FIN1011 : Studio Practice I
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Mr Paul Merrick
- Lecturer: Mrs Erika Servin Gonzalez, Dr Harriet Sutcliffe, Mr David Butler
- Other Staff: Ms Bridget Kennedy, Ms Theresa Easton
- Owning School: Arts & Cultures
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 40 |
| ECTS Credits: | 20.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
1. This module offers a programme of projects organised around the exploration of aspects of Painting, Sculpture/Moving Image and Printmaking strands. Each project strand begins with a briefing outlining the nature of the project strand and concludes with a crit in which each student's work is discussed. A high degree of individual response is invited within the broad framework of each constituent project strand. Aspects of professional development are covered in the Life Work Art programme strand.
2. This course is designed to optimise the development of students from diverse art backgrounds (e.g. school, foundation colleges and mature students) with a view to preparing them for independent activity. The course also aims to develop students' knowledge and understanding of professional practice.
The module offers a practice-based course, which introduces students to the making of fine art across key disciplines. The module is structured around this sequence of strands (students will be allotted to one of three groups) and a complementary programme, LifeWorkArt, that looks at aspects of professional practice: exhibitions, artist’s organisations, opportunities and career paths. There is also a weekly visiting lecturer programme that is compulsory for all first year students to attend.
Outline Of Syllabus
In semester 1 each student completes three practice-based project strands of three weeks duration within the media areas of Painting, Print, Sculpture and Moving Image. The semester ends with a workshop week where students sign up for artist led workshops.
Students will keep a ‘Digital note/sketch book’ as a portfolio of ongoing research, practice and reflection to aid tutorials, small group crits and assessment.
Students also attend weekly lectures in the Visiting Lecturer Programme and participate in a programme of Life Work Art 'fieldtrips'.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 5 | 1:30 | 7:30 | Visiting Speaker Programme: in-person lectures. PIP/SYNC |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 6 | 0:30 | 3:00 | Talks by tutors on relevant aspect of their own practice. PIP |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 3:40 | 3:40 | Open studio/presentation of work preparation. |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 5 | 1:30 | 7:30 | Visiting Speaker Programme: online lectures. SYNC |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 10 | 2:00 | 20:00 | Digital notebook/ sketchbook upkeep. |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 10 | 4:00 | 40:00 | Directed independent research in relation to practice and LWA |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 7 | 3:00 | 21:00 | Life Work Art – group visits to professional venues/studios. PIP |
| Guided Independent Study | Skills practice | 10 | 6:00 | 60:00 | Skills practice in relation to workshops and demonstrations. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | Visiting Speaker Programme: seminar. PIP/SYNC |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 13 | 2:00 | 26:00 | 4 Workshops per strand, 1 studio notebook workshop + Q&A PIP |
| Guided Independent Study | Project work | 10 | 19:00 | 190:00 | Creative practice. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Elective workshop in workshop week. PIP |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 3 | 0:20 | 1:00 | Preparation for assessment. PIP/SYNC |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Dissertation/project related supervision | 7 | 0:20 | 2:20 | 2 Individual tutorials per strand. 1 individual tutorial - Open studio week. PIP/SYNC |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Dissertation/project related supervision | 6 | 1:30 | 9:00 | 2 small Group Tutorials per strand.PIP/SYNC |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Module talk | 5 | 1:00 | 5:00 | Introductory presentation for each strand Intro to assessment Review and feedback.PIP/SYNC |
| Total | 400:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The introduction to a range of concepts, approaches and methodologies via three distinct strands is designed to expand the students formal and conceptual thinking, technical experience and understanding of what constitutes contemporary art.
Most guided independent study, including project work and skills practice, is focused on the individual development and production of experimental, speculative and fully realised artworks, including research and preparation such assketch books, test pieces and technical trials. Also included is the regular upkeep of a studio notebook in digital or physical form that records and reflects upon research, progress and outputs.
Scheduled leaching and learning activities such as workshops, demonstrations, individual tutorials and small group teaching will also be conducted present in person in the Fine Art studios and workshops (or synchronous online if made necessary by Covid-19 restrictions). Where scheduled leaching and learning activities are delivered via non-synchronous online sessions they will be followed by a synchronous on-line drop-in Q&A session.
The Visiting Speakers Lecture programme, Life Work Art lectures and talks by Year 1 tutors introduce students to the range of fine art practice and attendant issues including those of context and professional practice. Project briefings, tutorials, demonstrations and workshops and end of project crits, including peer and academic staff formative feedback, provide a framework for the development of technical skills, formal and conceptual understanding, and the capacity to appraise their own work and that of others.
Students are expected to support their practice by engaging with important national exhibitions and gallery collections online or in person: National Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, London. They are also expected to regularly engage with principal exhibition venues in the city online and in person: BALTIC and Baltic 39, Hatton Gallery, Newbridge Projects, the Northern Charter, Globe, Northumbria University Gallery, Laing Art Gallery.
Nb. Scheduled teaching and learning activities will typically be conducted present in person in the Fine Art studios and workshops. Teaching methods may be liable to adjustment in response to changes to Government and University Covid-19 advice and restrictions. PiP teaching would be substituted by equivalent synchronous and asynchronous online delivery. Where scheduled teaching and learning activities are delivered via non-synchronous online sessions they will be followed by a synchronous on-line drop-in Q&A session.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 1 | A | 100 | Review of portfolio representing 3 strands in total each of which students must pass, and a review tutorial. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Assessment occurs at the end of the semester and takes the form of an individual assessment tutorial with the presentation of a Portfolio alongside physical artworks in the studio (where possible). Each of the 3 strand projects must be of a passable standard in order to pass the whole module. Assessment will be conducted PiP in the Fine Art Studios or synchronous online if made necessary by Covid-19 restrictions.
The portfolio will focus on the physical and/or documentary evidence of the student’s creative practice supported by other material: studio notebook, sketchbooks, contextual, research and reflective material in relation to the 3 strand projects. This enables assessment of the full range of a student’s engagement with the module in relation to: research and developmental methods: technical processes and materials; identification of subject matter; formal and conceptual considerations; contextual understanding; planning, organising, problem solving and critical self-reflection. It will show the development of a body of artwork that provides evidence ability to apply effective strategies and attitudes to the investigation and development of their visual ideas, produced as a response to the 3 set briefs.
Group critiques and the tutorial assessment and end of project provide opportunities to gauge the student's ability to appraise their own work and that of others, their knowledge of form, content and context, and awareness of professional practice.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- FIN1011's Timetable