Term One Brief

The Brief

1) Material Matters

Throughout term one you will have a busy schedule of workshops introducing you to a breadth of materials and processes. Whilst trying out these processes and learning new skills you will accumulate a collection of workshop outcomes of various shapes and sizes. By the end of term this collection will represent the effort and skill you have demonstrated in the workshops, as well as your own emerging aesthetic values as a maker.

2) Making Contexts

Consider these three possible reasons for a made object to exist. The possible associated approaches of the maker are shown in brackets

• It is useful, It solves a problem (Design)
• It is decorative, an attractive and interesting thing to have about the place, and potentially useful ( Craft, Applied arts)
• It is thought provoking, holds meaning and is of aesthetic value ( Art, Fine Art)

Do you agree with the category statements? How useful are the categories? What are the boundaries between them and where do they lie? Where do you situate yourself as a maker within these categories?

By considering your own practice as a maker with reference to other artists, designers and makers we would like you to make two pieces of work clearly located somewhere around these three possible contexts. The outcomes can appropriate any combination of materials or processes. You can choose to work with one of the themes you explored in the workshop during the first two weeks (habitat, wearable, ephemeral, utility) or you may develop an entirely new direction. The work should be fully realised and presented appropriately for final assessment in June 2015. Initial outcomes, maquettes and material experiments will be formatively assessed at the end of term 1.

Background research, sketchbooks, and your blog will form part of the work you submit for both formative and summative assessment.

Assessment Summary

For this module you need to produce three outcomes for assessment:

Outcome 1: Material Matters: Workshop outcomes from the first term curated in a way that shows your skills and reflects and reflects your aesthetic as a maker. Notes on your working methods and processes in your sketchbooks and on your blog will also be reviewed.

Outcomes 2 + 3: Making Contexts.

Two distinct outcomes located clearly on the spectrum of art, design and craft. Presented appropriately with associated preliminary work (sketchworks and blog)

Assessment Dates Summary

Week commencing December 15th – formative assessment (feedback)

Week commencing June 8th – Summative assessment (final grades)

Assesment criteria

As always you will be assessed on your:

SKILL- Making skills, researching skills, thinking skills

CONTEXT-Professional context, creative context

IDEAS-What are the ideas underlying in your work?

Learning Outcomes

Skills:

• Demonstrate a curiosity to experiment across a wide range of materials which explores and evaluates materials properties and processes.
• Make and present outcomes which are both intellectually and aesthetically informed.

Context:

• To begin to critically understand the value of making as part of their own practice
• To be able to manipulate material and visual languages effectively in the production of outcomes.

Ideas:

• Generate new ideas which are grounded through the assimilation of design and craft processes and knowledge
• Present and defend to peers the underpinning ideas and concepts in the making of new artefacts.

(for the reading look at printed copy)