• Inactive for Year: 2024/25

• Module Leader(s): Mrs Natalie Gibson

• Owning School: Arts & Cultures
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

• Capacity limit: 25 student places

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

Studio Work 1 aims to enable experimentation, exploration and expansion of practical skills, and to develop students’ understanding of ways to direct a self-determined Fine Art practice. Students are supported and encouraged to take risks, testing and exploring a range of practical, critical, and theoretical approaches, and to develop their own interests and enquiries. The module aims to draw on a diverse student cohort to establish engagement in interdisciplinary dialogue, peer-to peer-critique, and collective explorations. In conjunction with Exhibiting Art, the module aims to encourage practical production, collaboration, self-reflection and critical thinking and to foster awareness of a range of advanced skills, methods, and positions within wider contemporary fine art ecosystems. In short, the module aims to support all students to experiment with a wide range of practical and intellectual skills, providing the necessary foundations for an independent, self-driven Fine Art practice

Outline Of Syllabus

The syllabus provides a responsive learning environment where students are exposed to a wide range of critical and practical knowledge and are enabled to independently test and explore their own studio work and creative identity. Individual tutorials with a designated supervisor will take place approximately every 3 weeks. Students also have opportunity for invited ‘surgery’ tutorials with other fine art staff and visiting speakers. A weekly programme of lectures, workshops, seminars, and group critique will run through the semester. Students also attend visiting lectures and PGR seminars.
Topics may include:
Discipline specific practical skills.
Art History
Contemporary Practices.
Cultural Theory
Visual analysis

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Jointly Taught With

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The module places emphasis on studio production, risk-taking, independent research, practical experiment, and the production of an explorative body of studio work. The programme of scheduled teaching, and the interdisciplinary studio environment, supports the development of studio work and the skills to evaluate and direct this, as well enabling students to begin to identify their own position in relation to others and the context in which they are working. (K1-4; S1-4)

Module Talk introduces the aims and structure of the module and allows students to begin getting to know each other. (K1; S4)

Individual Tutorials offer responsive supervision focused on the development of a body of practical work. They encourage student’s reflections and evaluations of all aspects of their exploration and practical productions. They facilitate the recognition and development of relevant skills, and of critical positions in relation to historical and current debates. They also foster the student’s ability to articulate and debate issues most relevant to their own practice. (K1-4; S1-4)

Group Critiques encourage peer to peer interaction and interdisciplinary discussion and are an opportunity to test the work with a diverse audience. In a peer supported environment students are encouraged to develop their communication and critical analysis skills around the work of others and to offer and receive constructive feedback. (K1-4; S1-4)

Practice-based and professional development seminars are based on the cohort’s interests and encourage student-led discussion and debate. In an interdisciplinary and peer-supported environment, students are encouraged to develop and communicate their own critical position in relation to the subject, and to begin drawing connections between practice, theory and professional art contexts. (K2; K3; K4; S2; S3; S4)

Skills workshops allow students to expand or refine their technical and practical skills, to explore new means of making or to develop an existing method. (K1; S1)

The programme of lectures, given by staff, visiting artists, critics and curators provide examples of advanced professional and fine art practices. (K1-4)

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Zero Weighted Pass/Fail Assessments

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Creative Project and Presentation:

This allows students to evidence a wide range of practical explorations relevant to their individual or collaborative practice, as well as any contextual research or relevant critical or reflective material. Through questioning and active listening, the tutorial form allows the student’s full range of engagement with the module to be assessed. It will focus on the physical or documentary evidence of the student’s self-directed practical experiments and skills and understanding within fine art production.

In the tutorial, students will verbally communicate their practical, theoretical and contextual understanding, developmental methods, technical processes, group exhibition experiences and developing critical evaluations. The student should be able to articulate a good understanding of ongoing development and direction for their own work and should begin to identify relevant positions within the wider Fine Art context.

The task specific assessment criteria are as follows:
1. Use, manipulation and evaluation of appropriate materials, processes and working strategies within practical explorations, as evident in studio work (K1, S1, S3)
2. Use of relevant independent research as embedded in studio work and portfolio and discussed during tutorial (K1, K2, K3, S1, S2, S3)
3. Awareness of current debates impacting practice and critical evaluation of studio work in relation to these, as embedded in studio presentation and portfolio and discussed during tutorial. (S2, K2, S3, K3, K4)
4. Reflection on experiences of group exhibition and the implications of this for future presentation of work, as embedded in studio work, written about in portfolio and discussed in tutorial (K4, S4)


Supporting Portfolio:

Presentation of a body of explorative practical work, supported by evidence of research, critical reflection, exhibition activities and knowledge of critical debates and roles within wider fine art ecosystems. The artist’s statement should be a concise written communication of the practical and theoretical interests within the body of work. Tutorial response forms should include reflection and evaluation of feedback and critical dialogue and should document practical, critical and contextual research conducted in response. The task specific assessment criteria are as follows:

1. Evidence research from a range of relevant sources (technical experiments, primary and secondary), which feed into the studio practice (S1, K1-3);
2. Begin to evaluate this research and selectively take forward and investigate the most appropriate, allowing this to inform and direct future investigations (K3, S1, S2);
3. Critically evaluate their own studio work and that of others, situating practice within relevant practical, contextual and intellectual frameworks;
4. Start to develop the specific vocabulary in order to effectively communicate their critical judgements (S2, K4).

The assessment for this module is Pass/fail so as not to inhibit experimentation and risk-taking and to underscore the ongoing nature of fine art practice development.

Reading Lists

• FIN8013's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• FIN8013's Timetable