works are connected

• explore the role of the curator; acknowledging that the concept of an exhibition is wide ranging and encompasses many variables, but most importantly, the potential impact on audiences and viewers.

 

The Visual Arts Journal

Throughout the course students at both SL and HL are required to maintain a visual arts journal. This is their own record of the two years of study and should be used to document:

• the development of art-making skills and techniques

• experiments with media and technologies

• personal reflections

• their responses to first-hand observations

• creative ideas for exploration and development

• their evaluations of art practices and art-making experiences

• their responses to diverse stimuli and to artists and their works

• detailed evaluations and critical analysis

• records of valued feedback received

• challenges they have faced and their achievements.

Students are encouraged to find the most appropriate ways of recording their development and have free choice in deciding what form the visual arts journal should take. The aim of the visual arts journal is to support and nurture the acquisition of skills and ideas, to record developments, and to critique challenges and successes. It is expected that much of the written work submitted for the assessment tasks at the end of the course will have evolved and been drawn from the contents of the visual arts journal.

Although sections of the journal will be selected, adapted and presented for assessment, the journal itself is not directly assessed or moderated. It is, however, regarded as a fundamental activity of the course.