Cambridge Articulate Units 1-4

Art-iculate
Art for VCE Units 1–4
Kathryn Hendy-Ekers
Lou Chamberlin
Deryck Greenwood
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi
Cambridge University Press

477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
www.cambridge.edu.au
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521138116
© Kathryn Hendy-Ekers, Lou Chamberlin, Deryck Greenwood 2010
First published 2010
Cover design by Marianna Berek-Lewis

Edited by Kate McGregor
Design by Traffic Design Studios
Typeset by Aisling Gallagher for group n.b.
Printed in China by Printplus Ltd.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication data
Hendy-Ekers, Kathryn.
Art-iculate : Art for VCE units 1–4 / Kathryn Hendy-Ekers, Lou Chamberlin, Deryck Greenwood.
9780521138116 (pbk.)
Includes index.
For secondary school age.
Art--Technique--Textbooks.
Art-Textbooks.
Chamberlin, Lou (Louise)
Greenwood, Deryck.
]700
ISBN 978-0-521-13811-6 paperback
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ii
Contents
About the authors vi
Acknowledgements vi
Introduction ix
Using Art-iculate ix
CHAPTER 1 Tools for researching, investigating and interpreting artworks 1

• Researching artworks 3
• Analytical Frameworks 6
• Creating a practical folio 16
STUDENT CD-ROM RESOURCES
• Applying the Formal Framework: Brett Whiteley
• Applying the Personal Framework: Brett Whiteley
• Applying the Cultural Framework: Western, Indigenous and Asian examples
• Applying the Formal Framework to a contemporary artwork: Bill Viola
Units 1 and 2
CHAPTER 2 Art and meaning 28
• Introduction 28
• Self-portraiture 30
• Dreams and nightmares 42
CHAPTER 3 Artmaking and personal meaning 54
• Introduction 55
• Folio of visual responses 55
• Qualities and characteristics of selected materials and artforms 63
• Formal elements and principles of artworks 65
• Formal and Personal Frameworks to support reflective annotation 66
• Art language for the purpose of documentation and annotation 69
CHAPTER 4 Assessment for Unit 1 72
• Introduction for Outcome 1 72
• Tips for completing assessment tasks 73
• Assessment criteria: Outcome 1 75
• Student sample responses 76
• Assessment criteria: Outcome 1
CHAPTER 5 Art and culture 82
• Introduction 82
• The role and purpose of art 84
• War and conflict 88
• Mother and child 100
• The nude 112
CONTENTS iii
CHAPTER 6 Artmaking and cultural expression 118
• Introduction 118
• A pathway to making art 119
• Qualities and characteristics of selected materials and artforms 121
• Approaches for trialling materials, techniques, processes and artforms 123
• Formal elements and principles of artworks 130
• Using Formal and Cultural Frameworks to support reflective annotation 132
• Art language for documentation and annotation 133
• Student sample response 137
Units 3 and 4
CHAPTER 8 Interpreting art 146
• Selecting artworks for study 147
• Australian art from a female perspective 148
• Asian art: Traditional and contemporary 153
• Three-dimensional works, sculptures and installations 162
Australian art: Comparison of artists – Emily Kame Kngwarreye and
Grace Cossington Smith
Asian art: Comparison of artists – Utagawa Hiroshige and Guan Wei
Three-dimensional works, sculptures and installations:
• Exploration of the work of Marcel Duchamp and Rachel Whiteread
• Comparison of artists – Barbara Hepworth,
Marcel Duchamp, Roni Horn and Rachel Whiteread
• Comparison of artists – Man Ray and Anne Ferran
CHAPTER 9 Assessment for Unit 3 – Outcome 1 174
• Assessment tasks 175
• Recommended assessment criteria: Outcome 1 177
• Recommended assessment criteria: Outcome 1
iv ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

CHAPTER 10 Discussing and debating art 181
• Art issues and ideas 182
• Research and study for Unit 4 187
• Environmental art 188
• Performance art 192
• Value in art: Installations 197
• Censorship in art 202
• Street art 208
• Environmental art: Exploration of the works of Christo and Jean Claude,
Andy Goldsworthy, Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger
• Street art: Exploration of the works of Australian street artists
Rone, Reagan ‘Ha Ha’ Taganui, Ghostpatrol and Miso
CHAPTER 11 Assessment for Unit 4 – Outcome 1 219
• Content of the assessment of coursework 220
• Assessment tasks 220
• Recommended assessment criteria: Outcome 1 222
• Recommended assessment criteria: Outcome 1
CHAPTER 12 Investigation, interpretation, realisation and resolution 230

• Unit 3: Investigation and interpretation through artmaking 233
• Unit 4: Realisation and resolution 233
CHAPTER 13 Assessment for Units 3 and 4 – Outcome 2 248
• Content of the assessment of coursework 249
• Assessment criteria: Outcome 2 School-Assessed Task 252
• Assessment criteris: Outcome 2 School-Assessed Task
Glossary 253
Index 258
CONTENTS v
About the authors
Kathryn Hendy-Ekers
Kathryn Hendy-Ekers has been teaching Art in Victoria and New South Wales for 20 years. She has taught in
a range of Independent, State and Catholic schools and is currently Head of Art at Melbourne Girls Grammar.
Kathryn has taught VCE Art and has been an Examination Assessor and Reviewer for the Victorian Curriculum and
Assessment Authority for the past 10 years. Kathryn has written resource material for Art Education Victoria and is
the author of several teacher resource publications.
Lou Chamberlin
Lou Chamberlin is the Visual Arts Coordinator at Star of the Sea College in Gardenvale, Melbourne. She has worked
across all levels of education – primary, secondary and tertiary – and within the Government, Independent and
Catholic school systems. She has taught VCE Art for 15 years and has been an Examination Assessor and Reviewer
for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority for 10 years. She is the author of a number of art textbooks,
including one written to assist teachers in applying the Victorian Essential Learning Standards.
Deryck Greenwood
Deryck Greenwood is the Head of Visual Arts at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School in Melbourne and has worked in
secondary education for the past 20 years. Deryck began his teaching career in South Africa, where he taught at
a specialist State Arts school for 11 years. Since moving to Australia, Deryck has worked within the Independent
school system. He has taught VCE Art for nine years and has been an Examination Assessor and Reviewer for the
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority since 2000. He has presented a number of workshops on folio
development and examination preparation for VCE students and teachers. Deryck also wrote five subjects for the
Monash College Diploma of Art and Design Studies in 2003.
Acknowledgements
The authors and publisher wish to thank the following individuals and organisations for permission to reproduce
material: This book has been independently published by Cambridge University Press to support teachers and
students using the VCAA VCE Art study design. Although material contained has been reproduced with the
permission of VCAA, this publication is not connected with or endorsed by them in any way.
The author and publisher wish to thank the following sources for permission to reproduce material:
Cover: © Andrew Pearce/ National Gallery of Victoria, photograph: Jeremy Dillon.
Images: © Andrew Pearce/ National Gallery of Victoria, photograph: Jeremy Dillon, p. viii; Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain, pp. xii,
2, 10, 11, 30 (Durer), 30 (Gentileschi), 30 (Hokusai), 30 (van Gogh), 31 (Kahlo), 32, 42 (Goya), 42 (Gauguin), 42 (Munch), 42 (Fuseli),
46, 48, 56 bottom left & right, 58 top, 58 bottom left, 60, 64 right, 65, 76, 84 top & bottom, 85 top, 85 bottom left & right, 86 bottom
right, 88 (Bayeux), 88 (Uccello), 88 (David), 89 (Goya), 92, 93, 94, 96 left, 100 (Vladimir), 100 (van Eyck), 100 (Michelangelo), 100
(Brun), 100 (Morisot), 102, 103, 104, 108 left, 112 (Laocoon), 112 (Botticelli), 112 (Michelangelo), 112 (Caravaggio), 112 (Rubens),
113 (Boucher), 113 (Hokusai), 113 (Degas), 114 left, 116, 123 bottom, 124 top right, 124 bottom left, 125 top & bottom, 126 top,
137 left, 153, 156, 157, 209 bottom, 209 top left, 213, 224; © Jeffrey Smart, photograph: Brendan McGeachie, p. 4; © The Pollock-
Krasner Foundation/ARS. Licensed by VISCOPY 2009, photograph: Corbis/ Albright-Knox Art Gallery, p. 5; © Estate of Dan Flavin/ARS.
Licensed by VISCOPY 2009 photograph: Corbis/ Christie’s Images, p. 14; Shutterstock/ Chad McDermott, p. 18 top left/ Beata Becla, p.
vi ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

18 top right/ Tischenko Irina, p. 18 bottom left & right/ Rafael Ramirez Lee, p. 23 left/ Lexan, p. 86 top/ Luciano Mortula, p. 87 bottom
left/ Ke Wang, p. 88 (terracotta)/ Holger Mette, p. 91/ Neale Cousland , p. 217/ Sam Cornwell, p. 225/ Student artworks © artist,
photograph: Imagen/ Bill Thomas, pp. 19, 23 centre, 24, 56 top, 61, 62, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 121, 123 top, 127, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133,
235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 245; Author, pp. 20 top, 20 bottom, 21 left, 21 right, 23 left, 86 bottom left; © Marcel
Duchamp, /ADAGP. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney 2009, photograph: Bridgeman Art Library, p. 26; © Richardfabi. This file is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License, p. 30 (Ghiberti); © Tezuka Productions. All rights reserved, pp. 31
(Tezuka), 34; © Marc Quinn, photograph courtesy Mary Boone Gallery, New York, pp. 31 (Quinn), 36; © Louise Bourgeois, 1990-3/
VAGA. Licensed by VISCOPY 2009 photograph: National Gallery of Victoria, pp. 31 (Bourgeois), 38; © Gillian Wearing, photograph
courtesy Albright-Knox Art Gallery, pp. 31 (Wearing), 40 right; © Gillian Wearing, photograph courtesy Maureen Paley Gallery, p 40
left; © Constantin Brancusi, Photograph: Photolibrary/ SuperStock/ Peter Willi, p. 43 (Brancusi); © Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation,
1946/ VEGAP. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney 2009, p. 43 (Dali); © Peter Booth, 1981. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney 2009, Art Gallery
of New South Wales, photograph: Christopher Snee, p. 43 (Booth); The Kobal Collection/ New Line, pp. 43 (Craven), 50; Courtesy Mike
Parr and Anna Schwartz Gallery, pp. 43 (Parr), 52, 87 bottom right; Photolibrary/ Bridgeman Art Library, pp. 42 (Bosch), 44; © Anne
Ferran, 2001/ Licensed by VISCOPY 2009, pp. 57 top, 171; © Audrey Flack, photograph courtesy Louis K. Meisel Gallery, p. 57 bottom;
© Rosalie Gascoigne Estate, licensed by VISCOPY, 2009, Photograph courtesy Queensland University of Technology Art Collection,
Brisbane, p. 58 bottom right; © Penny Siopis, photograph courtesy Rembrant van Rijn Museum, pp. 59, 63 bottom; © Andy Warhol
Foundation/ VISCOPY, Sydney 2009, Registered Trademark, The Coca Cola Company, All rights reserved/ Whitney Museum of American
Art, New York, photograph: Geoffrey Clements, p. 63 top; © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/ Corbis, pp. 63 centre,
77; © Cormaggio. This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 1.0 License, p. 64 left; © Nate. This file is
licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License, p. 64 centre; © Pablo Picasso /Succession Picasso, licensed by VISCOPY,
2009, photograph: Corbis/ The Gallery Collection, pp. 83, 89 (Picasso), 98; The Stanley Collection, Universtiy of Iowa Museum of Art,
x1986.573, p. 87 top; National Gallery of Victoria, pp. 88 (Amphora), 90; AAP Photo/ Eddie Adams, pp. 89 (Adams), 95; © Jake and
Dinos Chapman, photograph courtesy White Cube, London, pp. 89 (Chapman), 96 right; © Mona Hatoum, photograph: Marc Domage,
courtesy Galerie Chantal Crousel, pp. 89 (Hatoum), 99; © Kath Kollwitz, photograph courtesy Galerie St Etienne, pp. 101 (Kollwitz),
105; © Damien Hirst /DACS, licensed by VISCOPY 2009, Photograph: Tate Images, p. 101 (Hirst), 110 right; © 2009 Zhang Xiaogang,
courtesy Pace Beijing, China and PaceWildenstein, New York, pp. 101 (Xiaogang), 106; © Tracey Moffatt, photograph courtesy Roslyn
Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, pp. 101 (Moffatt), 107, 137 right; © Ron Mueck, photograph: Anthony d’Offay, London, p. 101 (Mueck); ©
Jenny Saville, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery, pp. 113 (Saville), 114 right; © Bill Henson, courtesy Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, pp.
113 (Henson), 117, 203, 206; Photolibrary/ Bridgeman Art Library, p. 124 top left; Alamy/ The Art Gallery Collection, p. 124 bottom left;
© Danelle Bergstrom, Art House Gallery, p. 126 bottom; Newspix/ Marc McCormack, p. 139; © Emily Kam Kngwarray/ Licensed by
VISCOPY, 2009, National Gallery of Victoria, p. 148; © Estate of Grace Cossington Smith, Art Gallery of New South Wales, photograph:
Jenni Carter, p. 151; © Guan Wei, pp. 158, 159, 160, 161; © Bowness, Hepworth Estate. Photograph: Tate Images, p. 162; © Roni
Horn, photograph: Getty Images/ Peter Macdiarmid, p. 166;Corbis/ Christie’s Images, pp. 168, 169; © Peter Booth, licensed by
VISCOPY, 2009, photograph: National Gallery of Australia, p. 178; © Barbara Tucker, photograph courtesy Heide Museum of Modern
Art Collection, p. 180; Reproduced courtesy of the Colin McCahon Research and Publication Trust, photograph: National Gallery of
Australia, p. 182; © Barbara Kruger, photograph courtesy Mary Boone Gallery, New York, p. 183; © Julie Rrap, photograph courtesy
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, p. 184; © Ghost Patrol Corbis/ George Steinmetz, p. 189; © Jill Orr, photography on behalf of Jill Orr:
Elizabeth Campbell, p. 193/ Joanne Haslam & Bruce Parker, pp. 194, 195/ Naomi Herzog and Malcolm Cross, p. 196; © Damien Hirst,
/DACS. Licensed by VISCOPY 2009, photograph: Reuters/ Miro Kuzmanovic, p. 197; © Nathalia Edenmont, photograph courtesy Shoba
Gayathri Art Advisory, p. 199; © Damien Hirst /DACS, licensed by VISCOPY 2009, photograph: Getty Images/ AFP, p. 201;
© Nick Carson. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, p. 209 top right; Corbis/ Laura Levine, p.
210; © The Keith Haring Foundation, photograph: Kylie Gussett, p. 211; © John Raptis/ Visceral Industry Photography, pp. 216, 229;
© Howie Luvzus. This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license, p. 218; © Infrogmation of New
Orleans. This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license, pp. 226 bottom, 226 top; © Constantin
Brancusi, /ADAGP, licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney 2009, photograph: Dallas Museum of Art, p. 246 top; © Penny Siopis, p. 247; ©
Andrew Dunn. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License, p. 246 bottom.
Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright. The publisher apologises for any accidental
infringement and welcomes information that would redress this situation.
vii
Author acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank their families for their support during the process of writing of this book.
Kathryn Hendy-Ekers, Lou Chamberlin and Deryck Greenwood
Publisher acknowledgements
The publisher would like to thanks the following individuals and organisations:
• Tony Healy (Siena College), Ginetta Ito Cannon (Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar School) and Nerida Morrish
(Ouyen Secondary College) for their detailed comments and reviews
• Andrew Pearce for allowing his artwork, The Line, to be reproduced on the cover of this book
• Phoebe Garrett, Elena Gunston, Melissa Atanasovski, Jess Maguire, Elisa Bongetti, Nicky Purser, Teghan Hunt-
Macdonald, Brittany Hendriks, Diana Mejia-Correa, Kathryn Panias, Zoe Paule, Francesca Ohlert and Bronwyn
Ward for allowing their work to be reproduced in this book
• Merren Ricketson and Jennie Moloney at the National Gallery of Victoria for their assistance with permissions
• Bill Thomas for his photographic work.
Daniel Aspinall
About the cover

‘From a young age I have been making films. It’s only over the last few years that I have become interested in
still photography. I use my film skills within my photography, emphasising the story it suggests, but particularly
the drama. The Line was created using Photoshop, through a number of photographs, and immense burning
and dodging to create the intense lighting effect. It is inspired by cinematic climaxes, when the highest point of
drama is reached.’
Andrew Pearce, April 2009
Andrew Pearce, Wodonga

Senior Secondary College,
Wodonga,
The Line, 2008 inkjet
print; 49.5 x 82.0 cm
Photography: Jeremy Dillon
viii ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

Introduction
Congratulations on choosing Art-iculate. This book has been purpose
written to meet the requirements of the Units 1–4 of the VCE Art Study
Design (2010–2014).
Art is a fundamental part of everyday life – a visual language that enables experiences, ideas, cultural values and
beliefs to be communicated in a multitude of ways. The VCE Art Study Design encourages students to analyse
and interpret a diverse range of artforms and artists, while taking part in a process of personal artmaking. This
approach is designed not only to help students understand how artworks reflect the values, beliefs and traditions of
the artists who made them, but also to provide inspiration for personal artmaking.
VCE Art also provides the opportunity for students to investigate the role of art in the world through a study of
historical and contemporary cultures.
Throughout Art-iculate, students will learn the key knowledge and skills to critically evaluate and respond to
artworks, ideas and concepts – using the Analytical Frameworks – while developing personal ideas and a creative
visual language through investigation and experimentation in artmaking. Through exploration and experimentation
with various artforms, materials, techniques and processes, students progressively develop their own aesthetic
awareness of artworks.
Using Art-iculate
The Art-iculate resource package consists of three components:
1 Student Book
The Student Book contains detailed information on all aspects of the
VCE Art Study Design and is structured in such a way as to ensure that
Chapter overview – outline keys
students and teachers cover all key knowledge and skills.
knowledge and skills from the Study
Key features of the Student Book Design.
Notable quotes – from artists, art
8 critics and authors help to start
[8] the Formal, Personal and Cultural Frameworks. In this chapter, you will be introduced to the
Contemporary Framework through the study of artworks that are made prior to and post 1970.
Another aspect of this course is the way in which ideas and issues can influence the
making and interpretation of art. Post-1970 art represents the expression of contemporary
culture and ideas and issues. The chapter following this will cover ideas and issues relating
to art.
Your understanding of the theoretical aspects of art will help you understand your
own art practice. By studying the formal, personal, cultural and contemporary aspects
#ONTEMPORARY
ACTIVITY 8.1
Find a range of
artworks that relate to
your own artmaking.
classroom discussion and encourage
you to think about key concepts for a
different perspective.
Chapter overview
of artworks, you will be able to use these in the reflection of your own artworks. This is
covered in other chapters and you can link the ideas that you gain from your research to
your art practice.
Compare these works
to your own. The
works may relate to the
Activities – encourage you to
INTERPRETING By the end of Unit 3, you will have gained experience in
following: techniques,
ideas, interpretative
consolidate and extend your knowledge
ART the interpretation and analysis of artworks. In this chapter,
you will explore ways in which you can:
SELECTING ARTWORKS FOR STUDY frameworks, subject, use
of design elements and
The focus of this study in your final year is upon you. The artworks that you select to principles.
Units 3 – Area of Study 1

• develop a knowledge of artworks selected from pre-
and post-1970
research are important, as they should relate to your own ideas and artmaking. You may
select artworks that express similar ideas to your own or artists that use similar techniques
and skills on a wide range of key topics.
• develop interpretations and analysis of the
to your own. You could return to some of the ideas that were covered in previous chapters
meanings and messages of artworks through the
application of the Formal, Personal, Cultural and and continue to explore the artworks that were covered. However, it is important that you
&ORMAL
Contemporary Frameworks
• select and apply these Frameworks appropriately to
select artworks that cover the four interpretative frameworks. There may be some artworks
that can be interpreted specifically using one framework more than others. techniques: the manner
Glossary terms – for each unit are
the interpretation of an artwork It is essential that you interpret the artwork thoroughly using the Formal Framework by in which the artist
• substantiate interpretations of artworks with

evidence taken from the artworks themselves and
investigating the design elements and principles, the techniques used by the artist, the style
of the artwork and the symbols and metaphors used by the artist. This is your starting point
applies materials to the
artwork outlined in the margin and in the
with reference to a range of resources for using the other interpretative frameworks.
symbols: signs that
• use appropriate art language and vocabulary in the
analysis, interpretation and contrast of artworks
In your research, you must investigate the artwork by examining and analysing the
points of view of others about the artwork as was outlined in the commentaries section of
represent ideas in the
artwork
glossary at the end of the book. These
Chapter 1.
‘Interpretation is an articulated response based on wonder and reflection. Works of art are
mere things until we begin to carefully perceive and interpret them – then they become alive
To begin your study you must select the following:
• one artist who produced work before 1970
• one artist who has produced work after 1970
metaphors: one thing
used to represent or
symbolise another with
definitions are designed to help you
similar qualities
and enliven us as we reflect on, wonder about and respond to them.’
Terry Barrett, art historian and critic, Interpreting Art
• two artworks by each artist.
You will be asked to compare and contrast the artworks by each artist using art
language. When you are comparing and contrasting artworks you must look at the various
learn and revise key terms from the
INTRODUCTION
aspects of the artwork that you can compare and contrast. These aspects include:
• the ideas that the artist expresses
• the techniques that the artist uses to express their ideas
Study Design.
This Area of Study enables you to put all the skills you have learnt in • the style of the artwork
Refer to Chapter 1,
Units 1 and 2 to use. The Analytical Frameworks that you have been • the use of design elements and principles
introduced to will be used as a tool for interpreting and analysing
the meanings of artworks. The Analytical Frameworks help you to
• interpretation of the artwork using Analytical Frameworks.
This chapter will present a range of artists in pairs that you could compare and contrast.
page 4 for information
about using art
language. Refer to
Tips – appear throughout each topic
understand that there are many layers of meaning for an artwork. The information can be used as a starting point to investigate the artist and their work the Chapter 9 for
If this is the first time you have studied VCE Art, it might be
useful to return to the previous chapters that focus on the tools
further. As the Art Study Design recommends you study a range of artists from different
cultures, some of the artists analysed in this chapter come from Indigenous and Asian
assessment information
about comparing and
contrasting artworks.
to draw your attention to important
for researching and interpreting art and the chapters that focus on contemporary cultures.
practical, theoretical or safety
146 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4 CHAPTER 8 Interpreting art 147
information.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
Guide to icons
Formal Framework icon
This icon lets you know when the Formal Framework is being applied in
order to interpret and analyse the meanings and messages of an artwork.
&ORMAL
Personal Framework icon

This icon lets you know when the Personal Framework is being applied
in order to interpret and analyse the meanings and messages of an
0ERSONAL
artwork.
Cultural Framework icon

This icon lets you know when the Cultural Framework is being applied
#ULTURAL
in order to interpret and analyse the meanings and messages of an
artwork.
Contemporary Framework icon

This icon lets you know when the Contemporary Framework is being
#ONTEMPORARY applied in order to interpret and analyse the meanings and messages
of an artwork.
Student CD-ROM icon

This icon lets you know that there is some additional information
Student CD-ROM
or activities on the Student CD-ROM at the back of the book.
Web resources icon

This icon lets you know that you will need to access the
internet in order to complete an activity or research task.
Weblinks
Assessment chapters
Throughout the Student Book, you will also find five stand alone assessment chapters.
These chapters include important information and tips to help you understand the
assessment requirements of the Study Design and maximize you chance of achieving
success in VCE Art. All of the assessment chapters contain sample student artworks and
annotated student responses along with assessment criteria.
x ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

In Units 3 and 4, your grade is broken up in the following way:
• Unit 3 school-assessed coursework: 10 per cent
• Unit 4 school-assessed coursework: 10 per cent
• Units 3 and 4 school-assessed task: 50 per cent
• End-of-year examination: 30 per cent
7
KS
SESSMENTstandTAS
Tips for
MPLETING AS
to
responding
TIPS FOR toCO
[7]
ing how an short answer
a means of under questions,
al Framework as your
address the Cultur that you compare
also asks an annotated
Unit 2 requires you of its creation. It visual report,
the time and place opinions.
artwork reflects nce to support your in an multimedia
and provide evide selected artworks presentation
selected artworks and contrasting
ing when comparing and exhibition
Consider the follow
response: reports can
extended written to make into an essay plan. be found in
• Organise the
points you wish compare artworks.
and differe nces when you . Chapter 4.
similarities hout an essay
• Refer to both take place throug of elements,
contrasting should st artworks in terms
• Comparing and compare and contra
l Framework to
• Use the Forma and symbolism. that artists
artform, technique st the different ways
principles, style, compare and contra
Chapteryouov erview sment will gauge • Use the Cultur
al Frame work to
places and societ
ies create and interp ret images.
will read how

asses and in different
at different times
In this chapter,
T
symbo lism. of view.
ASSESSMEN
nt point
your ability to: in society • Refer to releva rk to support your
se that art plays ce from the artwo
the role and purpo • Use visual eviden
• recognise
FOR UNIT 2
ework
Formal Fram
• apply the
Cultural Fram
ework tips
Additional rks to reflect and comm
unicates the values
,
• apply the
and contrast
artwo rks carefully. They need
artwo Remember that
you will
time.
• compare • Choose your cultures across mind. For
ons of a range of of comparison in
mes 1 & 2 nal opinions beliefs and traditi ion with a point
Unit 2 – Outco • justify perso
priate art langu
age
be comparing them
so make your select
y’s response to
a particular conce
rn, such as war
• use appro te your they reflect societ
that demonstra example, how do
ive responses gh trialling or the nude? xts. This will
• use creat culture throu r and child, al conte
ideas about produce an and conflict, mothe and artworks and
their cultur
exploration of processes to which the works
materials and • Research your
selected artists environments in
techniques, standing of the
edge and under settings.
artwork. increase your knowl in their original
the roles they played
were created and observation.
You will find: rks requir e close and perceptive
t criteria sheet arison of artwo formal qualities,
• assessmen margin notes retation and comp you to compare
a student with • Analysis, interp side by side to assist
• a sample
response by s of the artworks
assessment. Place coloured image carefu lly. nce. This is
that highlight and examine them points of differe
technique and style most important
sting, select the idea or a theme
.
aring and contra
• When comp s are linked by an artworks. When
comparing
stop.’ the works you discus you compare the
e to the end; then tures in Wonderland always easier if when ions:
on till you com 1898), Alice’s Adven similarities and
differe nces the following quest
nning and go • Refer to both levels. Consider same artform,
Lewis Carroll (1832– on a number of
‘Begin at the begi and contrasting
you need to do so rks differ? Were
they created is the
of the artwo
TCOME 1
appearance
1 How does the sses?
ON FOR OU
ials, techn iques and proce By the public at that
INTRODUCTI
mater By the artist?
using the same work be interpreted?
need to meaning of the
in Unit 2, you will 2 How can the same? ed over time? Is
the
lete Outcome 1 cultural Are these all the d? Has this chang
To successfully
comp
from a range of time? By you, now? rk originally viewe the work
at least four artists as tools ion was the artwo artist and the way
study artworks by Cultural Frameworks 3 In what situat the aims of the
use the Formal and ta
tant in understanding
contexts. You must unicates the exhibition venue
impor
reflects and comm If so, how?
nt ways that art it is and interp reted?
to discuss the differe ies for and in which is observed
s and traditi ons of the societ differe nt ways nal opinions by
presenting
values, belief xamin
this by exam ing
ining tiate your perso
sted that you do are expected to
bstanntiate
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created. It is sugge es.. • In Unit 2, you c reference to the
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issues clear and specifi
ret are more artworks. Make from research.
that artists interp sk. Some
t task. tasks evidence from the of the works and
set the assessmen mo than close observation
Your teacher will ed to present more
requirred will come both from
, and you may be for Unit 2 135
complex than others a.
teria.
sary criteri CHAPTER 7
Assessment
to cover the neces
one assignment
ASSESSMENT
CRITERIA: OUTC
ART-ICULATE
Art for VCE Units
1–4
Name: ________
____________
____________
OME 1
____ STUDENT SAMP
7
134
&ORMAL
#ULTURAL
LE RESPONSES
Outcome 1: Task: Analyse,
interpret and
Analyse, inte cultural back compare two
rpret and com grounds that artworks from
from different pare are linked by different
Criteria for the cultural backgro artworks Address each
criterion and
use evidence
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Application of the
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e
interpret the artwor and
ks (including
symbolism)
/5
Criterion 2
Application of the
Cultural
Framework to identif
y the ways
that artworks are
influenced by
and reflect their
cultural context
(including symbo
lism) /5
Criterion 3
Discussion of the Figure 7.1 Jan
roles and van Eyck, The Madon
purposes of artwor Chancellor Rolin, na of the
ks, how they c. 1435 oil on panel,
reflect the societi 62cm, Musée du 66 x
es in which they Louvre, Paris
are made and how
this is evident
in the works
/5
Criterion 4
Comparison and Figure 7.2 Tracey
Moffat
contrasting of
the similarities and of 25 images, off-set t, Up in the Sky #1, 1997 from
print, 61 x 76cm a series
differences (paper size). Courte (image size), 72
between the artwor sy of the artist and x 102cm
ks Roslyn9 Gallery,
Sydney
Criterion 5 /5 Criterion 6:
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CHAPTER 7
Assessment
for Unit 2 137
Detailed assessment Assessment criteria Student sample responses –

information and study tips – are included so that the are provided along with teacher
– will help you gain a thorough requirements of each task are comments to help you maximize
understanding of what is made explicit. your chance of success.
expected for each outcome.
USING ART-ICULATE xi
2 Student CD-ROM
The Student CD-ROM can be found at the back of the Student Book. It contains an
electronic version of the Student Book as well as additional material on a range of artists
and assessment criteria. For a detailed list of material, refer to the Contents pages.
3 Student and teacher website

The Art-iculate website is a free resource that contains a range of additional activities,
weblinks, teaching plans and curriculum documents to support students and teachers.
Figure 0.1 Vincent Van Gogh, Memory of the Garden

at Etten (Ladies of Aries), 1888, oil on canvas, 73.5 x
92.5cm, Hermitage Museum Russia
xii ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

[1]
Chapter overview
By the end of Unit 1, you will have gained experience
in the analysis and interpretation of artworks and in
developing a visual language through the exploration of TOOLS FOR
ideas, materials, techniques and artforms. In this chapter,
you will explore ways in which you can: RESEARCHING,
• research artworks and artists and their processes
to prepare for assessment tasks
INVESTIGATING
• understand how to apply art language in your
writing and discussion
AND
• understand what art commentaries are and how INTERPRETING
they are used in writing and discussion about art
• apply the Analytical Frameworks: Formal, Cultural, ARTWORKS
CREATING A
Personal and Contemporary, to interpret and
analyse the meanings and messages of artworks
• form your own understanding and opinion of
artworks PRACTICAL FOLIO
• create your own folio of work by researching visual
stimulus, materials, techniques and ideas.
‘The VCE Art Study recognises art as an integral part of our lives. Art is a potent
‘Quote 2’
and dynamic visual language through which we are able to communicate personal
experiences, ideas and cultural values. In both the process of making and examining
art, students can realise the power to inspire change through imagination, creativity
and innovation.’ Rationale – VCE Art Study Design 2010–2014
Throughout your study of VCE Art, you will be investigating the role of
art in the world through a study of contemporary and historical cultures.
By researching artists and artworks, you will be able to articulate the
meanings and messages of artworks and how these relate to the
viewer of the artwork. You will study a range of artists and the place of
their work in historical, cultural and contemporary contexts.
The study of Art involves the development of skills in research,
analysis and art criticism. Art study fosters enquiry. It also gives you
the ability to develop your own personal ideas and concepts. You will
undertake a visual investigation that will draw upon the expression
ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4 1

analysis: the separation of your personal ideas on a range of social, emotional and physical experiences. Therefore
of the parts of a subject you will be responding to the artworks you have researched through the exploration and
for individual study, in
experimentation of artforms, materials, techniques and processes to develop your own
order to find out their
nature, function, and artworks.
meaning; to analyse This first chapter of Art-iculate will provide you with the tools you will need to
an artwork, the viewer commence your study of Art in both the research of artworks and the development of your
breaks the artwork own artmaking processes and skills.
into simple elements in
order to interpret the
ideas and meanings
expressed; the basic
elements of art analysis
include studying
design elements and
principles, techniques,
style, symbols and
metaphors included in
the artwork
art criticism: the

analysis, evaluation,
interpretation, and
judgement of works
of art; art criticism
can vary in degrees
of positive as well as
negative remarks;
and critical methods
vary considerably in
their approaches to
considering the forms,
content and contexts of
works of art
Figure 1.1 Jan Vermeer

van Delft, The Art
of Painting, c.1666,
Kunsthistories Museum,
120 x 100cm
2 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

1
RESEARCHING ARTWORKS artform: how a work
is presented and
what materials have
Commencing your research been used, including;
You can use a number of resources to research artworks. Your school or local library will whether it is two, three
or four-dimensional,
have books that are relevant in their Art sections. Your next stop is the internet. Most
what materials and
importantly, you need to visit art galleries and exhibitions. You can visit large public galleries techniques have been
or commercial galleries in major cities. Some larger regional towns have regional galleries used (e.g. painting,
with exhibitions and some suburbs have a community gallery. Art magazines are also a sculpture, multimedia
good source of information on contemporary artists. There are also films, CDs and DVDs on works)
artists’ processes and practices that will be helpful.
materials: what an
artwork is actually
Organising your research made of (e.g. paint,
charcoal, video
When you are researching artworks, it is best to organise your information and have a plan or plaster); not to
as to how you will approach your research. You can group your findings in several ways, be confused with
such as: ‘technique’, which is
• The artform that the artist uses, for example three-dimensional works such as how the materials
are used
sculpture, ceramics and constructions; two-dimensional works such as painting,
drawing, printmaking, collage, photography – both analogue and digital; four-
dimensional works including multimedia works such as performance-based works,
video works, works that involve sound and time, and installations.
• The materials that the artwork has been made from. With today’s wide range
of contemporary artforms, it is important to consider materials outside those
traditionally used in artforms. As well as pencils, charcoal and paint an artist
may use textiles as an artform. An artist may use recycled or natural materials in
construction work. In video and performance work, the artist may use props to
express their ideas. Photography can now include the use of digital software to
create works and the images can be printed on a wide range of forms.
• The ideas and meanings behind the work – this is usually the main idea or theme
of the work.
• Finally, the period of time or culture in which the artwork was produced.
Generally, in your art study you will be researching artworks from a range of times and ACTIVITY 1.1
cultures that may all have similar ideas or meanings. Find five artworks
The starting point is to find your images and then keep a record of your research in a that you think
folder with a copy of the images and the following information. you would like to
• The title of the work. investigate further.
• The date it was produced; including the period of art it may have come from (e.g. Put each artwork at
the top of a page and
Egyptian, Surrealism, Contemporary).
then write the details
• The materials the artwork is made from. below, including
• The size of the work. materials, date,
• Where the work is located currently, which gallery, museum or location. size and location of
• A description of the work. This is a written summary of the artwork. Look carefully the artwork. What
at the work and write a list of the things you can see in the work. Imagine you are appeals to you about
each artwork?
describing the work to someone who cannot see.

In each unit of the VCE course, you will be asked to research artworks and apply the
Analytical Frameworks to interpret them. This chapter will go through the frameworks with
you and provide examples of how to apply them.
Figure 1.2
Jeffrey Smart, Central
Station ll, 1974–1975,
synthetic polymer
paint on canvas, 86
x 100cm. Purchased
1976. Collection: Art
Gallery of New South
Wales © Jeffrey
Smart, photograph:
Brendan McGeachie
ACTIVITY 1.2
Figure 1.2 is by Jeffrey Smart. Research any background information you can
on the artist, such as the period of time and location when Smart painted
this image. Find where the work is located. Research and list any other
works by Jeffrey Smart you can find and list the materials, size, location and
date of the works. Write a description of three of the images and explain
why you selected these images. What do you think the work is about? What
appeals to you about the images? Consider the subject and the ideas that
Smart is conveying.
ACTIVITY 1.3
Go through this
textbook and see if
Art language
you can make a list of Throughout the VCE Art course, you will be asked to use art language and vocabulary
words that you think in your writing and research. Many of the tasks that you will do will involve the use
are words used in of art language in analysis and interpretation of artworks and in the annotation and
art language. See if
documentation of your own art making. Artists frequently use notebooks to document their
you can look up the
definition of the words inspiration, the development of their ideas, their processes and to evaluate their work.
in the glossary. Write Art, like many other subjects, has its own language and terminology. These words and
the definition next to expressions are unique to art. There are specific words that we use for techniques and
the word. processes as well as artforms. Throughout this text, you will see that each chapter has

1
definitions of some of the words that are used by artists, critics and writers. As you progress
through the course, your knowledge of these terms will increase. You will also be given
examples of the use of art language through specific examples.
Some of the areas where you will use specific art language and vocabulary include:
• artforms
• materials and media
• techniques and processes
• style of artwork
• subject matter or content of an artwork
• use of design elements and principles in an artwork
• interpretation and analysis of artworks.
Art commentaries
Commentaries are often statements made
about an artwork by a range of people.
Commentaries include information from
visiting speakers; art lecturers; gallery
guides or the artists themselves; from film,
sound and video files or online programs
devoted to specific artists or styles; printed
articles, periodicals; journals, catalogues or
texts by art critics and historians.
Commentaries help us to understand
artworks – why they may have been created
and what other people think about them.
The information from commentaries can
Figure 1.3
be about the subject of the work, the artist’s ideas and how they express their ideas and the
Jackson Pollock,
techniques artists use. They can also comment on how others have reacted to the work. Convergence, 1952, oil on
canvas 237.5 x 393.7cm
© The Pollock – Krasner
ACTIVITY 1.4 Foundation/ARS. Licensed
‘My opinion is that new needs need new techniques, and the modern artists by VISCOPY, 2009
have found new ways and new means of making their statements’ – Jackson
Pollock. What do you think this comment is saying about this artwork? Do ACTIVITY 1.6
you agree with the comment? Select one artwork
and find three
commentaries on that
ACTIVITY 1.5
artwork. Discuss the
Find a selection of quotes by critics or artists in this book. Discuss what the differences between
commentary is stating about the artwork. Write a list of points next to a copy the commentaries.
of the artwork and the commentary about what they are saying about the What do you think
artwork. It may be the subject of the work, the ideas the artist is expressing, is the topic of each
the style of the work, the influences on the artist or the techniques the artist commentary? How do
has used. How does this influence your understanding of the artwork? they influence your
understanding of the
artwork?

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKS
Figure 1.4
The Analytical Frameworks
The Analytical Frameworks are tools that assist you to analyse and interpret the meanings
of artworks. There are four Analytical Frameworks:
1 the Formal Framework
2 the Personal Framework
3 the Cultural Framework
4 the Contemporary Framework.
The Frameworks provide you with different ways of obtaining meaning from an artwork.

1
The Formal Framework
This Framework is used when the viewer analyses the formal elements of an artwork and
how they contribute to the meanings and messages of the work. This is the most important &ORMAL
Framework and it provides links between the other Frameworks. The Formal Framework
can be broken into different aspects of interpretation, such as:
• Visual analysis – how have the elements and principles of art been applied by
the artist? What effect has this created? How do these qualities contribute to the
meanings and messages of the artwork?
• Technique – what materials and techniques has the artist used and how do these
assist in our interpretation of the artwork?
• Style – does the artist work in a distinctive style? How do the stylistic qualities of the
artwork contribute to the meaning of the artwork?
• Symbolism and metaphor – what physical aspects or presentation of the artwork design elements:
suggest symbolic meaning? line, shape, colour,
tone, texture and
form; contemporary
Visual analysis artworks can also have
additional elements
A visual analysis involves analysing the elements and principles of art and how they
such as sound, light,
contribute to the meanings and messages of the artwork. Using the design elements and time and space
principles is a bit like baking a cake: the elements are the ingredients and the principles
are how these ingredients can be put together in an artwork. The combination of the design design principles: balance,
elements and design principles in an artwork is also called the composition. An artist focal point, unity
(including harmony),
may choose certain design elements and combine them with the principles to express
variety, rhythm and
their ideas. space
ACTIVITY 1.7
Using a range of artworks from different periods of time and cultures,
analyse the use of the design elements and principles. Write a description of
the artwork and then discuss the use of the design elements and principles.
There is a range of additional information relating to the design elements Student CD-ROM
and principles on the Student CD-ROM.
ACTIVITY 1.8
Using the same artworks, discuss how the artist has used the design
elements and principles to communicate their ideas. Use examples of the
design elements and principles that have been used to communicate those
ideas by looking at the wordlists on the Student CD-ROM.
Use the table on pages 8 and 9 when analysing the use of design elements and
principles in an artwork.

Table 1.1 Design elements and principles
Design element description Analysis questions
Line – The path left by a moving point. Lines • Describe the types of line used in the work.
can be physically represented in an artwork or • What mood does the line create?
can be visual references to space. • How does line assist in forming composition of the work?
Colour – The colour wheel consists of primary, • Are the colours bright, warm, dull, cool, contrasting, dramatic, natural,
secondary and tertiary colours. Secondary harmonious or complementary colours?
colours are achieved by mixing the three • What effect does the use of colour have on the mood of the image?
primary colours and tertiary colours are • Does the colour have any effect on the composition of the image?
achieved by mixing the secondary and primary
colours together. The colours of the colour
wheel are called hues.
Tone – Is the degree of lightness or darkness • How has tone been used? Is it highly contrasted? Are a variety of tones used? Is
of aspects of an artwork, such as colour or limited tone used? Is high key tone used?
light. • How does the use of tone contribute to the mood of the image?
Texture – The surface quality of an artwork. It • Can I identify the different surface qualities of the shapes in the image?
is how things feel, or look as if they may feel, • How has the artist created texture in the work?
when touched. In an artwork, texture can be • Does the texture contribute to the composition of the image?
‘real’, created by brushstrokes or the surface
quality of materials or ‘implied’ meaning they
are simulated.
Shape – Is a two-dimensional area that can • Are the shapes in the image geometric, flat, 3D or natural?
be drawn or cut. Shapes can be organic or • How are the shapes formed?
geometric. • What techniques has the artist used to create the shapes? For example, are
they painted? How does the sculptor create the shapes in the work? How are
the shapes formed in a photograph?
• Do the shapes contribute to the composition of the work?
Form – Is an element of art that is three- • How has the artist created the appearance of form in the work? Is it using
dimensional. It has height, width and depth particular brushstrokes?
and encloses space or volume. • Have they used light and surface qualities to suggest form?
• Has the artist used particular materials to create form?
Design principle description Analysis questions

Composition – Is an arrangement or • What does the artist emphasise visually? What first attracts the viewer’s
combination of the design elements. attention?
• How does the artist emphasise this/these features visually?
• Is there an underlying rhythm, pattern or geometric structure to the
composition?
• Does the composition seem unified? Do the elements appear integrated or
separate and distinct from each other? How does the artist achieve this unity?
• What is the viewer’s position in relation to the work?
• Is the composition large or small in scale? Is it horizontal or vertical in orientation?
How do these characteristics affect the viewer’s perception of this work?
• Is the composition figurative, abstract or realistic?
• How has the artist achieved an emotion or idea by using the visual elements?
What are the ideas suggested? How are the visual elements arranged to
achieve this?
Balance – Affects the composition of an • How does the contrast of elements in the work create balance? (E.g. are some
artwork and the combinations of the different shapes larger than others are, as though they appear heavier?)
elements in the work. Balance can be termed • How is the space in the artwork arranged? Does the placement of objects on
as symmetrical or asymmetrical. the picture plane create a sense of balance?

1
high key: composed
Design principle description Analysis questions
mainly of light tones
Focal point – Is the main area of interest in an artwork. • What elements have been used to symmetrical: where one
The artist will arrange or use certain elements to draw create a focal point in the artwork? side of an image mirrors
the attention of the viewer to an area of the artwork. • Describe the contrast of elements the other. A work can
Artists can create focal points using certain techniques that have been used to create a focal have symmetry in the
including the contrast within a particular element, the size point in the artwork. way it is arranged
and placement of certain elements and by using lines and • Where have certain elements been without the items in
rhythm to draw our attention. placed to create the focal point in the each half of the image
artwork? being identical, rather
• How has rhythm of the elements it is their size and
created the focal point in the position that creates
artwork? What elements have been the symmetry, creating
repeated or how have patterns been what is known as
created? ‘formal balance’
Unity – Is achieved in an artwork when all the elements • Which elements have been repeated asymmetrical: opposite of
work together to create a strong sense of connection in to create unity in the artwork? How symmetrical, the objects
the artwork. The elements may all be used in a similar have the elements been repeated? in an image are not
way, thus creating unity. An example of this is repetition. • Are the shapes the same size and balanced and each half
When elements are the same size and type and placed placed in a pattern to create unity? of the image does not
in a particular pattern they are said to be unified through Or are they different sizes, thus resemble the other
repetition. Harmony within elements can also create a creating variety? Describe the use of
repetition: where
sense of unity, such as the use of harmonious colours in the shapes by the artist.
elements of an artwork
a work. Often when elements are repeated there will be • Has the artist used contrast with
occur more than once,
an aspect that is different to create variety. Generally, the the elements to create variety in the
often to create unity in
contrast of a particular element will create variety. artwork?
a work, can be repeated
Contrast – In an artwork, contrast refers to the use of • Which elements have been shapes, colours,
opposing elements to create interest. This can be in colour, contrasted in the artwork? Why has arrangements or even
tone, line or any other element. Contrast is used often in the artist used these elements to sounds in multimedia
conjunction with other design principles. Contrast can contrast? works
create a focal point in an artwork. Contrast can also create • How has the artist used contrast with harmony: elements are
variety in an artwork. the elements? Is it size, shape or
harmonious if they are
colour?
similar, such as colours
• Does the artist create a focal point
(e.g. warm colours)
with the use of contrast?
variety: variety is created
Rhythm – The repetition of elements in an artwork creates • What visual movement do you see in by using a different
a sense of rhythm. The repetition of art elements creates a the artwork? element in a repetitive
pattern and encourages the viewer’s eye to move around • Which elements have been repeated pattern (e.g. a square in
the artwork. Rhythm is generally created by the ordered to create this visual movement? a position of circles)
pattern of shapes, space and colour in the work. Describe how patterns have been
created by shape, space or colour.
contrast: when two
different forms of the
Space – When an artist arranges the art elements in • How has the artist created depth or elements are used in the
an artwork, they create the artwork in a space. In two- space in the composition? Have they same work specifically
dimensional artworks, three-dimensional space is given used lines, the placing of objects, to emphasise the
an illusion or is created. In three-dimensional artworks, perspective or any other element to difference between
the artist is working within the three-dimensional space. create space? them, for example use of
Not all two-dimensional artworks have the illusion of light and shade or use of
space; often abstract works and works involving patterning contrasting colours like
use the space on the picture plane. Often artists creating blue and yellow.
installation works are creating the artwork in a
pre-existing space.

ACTIVITY 1.9 Techniques
Using five artworks that Techniques are the ways in which the artist uses materials to create an artwork. An in-
you find in this textbook, depth study of technique can include the artist’s studio, the location of their work and the
answer the questions roles of people who assist in the creation of an artwork. You also must consider the type of
opposite. Use examples
artwork the artist is creating. Artists will use different techniques in painting, photography,
from the artwork to
illustrate your answer. printmaking, sculpture, three-dimensional works, performance works, and installations.
Questions to ask when analysing techniques in an artwork:

• What material/s has the artist used?
• How has the artist applied the material/s?
• What effects have been created by using these techniques?
• What processes has the artist used to create the work?
Figure 1.5
• What type of emotion or symbolism was the artist trying to portray with their
Diego Velázquez, Las
Meninas, 1656–57, oil techniques?
on canvas, 318 x 276cm
Style
The style of the artwork is the end result, or objective, behind
everything that the artist does with materials and techniques;
the formal and expressive qualities of a completed artwork. The
qualities, processes or concept of the artwork may relate to other
images or artworks made during the same period of time. Style can
communicate the political, religious and social values of an artwork.
The reason for the artist choosing certain materials and techniques
relates to the purpose of the artwork.
• What processes has the artist used to create the work?
• What has influenced the production of the artwork? Is there an
idea behind the work?
• Does the work appear representational or non-representational?
Is it romantic? Is it a form of high art? Abstract? Realistic?
Photojournalistic?
• Was it made as a narrative, i.e. was it designed to tell a story?
• What art movement does the image come from? Are there clues
in the work that lead you to deduce this?
• What has the artist done with the techniques to achieve a certain style? For
example, it may be realistic, abstract or expressionistic and the artist has used
Baroque: art style specific techniques to create that style.
or movement of
• How does the style of the artwork represent the period of time in which the artist
the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, was living?
where artists used • In what ways do the stylistic qualities affect your understanding of the work’s
strong contrasts, meaning? Does it place the work within a historical or cultural context or does it
emotion, movement, reflect the artist’s personal style?
exaggeration and
theatrical effects
The Spanish Court Painter, Diego Velasquez, painted the above artwork. The painting is
narrative: telling a story of the infant Spanish princess and depicts the Royal family in the court. The style is Baroque
and the work is a narrative.

1
ACTIVITY 1.10
Write a definition of the following styles using the glossary in this book
or other resources. Find an example of an artwork in each style. Write
a series of points that justify why the artwork has been created in a
particular style. Styles include Romanticism, Realism, Abstract, Neo-
Classicism, Photojournalism, Narrative, Surrealism, Baroque, Renaissance,
Impressionist, Cubist, Post-Impressionism, Expressionism, Pop art.
Metaphor and symbolism

Many artworks have physical symbols in them that represent abstract thought or metaphors. metaphor: one thing
For example, the colour red can symbolise love or power. Artists and artworks throughout used to represent or
different times and cultures have displayed symbols in different ways. The artist may use
similar qualities
the design elements and principles in a certain manner or the subject matter of the work
may represent an idea. Some artists deliberately include visual symbols in their work to
give the viewer a clue to what the meaning of the artwork may be. The artist may choose
a particular artform to convey their ideas or use techniques in a particular way. The style of
the artwork may also convey ideas.
Questions you can ask when analysing symbolism in an artwork.

• What art elements and principles has the artist used as
symbols? Describe what these are and the ideas they
represent.
• How has the composition of the artwork been arranged to
give symbolic meaning?
• What images or objects in the artwork are symbolic?
• Is the artist’s choice of medium symbolic? Why has the artist
selected a particular artform to create their work?
• Are the techniques the artist has used symbolic? Describe
how the artist has used the techniques to suggest a
particular idea.
• Is the style of the artwork symbolic? If the artwork comes
from a particular period of art or is created in a particular
style, it may convey a particular idea of the time, context and
culture in which it was produced.
In The Arnolfini Portrait, the artist has used significant

symbolism. There are many symbols painted in the work that
represent the marriage in the period it was painted. An example is
the mirror in the background, which is reflecting the future for the
young couple. Figure 1.6
Jan van Eyck, The
An example of how to apply the Formal Arnolfini Marriage,
Framework, using Self-portrait in the 1434, oil on oak
Studio by Brett Whiteley, can be found board, National Gallery
on the Student CD-ROM. Student CD-ROM – London, 82 x 59.5cm

The Personal Framework
The Personal Framework can be used to interpret how an artist’s experiences, feelings and
thinking can be exhibited in an artwork. When using this framework you are looking at the
personal ideas that the artist is exhibiting in the work, what symbolic elements, aesthetic
0ERSONAL qualities or techniques they may have used in the work that are relevant to their personal
ideas.
When applying this framework to your interpretation here are some questions that you
ACTIVITY 1.11 may ask:
Investigate the works • What evidence in the artwork reflects aspects of the artist’s life? Are there personal
of the following artists:
objects or is it a scene that relates to the artist’s personality? Are there any symbols
Frida Kahlo, Artemisia
Gentileschi, Edvard that reflect the artist’s personality?
Munch, Van Gogh, • Can the artwork be linked to people, places or personal experiences relating to the
Jean-Michel Basquiat life of the artist or their ideas?
and Gordon Bennett.
Discuss an example
of an artwork by each ACTIVITY 1.12
artist using a personal Using the same artworks as in Activity 1.11, above, discuss what appeals
interpretation. to you about the work personally. Justify the reasons for your decision,
including discussing the subject of the painting, the techniques used by the
artist and analysing the design elements and principles.
The personal framework can also be used to interpret the personal experience and
viewpoint of the viewer in relation to the work. We all bring different backgrounds and
experiences to the viewing of artworks and this is often reflected in our interpretation.
Some other questions to ask are: What can we see in the work that reflects our personal
experiences? How do we relate to the work?
An example of how to apply the Personal Framework, using

Self-portrait in the Studio by Brett Whiteley, can be found on
the Student CD-ROM.
Student CD-ROM
The Cultural Framework

The Cultural Framework can be used to interpret the influences of the time and place in
which an artwork has been produced. The viewer can also interpret the purpose of the work
#ULTURAL and the cultural, historical, political, religious and social setting in which it was made. This is
often referred to the ‘Context’ of the artwork. Most artworks are born out of the feelings the
artist has for the time in which the work was produced or the purpose behind it. In the study
of Art in an Australian culture, the student must also investigate the works of Indigenous and
Asian cultures as an aspect of their study.

1
When applying this framework to your interpretation, here are some questions that you
may ask.
• Why did the artist produce this artwork? Was it for a festival or event, to make a
political statement, to express an idea about their culture or to record a particular
event?
• What aspects of the artwork reflect the culture in which it was made? This might be
the subject matter of the artwork, the use of techniques or the ideas that the artist is
expressing.
• How does the social, political or religious context in which the artwork was made
contribute to its meaning? Investigate the background of history or culture in which
the artwork was made to see if you can gain evidence about the artwork.
• Is there evidence of cultural symbolism in the work? Cultural symbolism could
include the representation of subject matter, the use of techniques in the artwork,
the choice of design elements and principles or the style of the artwork. How does
this reflect the ideas behind the work?
• Do the materials, techniques and processes selected and used by the artist reflect
anything about the values of the culture in which the artwork was produced?
• Does the work reflect the gender values of the social context in which it was
produced? If the work is a historical example, how does this compare with the
gender values of today?
• Are the ideas of the artwork a reflection of the gender of the artist? How do male
and female artists explore different ideas in their work?
• If the work is now in a different context and location to when it was produced, such
as a gallery or museum, how does this location affect the interpretation of the work?
As the viewer, you will bring your own interpretation to the work, particularly if you are
investigating a work that is from a different period of time or culture. You may consider the
following questions to enhance your interpretation.
• How does the intention of the artist differ from your view? What meaning did the
artist give to the work? Are you interpreting it in the way that was intended? This
applies particularly to works that may have been produced from another period of
time. Do you gain a different interpretation to that of the artist because of cultural,
social, political, historical and gender differences in ideas?
• Do you think the work loses the original intention of the artist because of where it is
located? What is it that makes the work different?
Examples of how to apply the Cultural Framework to a variety of

artworks can be found on the Student CD-ROM:
• Western example – Adoration of the Magi by Giotto di Bondone
• Indigenous example – Cyclone Tracy by Joolama (Rover) Thomas
• Asian example – Large Family No. 2 by Zhang Xiaogang Student CD-ROM

The Contemporary Framework
The Contemporary Framework can be used to interpret an artwork by applying
#ONTEMPORARY contemporary ideas and issues. This framework is mainly applied to contemporary
works produced after 1970. Many contemporary artworks take non-traditional artforms
and include installations, performance works, video, photography, interactive art, street
art, sound installations and digital projections.
Contemporary artworks can often be conceptual in
nature, meaning that there is an emphasis on the
ideas of the artist rather than the subject matter of
the work. Artists who create contemporary works are
often attempting to experiment with new media and
technologies. Many contemporary works are also
based on postmodernist ideas. The following questions
may be a starting point to apply the Contemporary
Framework to your analysis.
• Artists often take ideas from society and make
fun of them in their artworks. How are the
postmodern ideas of parody, irony and satire
used to question and challenge traditional
understandings of art? In this way, the artist may
have used the subject matter to highlight an idea
or issue.
• Does the way in which the artist presents
their subject matter and uses materials and
techniques reflect or challenge artistic or social
traditions?
• Has the artist used a non-traditional art practice
or artforms to challenge traditional notions of art?
• How does media and other emerging artforms
(such as video art, installation art, digital
Figure 1.7 projection, performance and Street Art) challenge the importance of artworks based
Dan Flavin, Untitled (To Don in a museum or gallery?
Judd – Colorist), 1987 ©
• How can the concepts or presentation of ideas and issues relate to broader ideas
Estate of Dan Flavin/ARS.
Lincensed by VISCOPY 2009 for the artist and for society? Think about how the artwork may provoke other ideas
about the issue or reflect an issue. For example, presentation of ideas by an artist in
photographs in a newspaper may create further ideas and issues for readers and the
artist.
• How do symbols and concepts in a contemporary artwork reflect contemporary
contexts and ideas?
When you use the Contemporary Framework, you can apply it not only to Contemporary
works but also to works from different times and cultures to view those using contemporary
ideas and values. You also have to investigate how you, as an individual living in
contemporary society and culture, can interpret and gain an understanding of an artwork.

1
These questions will also help you with your interpretation:
• How can artworks of the past be interpreted in the light of contemporary ideas
and issues? You must look at these works and see how the artists’ presentation of
subject matter, use of techniques, style of the artwork and ideas are interpreted from
a contemporary point of view.
• How does the presentation of contemporary artworks such as video installations,
digital projections and performance art in museums and galleries impact on your
understanding of the artwork?
The Formal Framework and

contemporary artworks
&ORMAL
Analysing contemporary artworks using the Formal Framework can be challenging, as
often the works are non-traditional artforms and the artist has used new technologies and
mediums. In addition to the design elements of line, shape, colour, tone, form, and texture,
there are some other elements that are outlined below.
Sound, space, light and time: these elements are considered in contemporary artworks
particularly installation or video work. Using adjectives to describe these elements will help
you analyse the artists that use them to express ideas.
Some questions to use when analysing contemporary works using sound, space, light
and time are:
• Describe the sound used with the work. Does it have an impact on the atmosphere
of the location where the artwork is presented? How does the sound work with the
visual qualities, if any, of the work. (Note that some artworks are only sound based.)
• How is light used in the installation or video work? What impact does it have on the
subject of the work? What impact does it have on the messages the artist is trying
to convey?
• Describe the space in which the work is located. How does this impact upon the
work itself? Does it contribute to the work and its aesthetic qualities? Does it
contribute to the meaning of the work?
• How long does the performance or video last? This will also have an impact on
its meaning.
ACTIVITY 1.13
Find a range of contemporary artworks in this book. Analyse the artworks
using the elements and principles of design, including sound, space
and light.
An example of how to apply the Formal Framework to a

contemporary artwork, using The Tristan Project by Bill
Viola, can be found on the Student CD-ROM.
Student CD-ROM

CREATING A PRACTICAL FOLIO
‘Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to create.’
Nicole Malebranche
Creating a folio of artwork is very different from completing the individual, teacher-directed
tasks that you may have had to do previously. Developing a folio of work will require you
to follow a creative process that includes brainstorming, researching, trialling and refining.
This chapter provides you with some of the basic tools in order to explore both teacher-
directed tasks for Unit 1 and your own ideas and selected artforms for Units 2–4. These
include:
• developing a visual language with which to communicate
• starting your practical folio
• finding and creating your own visual and conceptual stimulus
• using mind maps and extended brainstorming to explore and interpret your ideas
• undertaking visual brainstorming using thumbnail sketches
• researching your ideas for a practical outcome
• dealing with reference material, plagiarism and appropriation – a practical approach
• investigating materials, techniques and processes
• documenting and reflecting on your exploration and resolutions
• using safe practices.
‘Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.’
Henry Ward Beecher
A folio of practical artwork

The VCE Art Study Design emphasises the link between theoretical research and
investigation and your own artmaking. With this in mind, the study has been structured so
that the theory component is Outcome 1 and your practical folio exploration is Outcome 2.
You are encouraged to recognise how you can be inspired by the work that you cover when
visual language: the way studying theory. The theory component provides you with an informed context in which
in which images, the to work and inspiration for your own artmaking. In turn, the discoveries you make in your
elements and principles artmaking can give you greater insight into the works of artists and the impact of their use
of art, materials, of symbolism and subject matter. It can also give you an understanding of what impact the
techniques, processes
and artforms can be
application of materials, techniques, processes and artforms has on meaning.
used to communicate You are required to develop a visual language by combining a focused study of artworks
concepts and ideas and your own practical artmaking.

1
Visual language
A language is a system of codes of communication, made up of certain sounds or symbols.
Visual language, as it is used in the Study Design, refers to the use of images as one
such code of communication. A visual language is the way in which images, the elements
and principles of art, materials, techniques, processes and artforms can be used to
communicate concepts and ideas.
Katherine McCoy, a Senior Lecturer in art and design said, ‘I am convinced that abstract
form, imagery, colour, texture, and material convey meaning equal to or greater than words’. ACTIVITY 1.14
Any artwork is a form of visual language, however, the style and type of artwork and the Choose five artworks
processes that the artist uses are their own unique form of visual language. and briefly discuss
how they function
as visual language.
Your practical folio What idea or concept
You will explore a range of materials, techniques, processes and artforms as you apply your does the artwork
communicate? How
skills of observation and imagination to the development of a folio of visual responses. This
is this communicated
folio will develop in response to a selection of tasks set by your teacher or as a means of through the:
exploring personal ideas or concepts. Your teachers may set specific tasks to direct and • subject
facilitate your investigation and experimentation, but you will explore this in a personal way, • artform
developing your own style and approach. • application of
You will learn to document your thinking and working practices. You will reflect on your the elements and
principles of art
own artmaking and examine how you have used art elements and principles to develop a
• materials, techniques
visual language. You will reflect on how your experiences, feelings and thoughts are evident or processes used?
in your trials and finished artworks.
Getting started
Before you begin your exploration, it is important to decide what you would like to achieve
in your folio. Do you want to: ACTIVITY 1.15
• develop a folio of aesthetic exploration? • List the things you
• develop a folio that visually interprets ideas or concepts? would like to achieve
• make a statement about an issue that is important to you? in your folio.
• explore the elements and principles of art? • List any ideas,
concepts or issues
• explore a particular subject matter that appeals to you?
that interest you.
• create art that references your experiences? Which of these is
• work in a particular style or approach to making art? most important to
• work in a specific medium or artform? you?
You may want to take one of these approaches to your folio, or you may want to
combine several of them. Whatever you choose to do, it is always best to work from your
experience as this makes your work more real. Henry Ward Beecher said, ‘Every artist dips
his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures’. You will find that it
is a lot easier to create a more meaningful and effective image if you work from your own
experience irrespective of whether the image is factual or imaginative. Work with what you
know. As Jackson Pollock said, ‘Every artist paints what he is’. In order to achieve the most
effective artwork possible, immerse yourself in the subject, medium or approach.

A treasure box
Once you have established what you want to achieve in your folio, begin to collect visual
stimuli. If you are unsure about what you want to achieve or what approach you are going
to take, gathering visual stimuli can generate ideas or clarify your thoughts. This should not
only be something you do to get ideas going at the start of your folio, but should continue
all year. This is valuable to help you generate ideas and find solutions for problems that you
may encounter as you develop your folio.
Figure 1.8 Stimuli can come from a range of sources. Don’t only use magazines or the internet
Visual stimuli can help to collect images. Look around – you may find it useful to create a treasure box in which
you to generate ideas
you collect many different visual stimuli. The treasure box can literally be a box for three-
and clarify your thoughts
dimensional items and even a storage area for two-dimensional stimuli. You could also
place all the two-dimensional images into a folder or sketchbook.
ACTIVITY 1.16
• Collect 10 manmade or natural objects that are unrelated to any specific
idea.
• Using these objects as stimulus, document two ideas that you could
explore through art for each of the objects.
• Each object could be the subject, the surface the artwork is created on, or
have a texture or pattern that suggests a creative response.

1
Found stimulus
Images can be found in books,
magazines, brochures, postcards or
on the internet. These can be images
that inspire ideas for subject matter or
composition. They may show artforms,
techniques, approaches or effects
that you would like to explore. They
may be interesting applications of the
elements and principles of art. Found
stimuli are not limited to imagery but
can also include textures, objects
and surfaces to work on, or they can
be from things of interest for future
exploration or items that could be
included in your artworks. You may find
a piece of driftwood that provides you
with a visually interesting object to use
in a drawing or for symbolic value. It may represent something discarded or discovered. Figure 1.9
The driftwood could even evolve into an environment for a surreal painting. The form and Phoebe Garrett
construction of a feather may be explored for its pattern, be used as a tool for painting, Exploring the potential
identified in found
imbedded into an artwork as a symbol of flight or to add texture to an artwork. A piece
stimulus
of textured paper could be drawn on, constructed with, or inspire you to experiment with
your own papermaking. Phoebe Garrett (a VCE Art student) was inspired by fossils of an
ammonite and a nautilus shell. She explored the forms and patterns though drawing. The
pattern and spiral reminded her of fingerprints which she then explored as pure pattern.
Personally created stimulus

Do not only rely on found images. You can create your own stimulus by drawing, painting, ACTIVITY 1.17
modelling, or by using photography. It is helpful to have a small sketchbook and/or a digital Using a digital camera,
camera with you at all times. Always be aware of interesting images in your daily life. Look photograph 10
at the way people or objects relate to one another in the environment: how unusual colours unrelated images that
form pleasing combinations; how light falls on a person or scene. Be aware of patterns and catch your attention.
Observe:
textures that you could later introduce into your artwork.
• the way people or
Your drawings may be detailed tonal studies of objects or scenes that catch your objects relate to
eye, but they do not have to be. You can do very rough sketches to record something you one another in the
see, and add annotations that detail aspects you don’t wish to spend time drawing, such environment
as colour and light direction if only working in line. Sometimes you see something that • how light falls on a
stimulates an idea and instead of recording what you see, having a sketchbook allows you person or scene
• the patterns and
to sketch the idea the scene stimulated. You can make notes about the idea before you
textures around you.
forget it. Some students keep a sleep diary as many ideas can grow out of dreams that, if
not recorded, are soon forgotten.

Mind map/brainstorm: Interpretation of the central idea
‘Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to create.’
Nicole Malebranche
Generating ideas is often the most difficult thing to do in an art folio. The problem is much
like starting a painting and being faced with a stark white canvas. Coming up with an idea
is similar to making the first mark with your brush; once you have the first idea others will
flow. Start with any word, concept or idea that interests you.
To explore the potential of this point of departure, you may find it useful to make use
of a mind map or extended brainstorm. This will allow you to open your mind to a range
of possibilities, unencumbered by the concerns of how you would approach them as a
painting, print or sculpture. When developing a folio that explores a concept or idea, it is
important not to think in terms of finished artworks. If you have a clear idea of what you
Figure 1.10 Example want to paint, draw, sculpt or photograph you will limit your creativity. Don’t discard this
of a hand-written mind idea, but rather hold onto it as one possible interpretation. Explore various interpretations
map of your concept. Brainstorming ideas and writing down the first thing that comes to mind is
an effective way to do this. Remember that
your artwork does not have to be an obvious
reflection of the central idea. Be creative
with your ideas and think outside the box.
Example of a mind map

Begin by interpreting your idea or concept
and place these ideas down on paper. You
can begin by doing a written brainstorm
in the form of a list or mind map. A mind
map is a useful tool for stimulating higher
order thinking, as it is unlimited. Ideas can
be generated randomly and by association
with a word that you have written down.
Figure 1.11
Example of
a mind map
created using
Inspiration
Software. This
mindmap uses
‘black’ as the
central idea or
concept

1
If for instance you are exploring the concept of black, words that come to mind might
include dark, scared or white. Each of these can be explored further using the mind map.
Black – dark – light – sun – joy, and so on. You could end up exploring joy as one of your
interpretations of black. Once you have explored your initial idea as broadly as possible using a
mind map, highlight the ideas that most interest you as points of departure for your exploration
through a particular medium or media. You can approach your mind map in a number of
different ways. Some students find that a hand written mind map allows for a quick and more
spontaneous development of ideas, whereas others prefer a more ordered approach. The
program Inspiration allows you to develop mind maps on the computer.
Visual brainstorm
It is very useful to begin thinking visually as soon as possible. Some students like to include
images that come to mind as they are mind mapping their idea or concept. This can be
seen in Phoebe Garrett’s mind map exploring the mechanics of flight. These drawings do
not have to be detailed, but provide you with something concrete to develop at a later stage.
If you have an idea for a visual solution to a concept, it helps to put it down on paper before
you forget. Inspiration also allows you to insert images into your mind map. These could be
clip art or your own images.
Figure 1.12 Figure 1.13

Phoebe Garrett’s visual brainstorm Example of a visual brainstorm using ‘My Life’ as
the central idea (created with Inspiration)
ACTIVITY 1.18
Produce a mind map based on a concept or issue of your choice

Researching your idea
Now that you have established a number of possible interpretations for your idea, spend
some time looking for examples of images or artworks that explore similar ideas or are
examples of a particular approach that you are interested in taking in your own folio.
Research can include finding ways in which artists have presented a visual solution that
dealt with your concept or issue. This may inspire further ideas of your own or may inspire
you to explore a specific medium or technique. Look at the artist’s work and identify the
techniques and materials the artist used in their art that you could adapt to create your
own work. The images you research should inspire your own creativity. They could provide
potential subject matter, compositions and techniques or suggest appropriate lighting or
even effective and unusual viewpoints. Research artists and artworks that you or others
consider relevant to your concepts and ideas. Document examples of their work and make
notes regarding their subject matter, techniques, materials and use of the elements and
principles of art.
ACTIVITY 1.19 Select a range of artworks or images and paste a photocopy of them into your
Find five artworks that
sketchbooks or folio. Include any relevant information that you need to remember regarding
reflect a common idea materials, working method or ideas that were generated when you saw the image. The
or issue in a unique artworks you include do not have to be in the medium you are considering using. A
way. Note the different sculpture could inspire a print or painting and vice versa. If you include inspirational images
ways each artwork that you have collected from magazines or books, limit repetition. Remember that this
deals with the idea.
research is a stimulus for your own creativity. The emphasis in your folio is on your own
• Has the way in
which the artist
artwork. While research can be very valuable stimulus for your own exploration, excessive
used the techniques, research is often seen by assessors as a student padding their folio.
media or artform When annotating the selected works, note how the artists have used the formal qualities
helped to convey to create successful compositions or to convey messages and meaning. This can help you
their message? to apply the elements and principles of art more effectively in your artworks.
• Has the way in
When researching, collect images from a range of sources such as books, magazines or
which the artist
manipulated the
the internet, and visit galleries to see how artists have approached and presented concepts
elements and or ideas similar to those you are interested in. Read about the work of artists and thinkers
principles of art relevant to your concept or idea. You could research the work of philosophers and writers
helped to convey to gain an understanding of the points of view that other people hold about your concepts
their message? or ideas. Lyrics of songs and poems are people’s responses to ideas and issues, while
musicians often write music in response to events and concepts. You could create a visual
response to a piece of music you have listened to that relates to your concept. If you are
aware of anyone who has worked with similar concepts or ideas or has experience with an
issue you are interested in, you could interview them. This can provide you with a different
perspective on how to approach your folio.
Generating visual interpretations of your ideas and concepts

Establishing your ideas and exploring possible interpretations and approaches to these
ideas is just the first part of your exploration. Once you have established your area of
interest, it is important you begin to generate a range of visual interpretations of these
ideas and concepts. You need to establish ways that you can communicate your ideas
and concepts in a visual way. One approach is to use thumbnail sketches. Doing thumbnail

1
sketches is a very effective method of generating images, especially if you want to establish thumbnail sketches:
a narrative or a figurative representation of your idea. For instance, how would you interpret small rough sketches
outlining the elements
thought in a drawing? You could draw someone thinking, you could include Rodin’s famous
in a proposed artwork,
sculpture The Thinker in a still life or you could represent an image of a particular thought. useful to explore
You could even represent the thought process as an abstract image that combined random multiple ideas quickly;
and structured elements representing the different ways we think. thumbnail sketches
The benefit of thumbnail sketches is that they provide a quick means of creating a are a good way to
work through an idea,
range of images. Thumbnail sketches are quick, abbreviated drawings. Usually, they are
or to try out different
done very rapidly and with no corrections. You can use any medium, although pen or pencil compositions
is the most common.
It is useful to annotate your thumbnail sketches if the idea you are exploring is not
immediately obvious. You may have a general idea of how your could visually interpret your
idea but may want to note a few things that need to be considered if you choose to continue
with this train of thought.
The thumbnail sketches illustrated here are examples of two students’ use of drawing
to explore potential visual representation of their ideas. Figure 1.15 shows Melissa
Atanasovski’s exploration of a range of ideas, while Figure 1.16 shows Elena Gunston using
thumbnail sketches to explore options for a single
idea. Elena also makes notes about things that she
has considered as she draws. ‘I started to brainstorm
different ideas of what the body should hang on …
I elongated the body a little … with machinery and
gears visible. I’ve decided to leave the face completely
blank as I have come to the conclusion that a blank Figure 1.14
face creates a more manufactured feel to it.’ Auguste Rodin, The
Thinker, 1902,
bronnze and marble,
Musée Rodin, 71.5 x
36.4 x 59.5cm
annotate:
to write brief
notes about your
observations and to
communicate your
thinking and working
practices
Figure 1.16
Elena Gunston’s
Figure 1.15 thumbnail sketches
Melissa Atanasovski’s exploration of ideas

ACTIVITY 1.20
Select an idea that you wish to represent visually. Using a pen or pencil, create a series of
rectangles and squares approximately five centimetres in size over a page in your sketchbook.
At the top of the page, you could list the ideas or concepts you want to explore and then begin
sketching images that come to mind when you think of these. Don’t overthink the image. Do not
be overly concerned with the quality of the drawing and don’t get bogged down with detail. The
point of this exercise is to generate as many images as you can, in the shortest time possible. A
quick sketch can be just as effective as a beautiful drawing to establish a concrete visualisation
of an idea before you forget it. These sketches are not works of art but merely a method of idea
generation.
As an alternative to thumbnail sketches, you could use a digital camera to record

a range of images that interest you. These are not necessarily images that you would
consider as final photographs. Again, do not overthink these images and do not be overly
concerned with planning your composition, worrying about the perfect lighting and depth of
field. Even if your photograph is out of focus it can still serve its purpose. The quality of the
image is not the objective, but rather the idea it portrays. Your photographs are a means of
collecting images that clarify some thoughts you have generated and that will help you to
begin your visual exploration. They could serve a range of purposes, including:
• recording a scene that portrays a narrative you want to paint
• capturing a particular light quality or shadow that conveys a mood you are thinking
of communicating
Figure 1.17
An example of
• showing an object you consider symbolises a concept you want to deal with
thumbnail photographs • producing an image such as an emotive portrait that establishes the feeling you
wish to show.
These images may be explored in a folio of
photography, but could become the inspiration for a
folio exploring any artform/s.
One way to present these thumbnail photographs
is to produce a contact sheet using Photoshop. To do
this you must place all your photographs into a folder.
Open Photoshop, click on File – Automate – Contact
Sheet II. The contact sheet window (see Figure 1.19)
opens and you can select the number of photographs
you would like to place on a page by choosing the
number of columns and rows in your document. The
number you place on the page will depend on the size
of the page, but an average of 20 images on an A4
page will give you a series of good-sized thumbnail
photographs. The other advantage to this process
is that you can choose to include the file name of
each photograph beneath it for easy identification.
Remember to deselect ‘rotate for best fit’ to ensure all
your photographs are correctly orientated.

1
Collecting reference material
Once you have established some ideas that
you can use as a starting point, you can now
collect visual reference materials. Source
material is an important aid to developing
your image and to help you to accurately
render the objects/images that make up
your visual solution. This source material
can be your own sketches, paintings,
photographs and so on. If you choose to use
a photograph not taken by you, for example,
a picture from a magazine, you may only
use elements from this image. The total
image must be modified.
Avoid plagiarism – although there
are many reasons you should look at other
people’s art, it is important you use their
work as inspiration, not to copy from.
Direct copies are valuable exercises, but
you should be moving beyond this and
beginning to create your own unique works. Many great artists have learnt by observing Figure 1.18
Screen dump of
the work of their predecessors and even sitting in galleries and making direct copies of
contact print through
paintings. This, however, is simply an exercise in learning about composition, colour mixing Adobe Photoshop
or developing technique. These works were tools for learning and were not presented as
their own artworks. Copying someone’s artwork in your folio as part of your exploration can
have value, but copying their work for your final is plagiarism – stealing. This is not limited to
copying works of fine art. Many students find inspiration in books and magazines and some
copy directly from these photographs. Remember that the photographs are the property
of the photographer or the publisher that bought them, so copying these is still considered
plagiarism. Besides that, it is important that you develop your own images. Your art should be
the culmination of your creative exploration.
Sometimes students include elements from other people’s work in their own because
it is difficult to source their own reference. If you want to draw a picture of an astronaut
pushing a penny-farthing bicycle through the Australian outback, it may mean that some of
the imagery will be difficult for you to find without access to a space suit or a museum with
old bicycles. It is acceptable to produce this drawing by combining reference from books
with your own photograph, or direct study of the landscape. You are combining a number of
sources into your own composition. It is always preferable that you take your own reference
photographs or work from life, but sometimes this is not possible. As a guide, you should try
to either change sourced images by 70 per cent or use sourced imagery in less than 30 per
cent of your artwork.
When combining a number of images into one picture, whether the images are sourced
or your own, it is important to consider that if you are producing an image portraying natural
space with a logical and realistic interaction of the objects within the environment, you must
ensure that all parts work together. That includes making sure that the scale of items from

different sources work in terms of perspective. If the environment is lit with natural light,
you will have to ensure that all parts of the picture have a common light source. The other
difficulty when creating a composite image is to make sure that all things in the image are
seen from the same viewpoint.
Creating images based on comic styles is often popular. Some students are inspired by
manga: Japanese comic their interest in manga, and it is often difficult to tell from their folios what is copied and
books or graphic novels what images are the students’ own manga works. To clarify this you should show evidence
of your original source material such as photographs of friends, landscapes and various
environments. Using these, apply the techniques and characteristics of manga and create
your own characters and scenes.
It is important that whatever your approach, you acknowledge your source material
and show evidence of how you developed the idea. Remember that it is not just the
image that you must consider in terms of copyright. If you are working with video or
creating an installation that makes use of music, you must take care to use your own
music compositions or source a soundtrack using copyright-free music. You may want to
investigate www.royaltyfreemusic.com for suitable music you could use in your
Weblinks
video or installation. You may also wish to check with your school’s resource centre. Some
schools subscribe to a Screenrights licence that gives their students access to images, text
appropriation: using an and music. You can access information at www.screenrights.org.
image from another Some students will use the postmodernist approach of appropriation to create an
artist, usually without artwork. When referencing another artwork, it is important to remember that the emphasis
permission, and placing
it in a new context
in your folio is on your artwork. It is appropriate to reference existing artworks but the
which changes its assessors want to see your skill, creativity and ideas.
meaning
Appropriation is when an artist recycles, borrows, references or quotes an
existing artwork. This is a typical postmodernist approach, which attacks
the tradition of originality and the uniqueness of a work of art and had
its origins in the ready-made works of Marcel Duchamp, such as LHOOQ.
The use of appropriation generally creates a different meaning to that
of the original. Works that make use of appropriation are often playful in
their interpretation. Artworks use appropriation as a tool for commentary.
The original artwork has a history and a context that is recognisable. This
meaning is placed on the new work by its presence, but the meaning is
usually altered in the new context because of how it is used and what else
is used to create the artwork.
Investigation of materials, techniques and processes

If you are exploring a range of media and artforms it is helpful to decide on a medium
that you feel would be suitable for the depiction of one of your ideas. Experiment with this
medium in terms of its capabilities and limitations. Many of these experiments will aid you
Figure 1.19 in deciding how best to resolve your idea. Some of these experiments may even become a
Marcel Duchamp, minor completed work.
L.H.O.O.Q postcard All exploration of media and ideas is valuable and should be kept as part of your body
reproduction, 1919, of work. Even experiments that are not successful for your current idea could generate
19.7 x 12.4cm ©
ideas for further exploration. You could also refer back to this experiment at a later stage
Marcel Duchamp/
ADAGP. Licensed by as a resolution to a different idea. As the French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said,
VISCOPY, Sydney 2009 ‘Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely’.

1
You should continue with ongoing personal exploration, reflection, analysis and evaluation
as you develop and refine your ideas and media progressively. Your annotation is not to be
done after completing your practical work, but should be done in real-time. As you complete
an experiment, analyse the result in terms of the effect created by this use of the medium,
what you have learnt and how you can use it or what you should avoid. You should also note
if the meaning you want to present is achieved through a particular technique or combination
of techniques, methods or processes. Your folio must document your process of trialling and
refining styles, media, techniques and formal elements in the development of your artworks.
Reflect upon finished artwork/s

On completion of your folio, it is a good idea to write a short statement evaluating the ACTIVITY 1.21
degree to which you feel you have succeeded in conveying your idea or concept in your Select an artwork that
you have created to
body of work. You can do this at the end of each area of exploration or before submitting
represent a concept or
your folio for assessment. Using art language, you should make observations about your to reflect on an issue.
work and how it relates to the Analytical Frameworks. In this evaluation, you may want to Use correct art language
explain what you were trying to achieve and how you have used the artform/s, media and to evaluate the degree
techniques to achieve this. Explain how effective your application of the formal qualities to which you feel you
was and any symbolism that you employed to visually represent your idea/s. succeeded in conveying
your idea or concept.
Explain what you were
Safe practices striving to achieve.
Evaluate your use of
As you explore and experiment with a variety of techniques and materials throughout the the artform/s, formal
year, it is important that you develop an awareness of the impact of safe practices and the qualities, symbolism,
effects of your artmaking on yourself and your environment. media and techniques.
Many of you will use media that are potentially harmful to you if not used correctly or in
the correct environment. Some equipment, such as power tools, are obviously dangerous if
not used correctly, but even something that many of you will use on a daily basis, such as
an NT cutter, is dangerous if not handled safely.
The dangers of some materials are not immediately obvious and you may be using them
ACTIVITY 1.22
Read the MSDS form for
without knowing the harmful effect they are having. If, for instance, you are using fixative,
a medium you are using.
it may not be harmful if used inside once, but with extensive use by multiple students in a Note any dangers that
confined space, it can be hazardous. For this reason, it is safer to always spray your work you were previously
in a well-ventilated area, away from other students. Often seemingly harmless things can unaware of.
emit hazardous vapours when used, or when combined with other materials. It is always
important to read the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS forms) for any equipment or
materials you are using for the first time. If you purchase something yourself, ask the
supplier to provide the MSDS for you.
You must be aware of, and practice the safe and appropriate use of, the materials
and techniques you use in respect to both yourself, other students and the environment.
Discarding containers inappropriately or washing paint or dyes down the sink is harmful
to our environment. Read the MSDS forms for any indication of correct handling and
disposal of materials. Student information and resources to support you are available
from the National Association for Visual Artists (NAVA) at: www.visualarts.net.
au/advicecentre/healthsafety. A search facility and database of health and safety
information for artists is also available at: www.ci.tucson.az.us/arthazards/ Weblinks
medium.html.

[2]
Chapter overview
By the end of Unit 1, you will have gained experience in
ART AND
the analysis and interpretation of artworks. In this chapter,
• use the Formal Framework to analyse and interpret
MEANING
the formal qualities of an artwork
• consider the Personal Framework and the ways in
which artworks can reflect the feelings, thinking
and life circumstances of the artist
Unit 1 – Area of Study 1 • consider the ways in which the interpretations of
the artwork may be influenced by the background
and experiences of the viewer
• form personal opinions about artworks and their
meanings
• use appropriate art language
• explore self-portraiture as a means self-expression
• look at dreams and nightmares as examples of
the expression of an artist’s personal concerns
and fears.
‘A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, some fantasy. When you always make
your meaning perfectly plain, you end up boring people.’
Edgar Degas (1834–1917), French artist
INTRODUCTION
Art is part of our lives. It records what we see. It expresses, and sometimes challenges, how
we feel. It records beauty. It enables us to communicate our thoughts, fears and beliefs.
Interpreting art is one of the aims of the VCE Art Study Design. It encourages you, the
viewer, to observe artworks closely and to identify and respond to what you see. All art
is a form of communication and contains visual messages. While these messages may
be straightforward, sometimes they are shrouded in mystery and symbolism. Your task,
as a viewer, is to gain an insight into messages that an artwork contains. The art study
encourages you to be an active viewer and to observe art on a number of levels.
Whenever you analyse or interpret an artwork, you must examine its surface
appearance: its physical and visual properties. All artists manipulate the formal qualities

2
of their artworks by controlling the manner in which they apply the art elements and
principles, and apply materials, techniques and style. The Art Study Design calls this
the Formal Framework and you use it to begin your investigation of the meanings and
messages contained within an artwork. &ORMAL
The Art Study Design encourages enquiry to help you do this. It is not enough to
describe what the work looks like, although this is obviously a consideration. What is
more important is trying to understand how the appearance of the work communicates a
message from the artist. Ask questions such as ‘How has the artist manipulated the colours,
tones and details to present us with a message?’ and ‘What physical qualities of the work
draw the viewer’s attention to the focal point?’ You can also ask ‘What effect or mood has
been created?’, ‘How has the artist achieved this?’ and ‘How have symbols been used to visual language: the way
enhance the meaning?’ in which images, the
To provide a convincing interpretation, you must refer to visual evidence to support elements and principles
your opinions about meanings and messages. Discuss the elements and principles that are of art, materials,
relevant to the effect created in this particular work. You will need to use art language to and art forms can be
discuss the visual language of the work. used to communicate
In order to recognise more than superficial interpretations of a work, you need to concepts and ideas
investigate more than its appearance. Understanding the input of the artist is as important
as interpreting the surface. You will use the Personal Framework to help you to investigate
what artists are expressing in their artworks.
In this chapter, you will look at the influence of an artist’s life experiences and beliefs
on their work. Artists may create a mood that reflects their own frame of mind or reflects
their feelings about personal experiences or issues that are important for them. You will 0ERSONAL
ask questions such as ‘What issues concern the artist?’, ‘How has the artist’s background
influenced their work?’ and ‘Has the artist manipulated the content of the work to
emphasise the message for the viewer?’
This framework also encourages you to consider how artworks might be perceived
differently according to the experiences and background of the viewer. While artists are
making comments in their artworks, viewers also take an active role in the conversation
by interpreting the message. Henri Matisse, an early twentieth-century French artist,
acknowledged that the interpretation of an artwork resides with the viewer when he said,
‘A painter doesn’t see everything that he has put in his paintings. It is other
people who find these treasures in it, one by one, and the richer a painting is in
surprises of this sort, in treasures, the greater its author’.
The way you interpret an artwork is influenced by who you are and the experiences and
background that you bring with you. Your age and cultural background, your interests and
skills, all of these shape how you ‘read’ the visual language of an artwork.
In this chapter, we will consider two major areas that reflect an artist’s interests and
preoccupations. Self-portraits reveal much about their creators. You will see how artists
represent themselves and how their works can tell the viewer about their lives, their
interests and often their hopes and desires. You will also see that dreams and nightmares
often reflect an artist’s deepest fears and concerns.

SELF-PORTRAITURE
‘Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.’
Oscar Wilde
A self-portrait is a representation, usually visual, by an artist of himself or herself. Why do

artists produce self-portraits? Whatever they create, it is always about themselves and usually
their perceptions of themselves or their concerns. Often it is an opportunity to create something
0ERSONAL beyond the image in the mirror. American artist Marisol went a step further and said, ‘Whatever
the artist makes is always some kind of self-portrait’. This quote, like that by Oscar Wilde,
refers to what she believes to be the autobiographical quality of artmaking.
Some self-portraits reveal the personal feelings of the artist through their facial features
and expression; their pose, clothing and setting. This is particularly revealing when the artist
produces a series of self-portraits over a period of time, such as those of Albrecht Dürer,
who made his first self-portrait when he was 13-years-old (see Figure 2.1), and Vincent van
Gogh, who painted at least 30 self-portraits (see Figure 2.5).
In a self-portrait, the artist may present themselves as they would like to be seen by the
viewer. They may intensify this by capturing the viewer’s attention through eye contact and,
in this way, confront us by demanding a personal response. Alternatively, they may avoid our
gaze and place us in the position of a spectator, left to read the hints about the artist’s concerns.
For many artists, self-portraits are more than a literal likeness. They are a means of
self-exploration – not simply of their physical likeness but also of their psychological reality.
About one-third of Frida Kahlo’s paintings were self-portraits for this reason (see Figure
2.6). Artists may search their souls and explore the nature of their personal feelings in
their self-portraits. Instead of portraying objective appearances, they may concentrate on
concerns that are more spiritual. They may forego the need for reality and use distortion
and symbolism or perhaps even pure abstraction to express their interest in an aspect of
their existence.
Self-portraiture timeline
Florence, 1425–1452
Baptistery of San Giovanni,
the Gates of Paradise,
Ghiberti, Self-portrait from
Figure 2.2 Lorenzo
1889
Gogh, Self-portrait,
Figure 2.5 Vincent van
1638–39
Allegory of Painting,
portrait as the
Gentileschi, Self-
Figure 2.3 Artemisia
at 13, 1484
Dürer, Self-portrait
Figure 2.1 Albrecht
age of 83, 1843

portrait at the
Hokusai, Self-
Katsushika
Figure 2.4

2
An artist’s appearance may follow the style of their work, as we see in Hokusai’s Self-
portrait at 83 (see Figure 2.4) and Tezuka’s Self-portrait (movie) Jigazou
(see Figure 2.7).
A self-portrait may also take the form of a signature. Ghiberti’s self-portrait from the doors
of the Baptistry in Florence is an example of this. He wanted the viewer to be in no doubt
about who had created the doors that were dubbed The Gates of Paradise (see Figure 2.2).
Related artworks
Raphael, Self-portrait, c.1515 Paul Gauguin, Self-portrait with Yellow Christ, 1889
Parmigianino, Self-portrait in a mirror, 1524 Henri Rousseau, Self-portrait, 1890
Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-portrait, c.1560 Edvard Munch, Self-portrait with Burning Cigarette, 1895
Peter Paul Rubens, Rubens and Isabella Brandt, 1609 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Self-portrait as a Soldier, 1915
Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas, 1656 Yasumasa Morimura, Portrait (Twins), 1988
Rembrandt, Self-portrait, 1658 Chuck Close, Self-portrait, 1997
Goya, Self-portrait, aged 69, 1815 Tracey Moffatt, Adventure Series 10, 2004
ACTIVITY 2.1
1 Watch a narrative film made about the life and work of an artist, such as Artemisia
Gentileschi, Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo or Jean-Michel Basquiat. Compare the
knowledge you gain from the film to a self-portrait by the same artist. Describe and
compare any ways in which the film presents the artist and their personality and work
differently to their artworks, both visually and psychologically. Look at the level of
Weblink
realism and the ways in which the emotional response of the viewer is controlled.
2 The Archibald Prize is Australia’s most prestigious award for a portrait painting. Go
to www.thearchibaldprize.com.au/history and select a portrait or self-portrait
that you think says a great deal about the subject. Analyse this work using the Formal
Framework as a structure to discuss the elements and principles of art, the style of the
&ORMAL
work and the medium used.
3 How would you represent yourself in a self-portrait? Brainstorm some examples
– written and visual. What would you ‘say’ about your life, your experiences, your
concerns, your beliefs and your hopes for the future?
0ERSONAL
Jigazou, 1988
Self-portrait (movie)
Figure 2.7 Osamu Tezuka,
1990–93
Spheres and Hands),
Bourgeois, Cell (Glass,
Figure 2.9 Louise
The Two Fridas, 1939
Figure 2.6 Frida Kahlo,
Quinn, Self, 1991

Figure 2.8 Marc
Gregory, 2003
as my Uncle
Self-portrait
Gillian Wearing,
Figure 2.10

Artemisia Gentileschi
‘Artemisia transcended [rose above] victimization by sustaining an independent artistic identity
(she was one of the first women artists to support herself entirely through her painting), and by
creating an art that offered visual models of female defiance of masculine control.’
New York Times 24 May 1998
Figure 2.11 Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi, (1593–1652/3), painted this
Self-portrait as the self-portrait in the Baroque
Allegory of Painting,
c1630, Royal
style of seventeenth-century
Collection, Windsor, Italy. The composition of
96.5 x 73.7cm Self-portrait as the Allegory
of Painting is typically
asymmetrical and contains an
obvious diagonal emphasis,
highlighted by the strong
light being cast from the left.
&ORMAL
She has applied the popular
Baroque: art style practice of chiaroscuro, in
or movement of which the contrast between
the sixteenth and
the light areas (chiaro) and the
seventeenth centuries
where artists used dark (scuro) accentuate three-
strong contrasts, dimensional form. At the same
emotion, movement, time, this contrast suggests a
exaggeration and sense of drama, of action that
theatrical effects
has been captured.
chiaroscuro: Italian for The figure is close to the
‘light-dark’, refers to front of the painting and is
the contrast of light and leaning towards the viewer, almost projecting into our space. This draws the viewer into
dark to make forms look the work and enables a sense of connection and empathy. There is nothing in the dark
three-dimensional
background to distract from the figure bathed in the strong light that highlights both the
flesh and the rich colour and texture of the fabric. Gentileschi’s open composition
open composition:
composition in which enhances the sense of mystery and allows the viewer to imagine what is happening
the objects in the outside the frame.
picture extend visually The artist probably worked from reflections in two carefully angled mirrors to gain
beyond the edges of this unusual three-quarter view of herself. She used fine brushwork to create the intense
the frame
realism visible in the lace of her dress and the pendant around her neck.
It was unusual for a female artist to be successful professionally in the seventeenth century.
It was very much a man’s world and for a woman to succeed she needed great skill and a good
start. Gentileschi certainly had the first quality and the fact that her father was a well-respected
painter who allowed her to be apprenticed in his studio, supplied the second.
Those women who were fortunate enough to become painters maintained a career
by painting landscapes, portraits and still lifes, as they were forbidden to work from nude

2
models and thus could not paint the historical and religious scenes that were popular
among patrons. Gentileschi was one of the very few women who painted biblical and
classical scenes of heroism and drama. She chose subject matter that reflected her interest
in powerful women and produced images that evoke understanding and sympathy in the &ORMAL
viewer. Many of her paintings empower the heroine, who acts with courage against her
male adversary, often exacting symbolic justice for the vulnerable.
Gentileschi painted Allegory of Painting when she was 37 years old and at the peak of
her career. In it, she expressed her commitment to her profession by representing herself
as the personification of painting. She identifed herself with her career, something that
was impossible for a male painter to do because traditionally painting was symbolised by a
female figure. This self-portrait is of great significance because it acknowledges her status
as an artist in a male-dominated field. She painted herself at work, holding a palette and 0ERSONAL
wielding a brush, the customary tools of the painter. Gentileschi used accepted symbolism
to enhance the reference to the allegorical figure. The detailed pendant mask on the golden
chain around her neck, for example, symbolises her ability to imitate reality.
Much has been written about the fact that Gentileschi was seduced and raped by a
colleague of her father’s when she was a teenager. While it is tempting to view her work as
a response to the vulnerability that she felt in that situation, and the revenge she may have
wished to take symbolically, it is important to maintain a balanced view without making this
scandal the defining action of her life and her art.
Other works
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes (Naples version 1612–13, Uffizi version 1620)
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes c.1625
References
Garrard, Mary D. 1991, Artemisia Gentileschi, Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
Web resources
www.artemisia-gentileschi.com
Weblink
ACTIVITY 2.2
1 Both Gentileschi and Caravaggio (see page 116) painted versions of
Judith and Holofernes. Painted a dozen years apart, their psychological
emphases are quite different. Compare these two paintings. Do you think
the gender of the artist had any influence on the representations of the
characters? Explain your response with evidence drawn from research
and your observation of the the works.
2 Gentileschi has been described as an early feminist. What is your
understanding of that term? Do you believe that the title should be
applied to her? Use at least two paintings to support your point of view.

Osamu Tezuka
‘People often forget this is work produced in the post-war period by a nation that ... had a lot
of issues to deal with. People look at this stuff and think it’s wacky and crazy and all over the
place; it’s actually very complex.’
Phillip Brophy (filmmaker, composer, and curator of the Tezuka exhibition at NGV, 2006)
To view this work, visit www.

youtube.com and look up
‘Osamu Tezuka self-portrait’.
Weblink
Osamu Tezuka (1928–1989), or
Tezuka Osamu in the traditional Japanese
format, is known in Japan as the ‘father
of manga’. He was also an animator and
a filmmaker with a prodigious output. He
wrote, produced and directed 14 television
series, 36 shorts and television specials,
and 23 feature-length films during his long
career, as well as drawing 150 000 pages
of manga.
The still on the left is from Jigazou, a
very brief film made by Tezuka in response
Figure 2.12 to an international competition that challenged the world’s leading animators to produce
Osamu Tezuka, Self- an animated self-portrait. Tezuka’s entry was inspired by the revolving sections of a slot
portrait (movie), machine. The caricatured parts rotate rapidly and line up briefly to create a number of
Jigazou, 1988
faces, then change again before finishing with coins tumbling out of his mouth.
Manga is an important example of Japanese post-war popular culture, more respected
and influential than comics or cartoons are in the West. It is the term used for all Japanese
comics but especially those intended for children’s entertainment. Gekiga is a more adult-
oriented narrative form, popular in the generation who grew up with manga. This form uses
realistic effects to tell more complex stories, including a Japanese version of Dostoyevsky’s
Crime and Punishment (Tsumi to batsu) and Ludwig B (Rudovihi B), the story of Beethoven.
Tezuka’s manga and anime are multi-layered and contain moral and ethical lessons
manga: Japanese comic without preaching to the reader. His cartoons and animations were a response to political
books or graphic novels and social issues in wartime and post-war Japan, the psychological effects of war,
technology, intolerance, reincarnation and messages of hope. He was also interested in
gekiga: adult-oriented nature and in promoting a healthy balance between living things and the future of the Earth.
Japanese graphic
His most famous characters in the West, Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, are
novels
non-human but have been anthropomorphised and display human traits as they struggle to
narrative: telling a story understand human behaviour. Living in the twenty-first century, Astro Boy is a human-like
robot running on nuclear energy. Called ‘Atom Boy’ in Japan, he was Tezuka’s response
anime: a Japanese style to living after the atom bomb, which was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan at
of animation and film the end of World War II. Like the wooden puppet Pinocchio, Astro Boy wants to be a real

2
boy. He embodies the uncomfortable relationship between humans and technology and in anthropomorphise: to give
his adventures uses his energy for peaceful purposes. He was used by Tezuka to explore human features to an
animal or object
questions of human rights, intolerance and prejudice.
Tezuka’s cartoons are known for their cinematic visual effects – for cropping, framing,
panning, zooming, close-ups, unusual viewpoints and dramatic angles and movement across
the page. He showed action from more than one viewpoint in panels of different sizes to
better catch facial expression and story elements. The action is detailed, in much the same &ORMAL
way as a storyboard for a film. There is a strong relationship between text and image with
each playing its part in conveying meaning. cinematic: having
qualities specific to
As with cartoons in the West, exaggeration and distortion of personal features is a major
motion-pictures
method of creating humour in manga. This is a method used by Tezuka throughout his work,
obvious even in his self-portraits when he drew his nose several times larger than life. The cropping: to trim parts
big, seemingly cute, eyes he drew on most of his characters are expressive, which makes it of an image to remove
easier to convey emotion and mood. unwanted sections
Born Tezuka Shigeru, as a child he was fascinated by insects and took the name of one
(osamushi ) as his nickname. He was a fan of both Russian animation and the early work of
Walt Disney, the American cartoonist, animator and filmmaker who created Mickey Mouse
in 1928. Tezuka claimed to have seen Disney’s film Bambi more than 80 times. He was also
0ERSONAL
influenced by other twentieth-century media forms such as photography, film and television
and worked for many years in the last two. framing: to isolate and
Tezuka was a teenager during World War II and started drawing in 1946, soon after the draw attention to
the most important
end of the war. He studied medicine but never practiced and by the time he had finished his
part of an image by
studies, he was immersed in the world of manga. Astro Boy has become a post-war icon for surrounding it with a
Japan. Phoenix, the mythical firebird, was the major character in what he called his ‘master visual ‘frame’
project’. This lengthy, lifelong project revolved around reincarnation and is a testament to
the regenerative power of post-war Japan. panning: moving the
camera horizontally to
follow a moving object
Other works
Astro Boy, 1963 zooming: a photographic
Kimba the White Lion, 1966 term; to bring a subject
Phoenix, 1980 into close-up without
losing focus
References storyboard: series of

Brophy, Philip ed. 2006, Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
sketches that depict
the changes to the
Web resources scenes and action of a
planned film or video
www.tezukainenglish.com production
Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga Education Kit, available at
www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/ed/resources/ed-kits/tezuka
Weblinks
ACTIVITY 2.3
Go to www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/26/Tracey_Moffatt/306. Select
one of Tracey Moffatt’s Adventure Series. Compare the presentation of this
format to a page of manga by Osamu Tezuka. Weblink

Marc Quinn
Quinn said that using blood as a medium ‘makes the portrait more alive. Like a person, there is an impermanence
[Using blood as a medium], ‘makes the portrait more alive. Like a person, there is an
about it which I like.’ ‘I don’t make things to shock people,’ he insists. ‘I didn’t make it to get a reaction; I made it to
impermanence about it which I like. I don’t make things to shock people. I didn’t make it to
have an emotional contact with people, and everybody’s going to have a personal reaction.’
get a reaction; I made it to have an emotional contact with people, and everybody’s going to
have a personal reaction.’ Marc Quinn
Figure 2.13
Marc Quinn, Self, 1991,
blood, stainless steel,
perspex, refrigeration
equipment,
208 x 64 x 64cm © Marc
Quinn, courtesy Mary
Boone Gallery
genre: depicts the A portrait aims to preserve a likeness. British artist Marc Quinn (born in 1964) has moved
realistic representation a step beyond this by using bodily matter that preserves the physical essence of a person.
of everyday life; The example above is a self-portrait made with his own blood. It raises questions about the
genres are also various
genre of portraiture in contemporary culture as well as issues of permanence, mortality
categories of subject
matter and identity.
Self was created in 1991. Over a period of five months, Quinn collected 4.5 litres of
his blood and froze it inside a mould taken of his head. This process calls to mind funerary
masks that date back to the ancient Egyptians. They were placed over the faces of

2
mummies so that wandering souls would be able to identify their bodies and return to them,
thus ensuring immortality. The Romans also made death masks to remember the spirits
of their ancestors. More recently, our own Ned Kelly had a death mask taken to record his
to features. In this tradition, Self has been made in a fragile medium and, as such, is well
placed to remind us of our human fragility and the vulnerability of our identities.
Every five years, Quinn has created a new version of Self by making a new cast of his 0ERSONAL
head and freezing his blood inside it. He says that this series of self-portraits will document
his ageing and record his ultimate deterioration. He is said to be planning a final one after
his death, using blood drained from his body.
Quinn’s use of blood as a medium is at odds with traditional notions of sculpture, which is
usually made from permanent materials and is thus durable. Instead, Self is unconventional
in its vulnerability and its impermanence. Each version is exhibited inside a glass cabinet
built above a specially constructed refrigeration unit. Its continued existence depends on
technology and it reminds us of the relationship between art and science in the twenty-first &ORMAL
century. The bland surgical precision of the cabinet contrasts the visual warmth of the cast
head. The human scale assists the viewer to identify with the subject. It is not until the viewer
becomes aware of the materials Quinn has used that a more emotional element enters the
dialogue. His images are quite beautiful – it is his concepts that can be unsettling.
The National Portrait Gallery in London has extensively researched the issue of display
logistics and permanence concerning Self, 2006. As this is the fourth version to have been
made by Quinn, there is a protocol for its continued existence. Provision has been made for
it to be melted and later recast and refrozen should it need to be moved.
During his career, Quinn has been preoccupied with exploring concepts of self, identity
and mortality. In his effort to create a likeness he has used a wide range of media, from
painting and drawing to sculpture in both traditional and non-traditional media. Many of
his most thought provoking works have used bodily fluids to challenge our understanding
of the fragility and transience of life. In 2001, he created A Genomic Portrait: John Sulston
– Sulston was the man who won the Nobel Prize for sequencing the human genome. Quinn
used bacteria containing Sulston’s own DNA suspended in an agar solution. Thus, the
portrait is an exact representation of the subject, a type of biological photograph, although
not an image with any visual similarities to the sitter. What is visible is a silver frame
containing colonies of bacteria that look like a mist under glass.
Quinn also created DNA Garden in 2001. This work is an installation containing DNA
samples of 75 plant species and 2 humans, who represent Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden on a cellular level.
ACTIVITY 2.4
Other works 1 Art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon’s
Self-portrait (2nd perspective), Cloned DNA, 2001 verdict on Self, 1991 was that, ‘The
Chemical Life Support, 2005 head-shaped plasma ice-lolly has
Angel, 2007 novelty appeal, and that is about
it’. Do you agree? Use evidence to
support your opinion.
Web resources 2 ‘The concept is more important than
www.whitecube.com/artists/quinn the artwork.’ Debate this statement,
using examples to support your
opinion.
Weblink

Louise Bourgeois
‘My childhood has never lost its mystery, and it has never lost its drama. All my work of the
last 50 years, all my subjects have found their inspiration in my childhood.’
Louise Bourgeois
Figure 2.14
Louise Bourgeois, Cell
(Glass, spheres and
hands), 1990–93, glass,
iron, wood, linoleum, canvas,
marble, 219.5 x 218.8 x
220.0cm. Purchased with the
assistance of the National
Gallery Victoria, Melbourne.
Leslie Moira Henderson
Bequest, 1995. © Louise
Bourgeois, 1990–3/VAGA.
Licensed by VISCOPY 2009
Cell (Glass, spheres and hands) is a large-scale installation. A compact, but complex work,
it is steeped in symbolism. The title alone allows for multiple interpretations; it may refer to
a cell as a basic unit of life, or a place of imprisonment or contemplation, or both. Bourgeois
says that it reflects the fact that she is a prisoner of her memories.
&ORMAL
Architectural in form, Cell is a small room, a confined space that both protects and
restricts. Its steel frame, enclosing dirty glass walls, is reminiscent of a nineteenth-century
factory. Its rigid, geometric cage-like structure allows only partial views of the world outside
through the sooty, graffiti covered windowpanes. There is no access to the interior except via
panels of broken glass. The doorway is closed with steel mesh – there is no way in or out.
Cell’s enclosed space contains a range of diverse objects with symbolic significance.
There is a pair of clasped hands on a small table facing five glass spheres of different sizes,
each resting on a wooden chair. We are reminded of a classroom. Both found and made,
these objects are juxtaposed symbolically within the enclosed space. They are together
and yet isolated. The objects used in Cell – the worn and mismatched wooden furniture,
the marble arms, the glass spheres – have a range of weathered, aged surfaces and
readymade: a found textures. Much of Bourgeois’ work refers to the tradition of readymades by Marcel Duchamp
object displayed as an
and Pablo Picasso, and shows how objects can be imbued with new meaning when their
artwork
context changes.

2
Born in France in 1911, Bourgeois studied in Paris during the 1930s and, as an artist, Surrealism: an art
moved on the fringes of the Surrealist circle. She married an American art historian and movement launched in
Paris in 1924 that was
moved to New York in 1938. Her career has spanned seven decades, and her practice
based on dreams and
involves not only sculpture but also painting, drawing and printmaking. Since childhood, she the creation of artworks
has kept records and diaries that reflect the importance of her experiences and emotions. based on irrational
Bourgeois’ work is autobiographical. Her main source of inspiration is her life: its thought
relationships and the tensions and pain they cause. She is obsessed by certain themes,
including anxiety, alienation and betrayal. Since the 1990s, she has created a number of
Cell installations, each being highly symbolic. In them, she exposes her anxieties and fears.
She explains that they ‘represent different types of pain: the physical, the emotional and the
psychological, and the mental and intellectual’. They document her vulnerability and fragility
within her family environment. 0ERSONAL
These self-contained cells echo Bourgeois’ memories, the tension in family relationships
and the feelings of isolation that she experienced in her childhood. The glass spheres are
like bubbles. Each one is a different size and is self contained, sitting apart from the next and
opposite the clasped hands. They allow us to see within but they are empty and fragile. They
represent the members of her family, the three larger spheres representing her father, her
mother and her father’s mistress, who was also Bourgeois’ governess. Their placement is
also symbolic.
The hands are Bourgeois’ self-portrait. They represent anxiety; their placement away
from, but facing, the other members of her family suggests isolation. In their marble reality,
they are very different in form to the objects that represent other members of her family.
Bourgeois has said that she felt betrayed by her father, lacked trust in her governess and
was deeply affected by her mother’s tolerance of her husband’s affair. She has said that the
making of art is, for her, a magical and curative act.
Other works
Cell (Eyes and Mirrors), 1989–93
Spider, 1997
References
Storr R. 2003, Louise Bourgeois, Phaidon, London.
Web resources
For a video and article on Bourgeois go to
www.scribemedia.org/2008/07/11/louise-bourgeois-pandoras-box
www.pbs.org/art21/artists/bourgeois/card1.html
Weblinks
ACTIVITY 2.5
1 ‘A work of art doesn’t have to be explained,’ Bourgeois says. ‘If you do not have any feeling
about this, I cannot explain it to you. If this doesn’t touch you, I have failed.’ Do you agree
that the viewer must be moved by a work of art to appreciate it? Look at another artwork and
discuss whether it agrees or disagrees with this statement. Explain your response, isolating
details in the work or its presentation that support your opinion.
2 Explain how making art could be a ‘magical and curative act’. Use Bourgeois’ Cell (Glass,
spheres and hands) to support your response.

Gillian Wearing
‘I was interested in the idea of being genetically connected to someone but being very
different. There is something of me, literally, in all those people – we are connected, but we are
each very different.’
Gillian Wearing
Figure 2.15 Left: Gillian Wearing, British artist Gillian Wearing’s approach to portraiture is unusual. In Album (2003), she
Album, 2003, Series of six
challenges the traditional understanding of a portrait as the likeness of a sitter. This series of
photographs, Maureen Paley
Gallery. Right: Gillian Wearing, Self larger than life-size digital photographs is based on images of members of Wearing’s family
Portrait as my uncle Bryan Gregory – her mother, father, uncle, brother, sister and herself as a teenager. In 2004, she created Self
2003, photographic print, 114.3 x Portrait at Three Years Old and in 2006, she added ‘portraits’ of her maternal grandparents.
73cm Charles Clifton Find, courtesy The photographs that make up the series are disparate in size and style, something
Albight-Knox Art Gallery
that Wearing (who was born in 1963) enjoys. She has noted that the original images reveal
changing approaches to photography over time. The stark chiaroscuro of the image of her
grandfather is very different to the informal snapshot of her brother and the staged studio shot
of her uncle. Each one says something about its time as well as the sitter and the qualities of
&ORMAL their personality that have been captured.
What makes these images self-portraits is the fact that Wearing herself is the sitter in
chiaroscuro: Italian for
‘light-dark’, refers to each one. In order to imitate the appearance of family members, she collaborated with a
the contrast of light and team that created costumes, wigs and silicon prosthetic masks in order to painstakingly
dark to make forms look recreate photographs from her family’s photo album. They copied poses and expressions,
three-dimensional
and imitated lighting conditions and photographic styles, from snapshots and black and white
studio shots to the image of Wearing herself taken in a photo booth when she was 17 years
prosthetic: a device
that substitutes for/or old. In each photograph from the Album series, she is only visible where the edges of the
supplements a body part mask stop around her eyes.

2
Wearing explores the idea of resemblance and connection with family members by
using a disguise to capture a likeness. She is noting the links between family members, the
connectedness across time. She has created a type of family tree, one based on memories
and photographs. At the same time, she challenges personal identity and questions the
concept of self. Writer Matt Lippiatt says, ‘The results are spooky and raise questions
around loss, the passage of time and disintegrating identity’.s In 2004, she went
even further when she recreated an image of herself as a three-year-old, looking at the
viewer with an adult’s eyes through a toddler’s mask.
Throughout her career, Wearing has used masks in many artworks to conceal or confuse
identity. Sometimes these masks are physical, as in Album, and sometimes they are
symbolic, including voice dubbing to disguise the identity of speakers. Much of her work is
autobiographical and looks at issues of personal identity and how it can be manipulated. 0ERSONAL
Early reality television in Britain has been a great influence on Wearing’s photography
and documentary-style videos. She explores the private and the public personas that people persona: a perceived
show the world, the way in which they behave in public and the influence of the media on personality or role
that behaviour.
In Pin-Ups, 2008, Wearing photographed people who wanted to become professional
models and adjusted them in Photoshop to increase their glamour. She then collaborated
with science-fiction illustrator Jim Burns, who recreated them in acrylics, adding a lustre of
airbrushed artificiality. Identity and transformation are central to this work and Wearing notes
that the reality and the fantasy are interlocked. She has said, ‘I’m always trying to find
ways of discovering new things about people, and in the process discover more
about myself’.
Other works
Self-portrait at Three Years Old, 2004
Self-portrait as my Grandmother Nancy Gregory, 2006
References
Ferguson, R. 1999, Gillian Wearing (Contemporary Artists), Phaidon, London.
Web resources
www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2006/jul/06/art
Weblink
ACTIVITY 2.6
1 Gillian Wearing and Cindy Sherman both use ideas of self and disguise
in their photographs. Compare Wearing’s Album with a picture from the
Untitled Film Stills series by Sherman.
2 Wearing says that, ‘Photographs are part of your memory of people, so
you don’t imagine them in action, you imagine them sometimes as a still,
almost a sculpture, static, defined by this one moment. It becomes an
icon of that memory’. Discuss.

DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
‘Without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we
owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.’
Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist
psyche: Greek Dreams and nightmares hold a magical place in our psyche because they are so mysterious.
translation of the Latin In them, the rules that control reality are suspended. Details may seem photorealism, but
anima which means
the depiction of time, place and space lack the visible truth of our daily world. Symbolism
soul; it refers to the
human spirit or mind abounds in both dreams and nightmares but it is often difficult to interpret. While the details
of dreams seem illogical, psychologists tell us that there is sometimes an inner logic to our
photorealism: a style of dreams and they can be fertile ground for expressing personal fears and desires.
painting that resembles In 1899, the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud published The Interpretation
a photograph in of Dreams. In this book, he explained his belief that emotions are buried in the unconscious
its reproduction of
mind and come to the surface in disguised form during dreaming. The remembered
accurate and realistic
detail; sometimes fragments of dreams may help uncover these buried feelings. Such images in dreams are
called super realism often not what they appear to be and need deeper interpretation. He called nightmares
‘anxiety dreams’.
archetype: an original Dreams have a pictorial language and, according to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung,
model that is a contain archetypal images. Jung’s theory states that there is a collective unconscious that
universal image
all people share and which contains universal images. We are all born with these images
in our minds but they vary from person to person and culture to culture according to our
life experiences. These archetypes can be found in myths, fairytales, religion and art. The
incubus in, for example, The Nightmare by Füseli (see Figure 2.17) represents the demon
0ERSONAL that is common to all cultures in one form or another.
Such obvious symbols found in dreams and nightmares suggest similar things to all
of us and may reflect deeply rooted psychological problems or unresolved traumas. The
Dreams and nightmares timeline

St Anthony,
Bosch, The Temptation of
Figure 2.16 Hieronymus
angel), 1888
(Jacob’s fight with the
Vision After the Sermon
Figure 2.19 Paul Gauguin,
The Nightmare, 1781
Figure 2.17 Henry Füseli,
1893
Munch, The Scream,
Figure 2.20 Edvard
Monsters, 1799
Reason Produces
The Sleep of
Figure 2.18 Goya,

2
nightmare visions of Goya (see Figure 2.18), Bosch (see Figure 2.16) and Booth (see Figure
2.23), the fear and panic in Munch’s Scream (see Figure 2.20) and the evil personified
in Nightmare on Elm Street (see Figure 2.24) all hint at unconscious and universal fears,
although they may also reflect personal horrors. In his performance work Close the
Concentration Camps (see Figure 2.25), Mike Parr presents the audience with a scenario
that contains universal fears about acceptance and survival.
The details of dreams can also reflect beauty and other positive and healthy values.
There is a gentle quality to dreams that can be seen in Brancusi’s softly slumbering Muse
(see Figure 2.21) and the positive qualities of Gauguin’s socially shared religious experience
in Vision After the Sermon (see Figure 2.19). Dalí’s dream landscape (see Figure 2.22) has a
surreal quality that is reminiscent of the unreality of dreams. surreal: having a
dreamlike quality.
Related artworks
Botticelli, Venus and Mars 1483
Matthias Grünewald, The Temptation of St Anthony, c. 1515 ACTIVITY 2.7
Goya, The Bewitched Man, c.1798
The theories of Freud and Jung and
Marc Chagall, I and the Village, 1911
their understanding of the deep-
Salvador Dalí, The Persistence of Memory, 1931
seated symbolism in the unconscious
Pablo Picasso, La Rêve, 1932
mind influenced the dreamlike
compositions of the Surrealists, such
References as Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and
Freud, Sigmund 1911, The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon, Germany. James Gleeson. Their paintings
Jung C. G. 2005, Four Archetypes: Mother, Rebirth, Spirit, Trickster, often involve a change of scale and
Routledge Classics, London. objects that have been taken out of
context and thus bring to mind the
state of dreaming. Select a painting
Web resources by a Surrealist artist and explain the
To read Freud’s book, The Interpretation of Dreams, go to dreamlike or nightmare-like qualities
www.psychwww.com/books/interp/toc.htm it contains.
Weblink
The Sleeping Muse, c.1910
Figure 2.21 Constantin Brancusi,
Painting 1981, 1981

Figure 2.23 Peter Booth,
VISCOPY 2009
1946/VEGAP. Licensed by
- Salvador Dalí Foundation,
Anthony, 1946 © Gala
The Temptation of St
Figure 2.22 Salvador Dalí,
Street, 1984
Nightmare on Elm
Craven (director),
Figure 2.24 Wes
Camps, 2002
Concentration
Parr, Close the
Figure 2.25 Mike

Hieronymus Bosch
Bosch created ‘a world of dreams [and] nightmares in which forms seem to flicker and change
before our eyes ’.
Walter Gibson, art historian
Figure 2.26
Bosch, The Temptation
of St Anthony, (central
panel), c1505, oil painting
on wood panels, 131.5 x
119cm, Museu Nacional
de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
The Temptation of St Anthony by Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450–1516) is a scene from a

nightmare, a vision of the horrors of Hell, peopled by hybrid creatures and showing, in
triptych: an artwork in graphic detail, the torments that demons wait to inflict on the unrepentant sinner. It reflects
three panels or parts the pessimism, anxiety and religious turmoil of the troubled times in which the artist lived.
Bosch worked in the tradition of late Gothic art, as was seen in the gargoyles of
didactic: teaching or cathedrals and the fantasy figures painted in the margins of illuminated manuscripts. The
giving instructions Temptation of St Anthony was created as the central panel of the triptych that makes up
the now famous Isenheim Altarpiece and would have been well placed to fulfil its didactic
surreal: having a function in a religious setting. It is a warning to the public of the horror and the punishment
dreamlike quality
awaiting sinners should they not repent their evil ways.
The painting conveys a convincing sense of deep space. St Anthony is being tortured
by the creatures of his nightmares. We see winged demons, surreal combinations of
humans and animals, armoured dogs, a rat-headed preacher reading from a prayer book

2
and a pair of monkeys sitting in the boat-like body of a fish. We see bizarre exaggerations
and distortions of form and scale rendered in an extremely detailed and highly realistic
style. Bosch worked almost exclusively alla prima, meaning that he completed paintings
&ORMAL
in single sittings rather than the more common method of working in multiple fine layers
of transparent glazes. His colours are rich and his powers of observation were so well alla prima: Italian for ‘the
developed that his creatures look as if they truly existed. A number of writers have noted first time’ or all at once;
the similarities of his paintings to the twentieth-century style known as Surrealism and a method of painting
consider him a precursor. in which the picture
is completed in one
In 1500, when it was painted, the details of The Temptation of St Anthony would have
sitting
been clearly understood by the viewer. Knowledge of the symbols has been largely forgotten
but we can appreciate the horror of the scene and the message of fear of eternal damnation glaze: a thin translucent
emphasised by Bosch’s painting. layer of oil paint
The fire in the hellish background of The Temptation of St Anthony, with its flying
demons circling the village, lends an eerie light to the scene surrounding St Anthony as
he kneels in prayer in the centre of the composition. It is thought that Bosch may have
witnessed a catastrophic fire in his hometown of ’s-Hertogenbosch when he was young and
that the terror of the occasion was thus easy for him to render so vividly.
The end of the medieval period was a time of great social and political change.
Bosch was a lay member of a conservative religious group and most of his paintings 0ERSONAL
were commissioned for the church. His paintings show that he was preoccupied with the
sinfulness of man and the punishment that was inevitable according to the religious beliefs
and the late medieval morality of his community in Flanders. There was public hysteria
against heresy and sorcery, and executions and torture were not uncommon. The moral
of this story is optimistic, though: St Anthony remained steadfast in his faith, resisting the
temptations that were sent to try him.
Other works
Christ Carrying the Cross, 1490
The Last Judgement, centre panel, 1500–1502 ACTIVITY 2.8
Hell panel from The Garden of Earthly Delights, c1504–1510 1 Early in his career, Australian artist James
Gleeson was inspired by the paintings of
References Hieronymus Bosch. Select a painting by each
artist and note those qualities in Bosch’s
Campbell, John, The Essential: Hieronymus
Bosch, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 2000 work that may have influenced Gleeson’s
Koldweij, Jos and Vandenbroeck, Paul 2001, painting.
Hieronymus Bosch: The Complete Paintings and 2 Compare The Temptation of St Anthony by
Drawings, Harry N. Abrams, New York Bosch to an artwork of the same name by one
of the following artists: Martin Schöngauer
(an engraving, c.1480), Lucas Cranach
Web resources (a woodcut, 1506), Matthias Grünewald
www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bosch (painted in 1515), Pieter Breugel the Elder
(painted in 1563), Max Ernst (painted in 1945)
www.wga.hu/framex-e.html
and Salvadore Dalí (painted in 1946 – see
Figure 2.25). Explain how the style and the
Weblinks
symbolic detail might have been influenced
by the historical, geographic and religious
contexts of the artists.

Henry Füseli
‘One of the most unexplored regions of art are dreams.’
Henry Füseli
Figure 2.27 Henry Füseli, The Nightmare, 1781 Oil on canvas, 101.6 x 127cm, Detroit Institute of Arts
In The Nightmare, Henry Füseli (1741–1825) has painted both the dreamer and the dream.
There is a sense of drama in the strong contrasts, rich colours and mysterious shadows that
&ORMAL
surround the woman. Her twisted body, with the head thrown back over the side of the bed,
chiaroscuro: Italian for melodramatically suggests disturbed sleep. Her figure has been elongated to emphasise
‘light-dark’, refers to her pose but while it is distorted, there is strangely little emotion on her face. Füseli used
the contrast of light and chiaroscuro to draw the viewer’s attention to the focal point of the painting and the high key
dark to make forms look
tones emphasise the woman’s restlessness and lead the eye to the cause of her nightmare.
three dimensional
The diagonal lines of the woman’s arms lead the eye to the malevolent creature glaring
high key: composed at the viewer as it sits perched on her chest. This character was known as an incubus, a
mainly of light tones demon who visits women during the night, a symbolic representation of the nightmare itself
that would have been well understood by Füseli’s contemporaries. The strange figure of the
incubus: demon or evil horse in the background is thought to be a visual pun on the word nightmare in the title.
spirit

2
The Nightmare is rife with qualities we associate with the Gothic Revival. As a style Gothic Revival: a
of architecture, it is known for its sense of fantasy and whimsy. The Gothic novel of nineteenth-century
style inspired by the
the eighteenth century revelled in adventure, terror and the supernatural. It was often
Gothic period and
set against a medieval backdrop and the stories were sensational in their excesses of known for its sense of
sentiment and fantasy. Masculine heroes, fainting maidens and grotesque creatures in fantasy and whimsy
nightmarish situations formed a large part of Füseli’s oeuvre. He often referred to literary
subject matter such as the plays and poems of Shakespeare, Milton and Blake. oeuvre: French word
Füseli was born in Switzerland, into a family of painters. He was an ordained minister describing the collected
works of an artist
but did not practice his ministry. Instead, he spent most of his career in England as a
painter and writer and later as a professor at the Royal Academy. He was known to be an
enthusiastic theatregoer; perhaps this contributed to his fondness for strong, somewhat
artificial, lighting effects and the exaggerated gestures and poses of the figures in his
paintings. He was also preoccupied with dreams and psychological states and what they
suggested about the troubled mind. In his paintings of the works of Shakespeare, he often
0ERSONAL
selected scenes of dreams or visions of terror.
The year before The Nightmare was painted, London experienced riots more violent than
those that would accompany the French Revolution in Paris 10 years later. Anti-Catholic
feeling led to fire and bloodshed, and rampaging mobs destroyed buildings and scarred the
city. The violence is said to have expressed the anxieties of the people at the time and to
fuel the desire for grand and emotional gestures in literature and painting. This would have
been a recent memory for Füseli as he worked on his painting.
A number of art historians have noted sexual overtones in the positions of the figures in
The Nightmare. In fact, at the time it was first exhibited it was considered to be scandalous.
Füseli painted it not long after he fell madly in love with a woman but was rejected. Some
believe that the painting represents a personal portrayal of the erotic aspects of unrequited
love. In this scenario, the incubus is interpreted as a dream symbol of male lust.
Other works
The Shepherd’s Dream, 1798
Titania and Bottom, c.1790
Web resources
www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/gothicnightmares/infocus/
nightmare.htm
Weblink
ACTIVITY 2.9
Füseli was a friend of the poet and painter William Blake. Their works are
similar in their references to literature and storytelling and in the dramatic
use of chiaroscuro. Compare The Nightmare with The Great Dragon and the
Woman Clothed in Sun or The Number of the Beast is 666, by Blake, using
evidence to support the similarities and differences that you see.

Peter Booth
‘Peter Booth’s dramatic imagery is framed within a world both observed and imagined. His
art is concerned with portraying a journey through darkness, uncertainty, spiritual turmoil,
loneliness and isolation to revelation’. Robert Lindsay, Art historian
Figure 2.28 Peter Booth,

Painting, 1981, 1981, oil on
canvas, 197.5 x 304.5cm.
Purchased with assistance
from the Visual Arts Board
Australia Council 1981.
Collection: Art Gallery of New
South Wales. © Peter Booth,
1981. Licensed by VISCOPY,
2009. Photograph: Christopher
Snee
figurative: representing
objects in a way that
they can be easily
recognised
open composition:
composition in which
the objects in the
picture extend visually
beyond the edges of Born in 1940, Peter Booth works in the expressive tradition of Bosch and Goya. His paintings
the frame contain an emotional intensity that reminds the viewer of threatening dreams or nightmares.
He uses distortion and exaggeration and his figurative paintings are always expressive.
As viewers, we are caught between humour and a sense of the ominous. His dramatic
compositions of distorted and mutated figures in shallow space can be menacing and
provocative or absurd and witty.
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In Painting, 1981 the open composition contains numerous bizarre, morphed creatures.
monumental: resembling Booth relies on strong contrast to create drama. He uses a heavily restricted and yet
a monument; grand or symbolic palette. His intense reds suggest danger, threat and the life force, and the black
imposing represents anxiety, pain and suffering. At the same time, there is a subtlety in the hints of
pink and yellow in the greys. Throughout the painting, Booth has used tonal variation to
painterly: painting with suggest three-dimensional form.
visible brush strokes
The scale of the work is monumental: it is almost 2 metres by 3 metres. Booth’s use
that create areas of
colour and tone that of paint is direct, gestural and energetic. Booth defines his forms with outlines and his
merge rather than painterly application and heavy impasto reinforces the drama of the macabre scene. His
being contained within preliminary work generally involves compositional studies for his paintings, although as he
outlines works on them they develop a life of their own.
Booth has been influenced by the subject matter of nineteenth-century Romantic artists
impasto : Italian word
such as Goya and Blake and by Abstract Expressionism and its loose handling of paint.
that refers to thick,
textured paintwork This combination has created in Booth’s work an expressive style sometimes called Neo-
with visible brush expressionism.
strokes

2
Jason Smith (who curated Booth’s retrospective at NGV in 2003–04) has defined Booth’s Neo-expressionism:
work as ‘deeply autobiographical’. Booth was born in Sheffield, England, during World War II, expressionist artwork
produced after
where his father was employed in the steel mills. Sheffield was an industrial centre of belching
the Expressionist
chimneys and polluted air; one of the largest steel producing centres in the world and a target movement in the early
for bombs during the war. Echoes of these childhood memories can be felt in Booth’s use of twentieth century
black, his use of strong contrast, and in the sense of tension and foreboding in his works.
Booth’s work is informed not only by personal experiences and his observations of subjective: based on
the natural world, but also by his dreams and anxieties. He has been known to sleep with personal feelings
rather than external
a book by his bed so that he can record his nightmares. In this way, his paintings and
observation
drawings are enigmatic and demand a subjective response from the viewer. Booth says,
‘My art has definitely helped me to deal with life and what life has thrown at
me. The works evolve the way they do because of the way I was feeling at the
time … A lot of my work is derived from my imagination’. (quoted in Erica Longo,
A Creative Life: Peter Booth’s World View, NGV Gallery, January/February 2004).
Booth suffers from limbic epilepsy, which affects the part of the brain responsible for 0ERSONAL
memory and emotion and is often associated with hallucinations and visions. His paintings
have the absurd quality of dreams, of nightmarish visions. Painting 1981 was inspired by
the inner world of his imagination. The grotesque figures are barely human as they turn
their rapt faces to the creature on the pole. Only one figure stares straight at the viewer; the
rest are self-absorbed and isolated within the larger group. They symbolise the ‘violent,
destructive and dark aspects of human behaviour’ (Chee, Broos and Slade, In the
Picture, 1996). The bandages and masks symbolise ignorance, an inability to see. Booth
himself says that ‘The figures in my paintings are never about physical deformity
but about psychological deformity.’ (‘The Dark Side’ in Good Weekend, 24 March 1990)
World View, National Gallery of Victoria,

Other works Melbourne.
Painting 1982, 1982
Smith J. 2003, Peter Booth: Human/Nature
Painting 1982, 1982
(exhibition catalogue) National Gallery of Victoria,
Untitled (Whirlpool), 1995
Melbourne.
References Web resources

Lindsay R. 1990, Peter Booth: One Hundred www.rexirwin.com/artists/
Years of Solitude – The New Ice Age, Melbourne. gallery_artists/booth/2005/
Longo E. 2004, A Creative Life: Peter Booth’s index.htm
Weblink
ACTIVITY 2.10
1 Booth’s work has been compared to that of Bosch, Füseli, Goya and Munch. Select a painting by Booth
and compare it to a work by one of these artists, explaining points of similarity and difference. Be
specific as you refer to details within the works to justify your opinions.
2 Donald Richardson, Art in Australia, 1988 says of Painting 1981 ‘… its style is wooden and clumsy, and
its message melodramatic and therefore, unconvincing’. What is your opinion of Booth’s style? Do you
agree with Richardson? How does Booth’s style contribute to the mood of his work?
3 Booth’s paintings are enigmatic and demand a subjective response from the viewer. He says, ‘I find
it quite fascinating to hear other people’s interpretations of my work. I often find psychologists and
psychiatrists’ interpretations fascinating’. Select another painting by Booth and show how the details
can have more than one interpretation.

Wes Craven
A Nightmare on Elm Street ‘played for everybody in all cultures because everybody has to fall
asleep’. Wes Craven
collaboration: two or Figure 2.29

more artists working Wes Craven (director), image
together to create an of Freddy Krueger from
artwork Nightmare on Elm Street,
1984
visual language: the way
in which images, the A film is a collaboration, produced by
elements and principles a team of people led by the director,
of art, materials, who shares his or her vision with
and art forms can be
the producer, camera operators,
used to communicate editors and actors. By necessity,
concepts and ideas a film is viewed within a frame,
although the action does not always
mise-en-scene: the happen within this frame. Sometimes
arrangement of
what is imagined off screen is as
performers and
properties on stage or important to the plot and flow of
before a camera in a the film as is the action on the
film screen. A Nightmare on Elm Street
contains many symbolic elements
framing: to isolate and we associate with nightmares:
draw attention to
tunnels, cellars, shadows, broken
the most important
part of an image by glass, chases at night and, of course,
surrounding it with a screams.
visual ‘frame’
Film as an art medium addresses its audience in a similar way to other

depth of field: visual arts by using a visual language. Just as analysing the art elements
photographic term to and principles helps us to understand an artwork and begin to interpret its
describe the distance messages, so analysing the mise-en-scene is a method of understanding the
between the nearest elements of a moving picture. This term refers to the way the scene is put
and furthest points that together, the combination of all the factors that make up its appearance or
are in acceptably sharp mood as it is recorded on camera. It refers not only to the set, the props, the
focus in a photograph composition and acting of the scene but also to the camera technique, the
framing, lighting and depth of field.
genre: depicts the
realistic representation
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a teenage ‘slasher film’, firmly placed in the horror film
of everyday life;
genres are also various genre. It highlights, in a stereotypical manner, the struggle between good, in the person
categories of subject of all-American 15-year-old Nancy; and evil, in the form of ‘undead’ child serial killer
matter Freddy Krueger. This struggle is clearly depicted through contrasts of light and sound. On
another level, it is a story about the dislocation of reality and nightmare; the dividing line is
deliberately blurred. Freddy is definitely part of the world of nightmares, yet he can kill in
the real world. On yet another level, it is a story about revenge and retribution.
&ORMAL

2
To intensify the contrast between reality and dream, the nightmare sequences were low key: using mainly
filmed in low key lighting, with backlighting sometimes used to draw attention to the most dark tones or tints with
few highlights
important character on the screen and to enhance the frightening mood of the scene.
Like all good horror films, sound is used to heighten the sense of tension and anticipation.
Craven directed his cinematographer to film using unusual camera angles and, at times of
greatest tension, to use a tracking shot to follow the character, which allows the audience
to empathise with the characters and to feel part of the action.
To emphasise the wickedness of the villain, Krueger’s appearance, voice and &ORMAL
movements are distorted and exaggerated. His severe scarring from burns adds to his
frightening, mask-like appearance. Craven has made deliberate use of clashing red and
green to set up a visual tension, recognisable to the viewer as Freddy’s jumper and the soft backlighting: light
roof of the car in the final scene. coming from behind the
Written and directed by Wes Craven in 1984, this first film was followed by 7 sequels, subject
as well as 12 novels, numerous comic books, and a television series. Typical viewers in
the 1980s were teenagers, who enjoyed the shock value on the screen and the permission
this gave them to scream. The special effects are somewhat crude – the surreal melting
staircase, the bath scene, and the bloody murders lack the subtlety that viewers are
accustomed to in the twenty-first century.
Wes Craven (born 1939) had worked in the genre of horror film for some time before
directing A Nightmare on Elm Street. He acknowledges a number of personal influences
that impacted on the creation of this film. The first was a series of newspaper articles in 0ERSONAL
the Los Angeles Times in the late 1970s that reported people dying mysteriously during
vivid nightmares. This then reminded him of a childhood memory when, as a seven year
old, he felt threatened by a man outside his home; a man whose image and aura were later
distilled into the ‘essence of Freddy Krueger’, even to the detail of the hat he was wearing.
Craven also remembers being bullied at school by a boy called Fred Krueger. He gave
the same name to the villain of the film as a form of revenge. Furthermore, he tells us
that while he was ‘constructing’ Krueger’s character, his cat’s retractable claws inspired
Freddy’s knifed fingers.
Other works Web resources

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, www.spike.com/video/
1987 nightmare-on-elm/2772511
New Nightmare, 1991 For information on how to analyse
Scream, 1996 Weblinks films, go to http://classes.
yale.edu/film-analysis
References
Craven, W. 1984, A Nightmare on Elm Street,
New Line Cinema
ACTIVITY 2.11
After watching A Nightmare on Elm Street compare it to Füseli’s painting
The Nightmare. Both reflect a world of night-time horrors. Explain how the
differences may be a result of different artforms (film versus painting) or the
times in which they were created (eighteenth and twentieth centuries).

Mike Parr
‘I want to go beyond the art world and create a disturbance deep within our culture.’
Mike Parr
In art, nightmares are

born of the mind of
the artist. Sometimes
viewers will be moved by
the images. Sometimes
they will be placed in a
position where a response
is demanded of them.
Such a situation occurs in
Close the Concentration
Camps, a time-based
work presented by Mike
Parr in 2002. It was Parr’s
subjective response to
a contemporary political
situation that he felt
was abhorrent. The
performance concerned
Figure 2.30 the Australian government’s treatment of asylum seekers and compared detainees in
Mike Parr, Close the detention centres to Jews in concentration camps in World War II.
Concentration Camps, Performance art can be a forceful political weapon and Parr’s presentation was confronting
15 June 2002, 6 hour
and provocative. It blurred the boundaries between his life, his beliefs and his art. The title
performance, Monash
University Museum of Art, itself was a political statement; by renaming detention centres as concentration camps,
Melbourne. Photograph he was alluding to his belief about the inhuman treatment of asylum seekers in twenty-
courtesy of the artist and first century Australia, and, at the same time, drawing attention to the fact that he felt the
Anna Schwartz Gallery government was shielding the Australia public from the desperation of the refugees’ plight.
Mike Parr is an artist who works across a wide range of disciplines. During a career
spanning more than 30 years he has exhibited drawings and etchings as well as sculpture,
video, installation and performance. Recently his performances have subjected his body to
extreme conditions that have tested the limits of his endurance and the power of his mind
0ERSONAL
to tolerate, and control, pain. In Parr’s performance art, the body is both the subject matter
subjective: based
on personal feelings and the medium. It challenges the concept of art being static and, due to its physicality, it
rather than external challenges the audience.
observation Leading up to the creation of Close the Concentration Camps, Parr had read news
reports about hunger strikes in detention centres and about detainees stitching their lips
performance art: art shut as a symbolic response to their belief that no one was listening to them. They were
events involving time, unable to eat or speak; this physically powerful gesture enforced the silence that they felt
space, the performer’s
body and a live
had been imposed on them. Parr said, ‘I want to use the language of my ‘body art’ to make
audience the strongest possible statement in support of the detainees’. In Close the Concentration

2
Camps, he not only had his mouth sewn shut but also his eyes and ears, thus symbolising
blindness and deafness as well as the lack of freedom of expression.
Close the Concentration Camps was performed in a white gallery space at Monash
University Museum of Art. Parr remained still and emotionally remote. He sat facing a &ORMAL
mirrored wall; the only view of him was seen reflected in it. The audience also became part
collaboration: two or
of the performance through this mirror; while they were observing Parr, they were forced
more artists working
to consider the implication that they were passive and silent spectators in the broader together to create an
political issue that Parr was presenting. The work suggested similarities between German artwork
citizens during World War II and the members of the audience in 2002 as surrogates for
the Australian population. Both were passive and silent. The response of the audience was
discomfort on a number of levels, according to their understanding of the situation.
Resting near Parr in the gallery space was a stainless steel table containing bandages
and surgical instruments. He chose to have the facial stitching completed before the
performance began so that sensationalism did not overwhelm the sensitivity of the
message. In addition to the sewing, which created facial distortion, the word ‘alien’ was
branded on his thigh and could be seen where his trousers had been cut away.
Wall graphics, which supported Parr’s position on the inhumanity of detention centres
and the treatment of asylum seekers, were exhibited in an adjacent gallery. There were
slides in large-scale projection entitled Not the Hilton, pages of text from the inspection
report on immigration detention centres and a series of letters. Through his collaboration
with filmmakers, the performance was documented photographically and on video. As with
all his works, Parr controlled the framing of the images that would create a visual archive of
the event. Close the Concentration Camps was also webcast, which presented it to a wider
and physically remote audience.
Other works References

Malevich (A Political Arm), Performance, 2003 Artlink, 2003, Vol. 23, No. 1, pages 44–47.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi, Performance, Austin, Sarah 2005, ‘Anatomy and Poetics’,
2003 Double Dialogues, Issue 6. Available at
Cartesian Corpse: The Tilted Stage, Performance,
2008 Web resources
www.doubledialogues.
com/archive/issue_six/
austin.html.
Weblink
ACTIVITY 2.12
1 Art writer John McDonald argues that Close the Concentration Camps trivialises
contemporary art and makes a ‘ghastly’ parody of the horrors people endure in captivity.
Write a response to this statement drawing on information from Karen Heinrich’s article
‘Flinch Art’ in The Age, available at:www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/06/11/10229 Weblinks
82844221.html, 12 June 2002.
2 Parr himself says that performance art has always been based on a dialogue between
artist and audience. Research another controversial political issue that artists have
addressed in performance or another artform. Consider issues such as animal rights,
feminism or political activism. Go to www.van-thanh-rudd.net and www.theage.
com.au/articles/2004/05/13/1084289821310.html to read about Melbourne political
activists Van Thanh Rudd and Azlan McLennan.

[3] Chapter overview
By the end of Unit 1, you should be able to present visual
creative responses that demonstrate your personal
interests and ideas by trialling techniques, materials and
processes. In this chapter, you will explore ways in which
you can:
• produce visual creative responses that demonstrate
your personal interests in a unit of teacher-directed
ARTMAKING tasks
• develop A Sense of My World as a possible idea to
AND
explore in your Unit 1 folio
• brainstorm ideas
PERSONAL
• interpret a concept in a range of creative ways
• begin to interpret your ideas visually using
MEANING
thumbnail sketches
• discover the qualities and characteristics of your
materials and artforms
• use the qualities and characteristics of your
Unit 1 – Area of Study 2 materials and artform/s to present concepts
• trial materials, techniques, processes and artforms
• manipulate the elements of art to establish a visual
language
• apply the Formal and Personal Frameworks
• annotate your artworks.
There is no must in art because art is free.’ Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Russian artist
There is no one right way to make art and this text is not meant
to be prescriptive. It is, rather, an interpretation of the VCE Art
Study Design and a suggested approach that provides you with a
framework to explore your art while meeting the requirements of
the Study Design. This chapter will suggest ways in which you can
interpret the requirements of the study, as you develop a folio of
practical artwork.

3
INTRODUCTION
‘A lot of it’s experimental, spontaneous. It’s about knocking about in the studio and bumping
into things.’ Richard Prince
The VCE Study Design states that Unit 1 is a ‘guided exploration of techniques, materials
and processes’ during which students must ‘develop a folio of visual responses to a
selection of set tasks’.
Unit 1 is a teacher-directed unit, but requires you to produce visual creative responses
that demonstrate your personal interests. You may be required to make use of particular
media or your ‘teacher may set specific tasks to direct and facilitate your investigation and
experimentation’. The way you do this should reflect your interests, creativity and imagination.
There is no requirement to produce a finished artwork; however, during the process of
exploration, you may end up with one or more works that you consider finished artworks.
The important thing in Unit 1 is to explore different ways of working. If possible, you
should experiment with a range of artforms and media. What artforms you are able to explore artform: the
may be determined by your school, or could be personal choices. They can be two-, three- or specific shape, or
quality an artistic
four-dimensional artforms. If you are limited to one artform or medium then you should trial
expression takes
various techniques and approaches to using this artform. To achieve this, you will draw on – two-dimensional
the key knowledge and related key skills outlined in the Study Design for Area of Study 2. artforms include
painting, drawing,
printmaking, collage
FOLIO OF VISUAL RESPONSES and photography;
three-dimensional
The use of visual language as a artforms include
sculpture, ceramics
means to explore issues and ideas of and construction; four-
dimensional artforms
personal interest and imagination include those making
Key skill: communicate personal ideas and concepts through the development of a use of time such as
visual language. performance, video and
installation
Where to start when exploring your selected artform/s
You are required to complete a number of teacher-directed tasks this semester, which will
facilitate your exploration of issues and ideas of personal interest and imagination as you
develop a visual language. The VCE Art Study Design requires your practical exploration of
art to be informed by the theory component. In Unit 1, you will create a folio of exploratory
works based on personal meaning. With this in mind, an appropriate idea to explore is A personal meaning: ideas,
Sense of My World. concepts, images
An effective starting point to any art folio is the collection of relevant images relating to and issues that are
significant to you or
the idea/s you wish to explore. These can be found, or made from direct observation using that are of personal
drawing, painting or photography. But what can you draw or photograph? What sort of interest
images could you look for? You may find it useful to make use of a mind map or brainstorm
to open your mind to a range of possibilities, unencumbered by the concerns of how you
would approach them as a painting, print or sculpture.

Working from a concept or idea like A Sense of My World should not limit your options.
The point is not to have an idea of what you are going to produce right away, but rather
to explore various interpretations of what exemplifies your world and to come up with
diverse ideas and possible visual interpretations that you believe explore who you are.
Brainstorming ideas and writing down the first thing that comes to mind is an effective
way to do this. Remember that your artwork does not have to be an obvious reflection of
the central idea. This is a personal reflection and the viewer
could, therefore, find it quite obscure. Part of your folio will be
discussing the meaning of your work, which will allow you to
inform the viewer of the ideas and concepts you are dealing
with. Be creative with your ideas and think outside the box.
What to do with the concept

A sense of your world could be interpreted as those things
that best reflect your world and, by extension, who you are.
An obvious interpretation of who you are is your physical
appearance. This could be shown by means of a self-portrait.
Self-portraiture has always been a popular subject matter
for artists to explore their artform, as can be seen in the
work of Rembrandt. His self-portraits allow us to study his
experimentation with the medium, and to follow the changes
in his technique and style of painting. They also provide us
with the opportunity to observe the changes to his physical
appearance as he ages.
The representation of your physical appearance can,
Figure 3.1 however, be coloured by your personal circumstances. Van Gogh is a good example of an
An example of
a mind map
artist whose paintings spoke as much about his mental state as his physical. He achieved
Figure 3.2
Rembrandt Harmensz Figure 3.3 Vincent van Gogh, Self-portrait, 1889,
van Rijn, Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 55.5 x 45cm, National Gallery of
1630, 49 x 39cm Norway, Oslo

3
this through the effective application of the elements and principles of
art in his self-portraits. His works, when viewed in chronological
order, allow us to observe the same changes as Rembrandt’s, but
also represent a clear picture of his emotional state of mind at any given
time.
The Australia photographer and sculptor Anne Ferran explored the
technique of photograms in her series Flock (1999), where she used
period clothing to create delicate, melancholic portraits of the past. In
2001, she created photograms of christening robes that suggest someone
who is no longer there. The absence of the body and the ghost-like
appearance of the photograms hint at death and the tragedy of loss.
These become portraits of children who are no longer with us. Ferran said,
‘I am interested in clothing, because there is that very strong
association with human presence and absence. There is a space
where the body would be rendered in the photogram’.
You are not only represented by your physical body. When exploring
who you are, you could consider things such as your beliefs, your
Figure 3.4
interests, your fears and the things that are important to you. Aristotle said, ‘The aim
Anne Ferran, Untitled
of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward Christening Robes, 2001
significance’. silver gelatin photogram
The word sense could read as a feeling for or an understanding of your world. You could 127 x 90cm, unique print ©
create an image or images that will give the viewer a sense of your world, things, people Anne Farran, 2001/Licensed
by VISCOPY 2009
or issues that are important to you, such as your friends and family. A simple still life of
objects could become a self-portrait, in
that the objects have symbolic or personal
meaning to you. They represent who you
are and what you like. The super realist
still life airbrush paintings of Audrey Flack
(see Figure 3.5) are an example of this.
Her depiction of a woman’s dressing table
and all the associated trappings of makeup
and perfumes could be seen as a self-
portrait or portraits of femininity. They could
also be considered a portrait of society’s
expectation or view of women.
You could keep a visual journal for
a period of time in which you collect
written and visual information about
your experiences, conversations and
responsibilities. At the end of the period, reflect upon the information you have collected and Figure 3.5
use this to generate ideas about a sense of your world. Audrey Flack, Chanel, 1974, acrylic
on canvas, 213 x 152cm, Louise K.
When exploring A Sense of My World you could look at what is meant by ‘sense’. This Meisel Gallery
could refer to the senses that you use to explore your world, such as sight, touch, smell,
hearing and taste.

Sight
You could explore images of things you like to look at in your world, like a beautiful seascape.
You could deal with the concept of sight or the way we see. We need light in order to see, so
you could explore the way in which what we see is altered by the light that falls on it. This
is something Monet explored in his series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral. The way we see
things can also be affected by our perception of something or our point of view.
Figure 3.6 Figure 3.7 Figure 3.8 Figure 3.9 Figure 3.10
Claude Monet, Rouen Claude Monet, Rouen Claude Monet, Rouen Claude Monet, Rouen Claude Monet, Rouen
Cathedral. Façade Cathedral. Façade Cathedral. Façade, Cathedral, 1893, 107 Cathedral, Façade and
(Morning), 1893, oil (Sunset), 1893, oil on 1893, oil on canvas, Pola x 73cm, oil on canvas, Tour d’Albane, 1893,
on canvas, Folkwang canvas, 100 x 65cm Museum of Art, Japan Musée d’Osay, Paris Museum Beyelaer,
Museum, Germany Musée Marmottan, Paris Switzerland
Touch
Texture fills our world and artists have often explored texture in their artworks through the
skilful application of their medium. Jan van Eyck was able to create the illusion of various
Figure 3.11 textures in oil paint (see Figure 3.11). You could experiment with the aesthetic qualities of
Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini actual textured materials and surfaces like Rosalie Gascoigne (see Figure 3.12). Touch and
Marriage, (detail) 1434, oil on oak
panel, 82 x 59.5cm, National Gallery
sight are closely linked when you consider brail. You could consider a sculpture for the blind
London or works that comment on sight and vision impairment.
Figure 3.12
Rosalie Gascoigne,
Grassfest, 1999,
Weathered
painted wood on
composition board
106.5 x 101cm,
Queensland
University of
Technology
Art Collection,
Brisbane © Rosalie
Gascoigne Estate.
Licensed by
VISCOPY, 2009

3
Smell vanitas: Latin for
‘emptiness’; refers to
We all enjoy certain smells so you may consider a painting of a bowl of flowers or you could the transience of things
take photographs or draw pictures of a factory as commentary on pollution in your world of the world and the
and smells you do not enjoy. inevitability of death;
in the seventeenth
century, still life
Hearing paintings, vanitas was
signified by images
A work incorporating sound can provide the opportunity for a four-dimensional work of art of spoiling food, the
such as an installation using video or PowerPoint. You could use sound that you enjoy or overturned glass,
dislike depending on the impact you wish to make on the viewer. Some sounds are tranquil the burning candle,
and leave us feeling calm. A visual representation of this could take the form of a painting worms and the obvious
inclusion of the skull
of a gentle stream. You may enjoy a particular type of music or musical instrument that can
be the subject of your exploration. You may simply choose to depict a person listening. What
they are listening to may be evident or may be subject to the viewer’s interpretation.
Taste
When depicting taste, our thoughts generally
go to food. Things we like the taste of, or
foods we avoid. Images of food have often
been found in art, from early Roman murals
(see Figure 3.14) to the works in oil paint by
Penny Siopis (see Figure 3.13) who depicted
tables weighed down with food. However,
Siopis’ paintings don’t only deal with eating.
The overabundance of food comments on
waste, decay and vanitas. Your exploration of
taste may even deal with personal taste or
aesthetic taste and the concept of kitsch.
kitsch: refers to ‘vulgar’

art, or art with no artistic
merit such as commercial
ornaments, tourist
souvenirs; the Cambridge
dictionary defines it as
works of art or decorative
objects that are ugly, silly
or worthless.
Figure 3.13
Penny Siopis, Still Life with
Watermelon and Other
Things, 1985 (oil on canvas),
242.2 x 180.5 cm, Rembrandt
van Rijn Museum, South Africa

Figure 3.14
Unknown Roman
Artist, Still Life with
Peaches, found
at Herculaneum,
c1AD, 34 x 35cm,
Museo Archeologico
Nazionale, Naples
thumbnail sketches: ACTIVITY 3.1

small rough sketches
1 Create a mind map based on the idea of A Sense of My World.
outlining the elements
2 Highlight the ideas you are most interested in exploring.
in a proposed artwork,
useful to explore
multiple ideas quickly; Once you have established your area of interest
thumbnail sketches Establishing your ideas and exploring possible interpretations and approaches to these
are a good way to
work through an idea,
ideas is just the first part of the visual exploration of issues of personal interest. It is
or to try out different important to begin to generate a range of visual interpretations of these ideas and concepts
compositions through observation and imagination. You need to establish ways that you can communicate
your ideas and concepts in a visual way. One approach is to use thumbnail sketches (refer to
page 23).
ACTIVITY 3.2
Select the three ideas you are most interested in exploring for A Sense
of My World and, using pen or pencil, draw 10 thumbnail sketches that
visually interpret each of these ideas in a completely different way. Your
interpretation could be literal, symbolic or abstract. You could create a
narrative with a single image or a series of images. Be creative in the use of
your visual language.
An alternative method to communicate your ideas and concepts in a visual way is to

start exploring your medium/media using a range of techniques. Begin exploring marks,
making textures, layering your medium and experimenting with different surfaces as you
generate possible ways that you could visually represent your ideas or concepts. This is an
opportunity to explore both your medium and the elements of art without being restricted
by a visual image. Sometimes art is just about having fun, trying different things and seeing
where your medium takes you. As Richard Prince said, ‘A lot of it’s experimental,
spontaneous. It’s about knocking about in the studio and bumping into things’.
The important thing is to realise when you bump into something useful for your art, so that
you can use it.

3

Examples of Jess Maguire’s Examples of Jess
exploration of blue Maguire’s exploration
of red
Colour was a major consideration for the VCE student Jess Maguire when developing
her painting folio. As part of her exploration, Jess looked at different aspects of colour as
stimulus for her paintings. You can see how she made use of a number of different methods
to explore the element of colour. This included researching the symbolism and psychology of
colour, finding evidence of her selected colour in the world around her, as well as in artworks.
Jess wrote:
‘Red symbolises revolution; it is the colour of fire and passion. Red implies evil and
disaster. For Christians red symbolises the blood of Christ.’
‘Psychology – Exposure to red causes temporary, but measurable reactions in the body.
Blood pressure increases, breathing and pulse rate quicken, sweating begins and brain
waves are stimulated.’
‘Red and green are complementary colours. A little green used on a predominantly red
area gives the work “life” or “zing”.’
This type of exploration, and observations or discoveries like these, will provide you
with the tools to develop an effective visual language. It will allow you to use your media to
achieve a visual representation of your concept or ideas.

Jess Maguire also explored a range of techniques and media to create textures. She wrote:
‘I find it extremely difficult to resist touching a highly textured surface. I gain more
information when I use another one of my senses. Textures can evoke different moods and
could combine with my colour to enhance mood.’
This is a more intuitive and abstract approach that will result in possible techniques,
surface qualities, colours and textures that you could use to enhance a more figurative
approach to your concept. Although it was not her intention when she set out to explore
texture using a range of techniques and media, Jess Maguire could have used the results
of this experimentation, shown in Figure 3.17, to provide her with the means with which to
produce a realist painting based on the photographs of an old rusted wreck that she saw.
Figure 3.17 Figure 3.18 Jess

Examples of Jess Maguire’s
Maguire’s sponge texture photo of a rusted wreck
ACTIVITY 3.3
Select one of the ideas you are most interested in exploring for A Sense of
My World. Explore – through research, observation and experimentation
with media and techniques – how the elements and principles of art,
the qualities associated with particular media and the effect of various
techniques can suggest meaning with reference to this idea. Be creative in
your use of visual language. The meaning may be obvious or might require
you to explain the symbolism using written annotation.

3
QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF
SELECTED MATERIALS AND ARTFORMS
How they may be used to present
concepts and images
Key skills: develop visual creative responses from methods of observation and the
exercise of imagination and communicate personal ideas and concepts through the Figure 3.19 Andy Warhol, Green
development of a visual language. Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962,
Unit 1 will provide you with the opportunity to develop a visual language as a means of synthetic polymer, silkscreen ink
and graphite on canvas, 209.2
achieving a particular outcome. You will learn how to use the elements and principles of
x 144.8cm, Whitney Museum of
art to explore issues and ideas. In Green Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962 (see Figure 3.19), Andy American Art, New York. Purchased
Warhol presents repeated rows of Coke bottles, similar to what you would find on the with funds from the Friends of
supermarket shelves. By doing this, he is not only commenting on the consumer product, the Whitney Museum of American
but also on the very way in which the product is presented and sold. By using repetition, he Art 68.25. Photography by
Geoffrey Clements © Andy Warhol
is making a comment on American society, mass production and consumerism. Foundation/VISCOPY, Sydney 2009.
You will also be able to explore the expressive application of the medium and the Registered trademark, The Coca-
symbolic meaning that can be expressed by various media, techniques and approaches Cola Company. All Rights Reserved
to artmaking. Artists have often used particular artforms for an artwork because of the
meaning that these artforms can give to the work.
Andy Warhol produced Marilyn Monroe (see Figure 3.20) using the silkscreen process.
Warhol made this artwork just after Marilyn’s death, to create a sensation of this tragic
event, just like the mass media. Marilyn’s face is represented with no emotion and little
Figure 3.20 Andy Warhol, Marilyn
symbolism. He has used silkscreen as a means of eliminating a personal style. Warhol Monroe, 1962, oil, acrylic and
initially created an image of a single face using publicity photographs, rather than portrait enamel on canvas © The Andy
photographs of the person behind the public image. This made her an icon rather than a Warhol Foundation for the Visual
Arts/Corbis
person. Instead of stopping with the single portrait, he also chose to exploit the idea of
duplication, that is characteristic of silkscreen printing, and created an image made up
of multiple prints of Marilyn’s face. All forms of advertising or packaging are endlessly
reproduced on high-speed printing presses and the printing process and repetition
transforms Marilyn into a mass-produced consumer item, a product of our society rather
than a person.
As you explore different artforms, you should be aware of what meanings are associated
with the medium, process or even techniques. Penny Siopis, for example, chooses to work
with very thick impasto oil paints because when the paint dries, the top layer of paint forms
a skin and, as the paint below continues to dry and contracts, the top layer wrinkles. The
effect is similar to that of the wrinkled skin of an elderly person. This conscious use and
application of a medium adds to the meaning of her paintings, which explore age and decay
using food as the subject matter.
With this in mind, approach your exploration of art with an open mind and an awareness
of how the subject matter, media and techniques can provide you with an effective visual
Figure 3.21 Penny Siopis, Still
language to communicate with the viewer. Life with Watermelon and Other
Using the ideas you have generated though your brainstorm/mind map and thumbnail Things, 1985 (detail, full image on
sketches and/or photographs as a starting point, you should begin to develop a folio of page 59)

creative visual responses that presents your own understanding of your world and who you
are. Ideally, this should be done in a variety of materials, techniques and processes.
Create a series of visual responses to your ideas. These are not finished works but
rather explorations of your ideas and artform/s. This exploration will allow you to trial
different techniques and get to know your medium or media.
photograms: images
created in the darkroom ACTIVITY 3.4
without the use of Find 10 examples of artworks. Write a brief explanation next to each image
a camera: objects about how you feel the media, techniques and approaches to artmaking and
are placed onto the selected artforms have added to the meaning of the work. (Do not use
photographic paper any of the examples mentioned in the text above.)
and then exposed to
light; the silhouette of
the object appears on
the paper; objects that
APPROACHES FOR TRIALLING MATERIALS,
combine interesting
positive and negative
TECHNIQUES, PROCESSES AND ARTFORMS
shapes as well as Key skills: develop visual creative responses from methods of observation and the
those that have areas exercise of imagination and explore materials, techniques, processes and artforms
of transparency and investigate how these can be used to create artworks.
often produce more
The application of materials, techniques, processes and artforms is the point at which
interesting results
you are beginning to make art. Making art is not only creating your oil painting on canvas,
double exposures: constructing your installation or printing your silkscreen; it is the process of arriving at that
can be used to create point through experimenting and trialling ideas, materials, techniques and processes. If
a complex image that possible, use this opportunity to explore a range of media. If you are restricted to one media
combines elements by your facilities, school policy or personal choice, then push the boundaries of that medium.
from more than one
If painting, try different techniques and painting media, work on a range of surfaces or
negative or repeats
aspects from the same add various mediums or textures, such as sand, to your paint. If working in the darkroom,
negative in one print consider photograms, double exposures, and hand-coloured gelatin silver prints.
Figure 3.22 Figure 3.23 Figure 3.24

Example of a photogram: lemons Example of a double exposure Adolfo Farsari, hand-coloured albumen silver print,
print: Slam Dunk Action Shot 3 1885–90, Musée Nicephore Niepce, France
ACTIVITY 3.5
Select a particular artform or medium you are interested in exploring. Find at least 10
different techniques and combinations of media that you can apply to your selected artform.
Also, explore a range of surfaces onto which you can apply your chosen medium.

3
If you are unsure of how to proceed with your exploration of your materials, techniques, hand-coloured gelatin silver
processes and artforms, it may help to turn to an artist for inspiration. Select an artist prints: black and white
prints that are coloured
whose style, technique or treatment of the subject matter you admire. Use one of their
using water colour
artworks as the basis for your own exploration of a particular artform. Use the style of the paints or drawing
selected artist, and trial their technique and use of the medium to develop your own visual inks; it is important
solution exploring a sense of your world. Observe how the artist uses selected combinations to hand colour subtly
of formal elements, the way they compose the image and how they use their technique to by patiently layering
transparent layers of
express themself.
colour into the light
areas of the print
FORMAL ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES

OF ARTWORKS
Key skill: use the formal elements and principles to produce creative responses ACTIVITY 3.6
that illustrate personal interests. Choose an artwork you
The Study Design lists the following elements and principles of art. Although these are not admire that relates to
the only ones, this is a comprehensive list and provides you with a broad range to employ the concept you are
in your exploration of art. exploring. Reinterpret
this artwork in a
personal way using the
Art elements same media, techniques
Art elements are visual devices or tools that you use to create a work of art. Art elements and style. You could use
a similar composition
that are traditionally associated with the visual arts include line, colour, texture, tone, form,
but the subject matter
and shape. In contemporary artworks, elements such as sound, space, light and time are must be your own.
also considered. Work from life or from
your own photographic
reference if required.
Art principles
Art principles are visual conventions used by artists to position and order art elements in
artworks to create a composition, including balance, focal point, unity (including harmony),
Figure 3.25
variety, contrast, rhythm, and space. Wassily Kandinsky,
All artists rely on the elements and principles of art to create art. Without them, a visual Composition IV,
image could not exist. Many artists emphasise one or more of these to draw attention to 1911, oil on canvas,
an area of their work or to alter the mood or add symbolic value to a scene. Other artists, 159.5 x 250.5cm,
Kunstsammlung
like Wassily Kandinsky, who was concerned with the spiritual rather than the material,
Nordrhein–Westfalen,
relied only on the elements and principles to convey his ideas with no reference to the Germany
world around him. This interest in the spiritual influence as opposed to the
external vision resulted in art without subject matter. He produced the first
non-objective, abstract paintings that comprised colour, line, shape and
their relationship, to create abstract pattern; an image of spiritual conflict.
He said, ‘Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the
soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that
plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.’
How you manipulate and combine the elements of art and the
relationships you establish will determine how effective your visual
language is, irrespective of whether your art is objective or non-objective.

When using the formal qualities in your art consider if the element/principle is:
• achieving the mood or atmosphere you want to convey
• drawing the viewer’s eye to the focal point and holding the viewer’s attention
• creating the desired feeling of peace, discomfort or even fear in the viewer
• enhancing the message you want to convey in the artwork
• producing a work that is aesthetically pleasing.
ACTIVITY 3.7
1 Using the list of art elements and principles above, explore how effective
they are in establishing a visual language. Apply the formal quality to:
• achieve a particular mood or range of atmospheres
• convey a message
• achieve a balanced composition, a dynamic composition and a
composition that leaves the viewer feeling uncomfortable
• draw attention to a particular focal point.
2 Apply more than one formal quality to each task to determine how each
can work independently, or in combination with other formal qualities to
achieve the desired results.
FORMAL AND PERSONAL FRAMEWORKS

TO SUPPORT REFLECTIVE ANNOTATION
Key skill: apply knowledge of the Formal and Personal Frameworks in reflective
annotation as they apply to their own artmaking.
These key knowledge and skills form an important link to Outcome 1 of your study. You will
apply what you have learnt about both the Formal and Personal Frameworks and use them
to reflect on your own artmaking.
As part of this unit, you must begin to annotate and evaluate your own work. You are
required to analyse and discuss the meanings and messages in your artwork and how
effectively you have developed and used your own visual language. This will allow you to
critically evaluate your work and make informed decisions about the path that your own
exploration will take. It allows you to clarify your thought process and communicates your
thinking and working practice to the person viewing your folio.
Formal Framework
When applying the Formal Framework you will look at how you have used line, colour,
texture, tone, form, shape, sound, space, light and time; as well as how they have been
&ORMAL
applied to achieve balance, focal point, unity, variety, contrast, rhythm and space. In
analysing these, you will have to consider how they enhance the messages of the artworks.
You should use this analysis to determine what is effective and what is not, so that you can
plan your next step.
A VCE student, Elisa Bongetti was exploring light and its effect on the meaning of her
portrait photographs. She discovered through experimentation that, ‘natural light creates a
more uplifting and less dramatic mood than studio lighting’.

3
She analysed a photograph she took of her grandmother and wrote:
‘I like the composition of this photograph because of the way it frames her and creates
an intimate atmosphere’.
‘There are colours in the background, which harmonise with the hues of her skin and the
colours of her shirt. I like this relaxing effect because it facilitates her joyful expression
and the uplifting mood of the image.’
Figure 3.27
Elisa Bongetti’s oil sketch
of a seascape at sunset
Figure 3.26
An example of Elisa Bongetti’s annotation of the
elements and principles in her photograph of her
grandmother
While commenting on her oil sketch of a seascape at sunset, Elisa also wrote:
‘I have intentionally exaggerated the colours in order to draw attention to the warmth
and intensity of the sunset’.
‘Texture is another element I focused on because I feel it enhances the life and rugged
nature of the scene. I added touches of orange to the water to link the sky and water and
to assist the viewer’s eyes in moving around the image.’
‘I like this painting and am pleased with the result, but I think it lacks a focal point.
Perhaps the inclusion of people would solve this problem.’

Personal Framework
You will use the Personal Framework to explain to the viewer and the assessor (your teacher)
how your experiences, feelings and personal philosophy are reflected in your artwork.
0ERSONAL
Construct your response around the central theme or narrative, explain what the artwork
is about and discuss how you have conveyed these ideas visually in the artworks. The
application of the Personal Framework does not only apply to the subject matter, but also to
the application of the formal qualities and your use of media and techniques. Some of the
things you should consider discussing in your annotation are:
• How does my artmaking reflect the Personal Framework?
• What specific aspects of my art making, use of the medium etc. reflect my
personality, thinking, values and who I am?
• What symbols, if any, have I used to explore my identity?
Explain:
• What you have done and what decisions you have made about the subject matter,
Figure 3.28
artform, medium or technique.
Nicky Purser’s marker
drawing on paper with • The symbolism you have chosen to use, as well as the elements and principles you
text have used in creating your art.
• How this affects the meaning of the work.
• Why you believe this is true, in terms of the analytical framework.
A VCE student, Nicky Purser, was exploring a person very important to her: her
grandfather. She had taken a number of photographs of him, many of which captured a
feeling of contemplation as he reflected on his past. Nicky explored these digital images
as photographs, but also began using some as reference for drawing. When she saw an
example of a charcoal-drawn portrait on a page of text by the artist and filmmaker William
ACTIVITY 3.8 Kentridge, Nicky thought that this was an approach she would like to use. Using a torn page
Write a brief analysis of text, she did a quick contour line sketch of her grandfather with a Texta (see Figure 3.28).
of one of your She was happy with the result, but she wanted the surface to have a greater personal or
artworks. Apply symbolic link to her subject matter.
the Formal and
Personal Frameworks
to a discussion of
the meanings and
messages in your
artwork. Evaluate how
effectively the visual
language you have
developed is used in
your artwork.
Figure 3.29
The old flying logbook
belonging to Nicky Figure 3.30
Purser’s Granddad Nicky Purser’s ink drawing of her granddad on a
photocopy of the flight log

3
Nicky wrote,
‘I needed a book with old pages … I found my Granddad’s old flying logbook when he flew
Catalinas in World War II. This was perfect, not only because it is old and has text, but because
it was my Granddad who wrote in it. It is a part of his past, a record of his experiences and thus
perfect for the contemplative atmosphere I am trying to achieve’.
ART LANGUAGE FOR THE PURPOSE OF

DOCUMENTATION AND ANNOTATION Figure 3.31
Nicky Purser’s thumbnail photos
Key skill: document thinking and working practices.
Part of your discovery of the artform/s and approaches used to create a visual
language is to communicate your understanding of what you are learning.
Merely presenting evidence shows that you have achieved a particular outcome
or developed a skill, but does not explicitly demonstrate understanding. By
writing about what you are doing, why you are doing it and what you have learnt
from this process, you will provide a clear indication of your understanding.
These annotations allow you to apply the tools you have been provided with
in the theory section to communicate your thinking and working practices. They
will help you practice your writing and interpretive skills, which will benefit you
in your written assessment tasks. They will also enable you to better evaluate
your own work, in order to make informed decisions about the directions in
which you take your concepts and images.
Nicky Purser provides a good example of how she documented her thinking
and working practices during her exploration of photographs she took of
children on a beach.
‘This little girl’s pink top is great to show contrast of the highlights and shadows on her
and results in interesting reflections’. (See Figure 3.31)
‘Pen is easier to sketch in because it flows across the page more easily and I am not
tempted to rub lines out. It is stronger too. I am getting better, this is more detailed than Figure 3.33
the other one and my line is more confident. With so much detail, I think it gets too static Nicky Purser’s biro contour
though. Maybe it will have more movement with less detail.’ (See Figure 3.32) sketch
‘I’ve simplified this one a lot more, sticking
to the main lines that define the form, for
example the half circle on
the elbow and the shadow line on the leg
simply but effectively portray the form.
This sketch would be a good starting point
for a painting.’ (See Figure 3.33)
Figure 3.32
Nicky Purser’s biro sketch

Figure 3.34
Oil experiments
‘I’ve decided to try painting some of my pictures

of kids on the beach in oils, using the contour
line sketches as a guide. I thought it would be
interesting to try using a palette knife because the
texture you can get is really good … My trial is quite
terrible. I found it hard to apply the paint in the right
places. Adding extra colours as highlights in the
sand really didn’t work. It is not easy to be accurate
with a palette knife.’ (See Figure 3.34)
‘I used a contour line drawing to start my oil

painting (See Figure 3.35) as it gives a clear and
simple indication of form, tones and highlights. I
used a very small brush to achieve the detail and
am pleased with the result. I did not have any white
paint so had to use Naples Yellow instead. Although
the highlights in the photo look white, I think the
warmth of the yellow works well. I used Payne’s
Figure 3.35 grey for the shadows because I find black deadens the colours. The last thing I want when
Oil sketch studying the light on a figure and the life it gives it, is to have dead shadows.’
‘Overall I think my next oil sketch (See Figure 3.36) turned out fairly well, but there are some
things I need to work on:
• The shadow from the hat needs to darken at the edges to make the figure rounder; it
tends to flatten the form.
• The highlights in the top need more tonal variation as they flatten the image a little.’
• The skin tone is good, but I shouldn’t use so much Payne’s grey in the shadows because
it makes it look dirty – rather use brown. The Payne’s grey works well for the pink
though.
‘In the previous sketch my brush marks were very tight and detailed, which worked well
but was a bit tedious. So I’ve decided to try painting this little girl using a broader and
less detailed approach (See Figure 3.37) … I’ve done it and it was so much quicker than my
last one! I forced myself to use a bigger brush so that I couldn’t go into too much detail. I
worked faster, making sure I had the essential highlights and shadows.’

3

Oil sketch on paper Oil sketch on paper
You should also consider the issues that you have encountered by working in a specific
medium. How has this improved your understanding of that artform? For example, you may
have applied a glaze over an area of thick oil paint and discovered that the glaze cracked glaze: a thin translucent
after a while. This happened because oil paint contracts when it dries. The thin glaze dried layer of oil paint that
can be either thick or
quickly and contracted, while the thick paint, although touch dry because of the skin that
thin; a glaze medium
had formed on the top, continued to contract as it dried. This caused the already dry glaze can be mixed with your
to separate and crack. You may annotate this and indicate that you should avoid working paint or diluted with a
‘lean over fat’. On the other hand, you may suggest the symbolic potential of this chance mixture of 50 percent
occurrence. The cracking glaze could represent age, drought or something similar. As Scott linseed oil and 50
percent turpentine
Adams said, ‘Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to
keep’. You may want to use this discovery to add meaning to your work.
ACTIVITY 3.9
Write short annotations documenting a process you have used to explore
an artform, medium or technique. Use the annotations to document your
thinking and working practice. Think about:
• how you did things – the process
• why you did things – evaluate the success of what you did and comment
on where you will go from here – show your thinking.

[4]
Chapter overview
In this chapter, you will read how assessment will reflect
ASSESSMENT your understanding and application of:

• the Formal Framework
FOR UNIT 1 • the Personal Framework

• the ways in which the experiences of the viewer can
affect an understanding of artworks
• personal opinions
Unit 1 – Outcomes 1 and 2
• art language
• creative responses that demonstrate your personal
interests and ideas through trialling techniques,
materials and processes.
You will find:
• tips for completing tasks for Outcome 1 and
Outcome 2
• assessment criteria sheets
• two students’ sample responses for Outcome 1 with
margin notes that highlight assessment.
‘Looking isn’t as easy as it looks.’ Ad Reinhardt (1913–1967), American artist
INTRODUCTION FOR OUTCOME 1

To successfully complete Outcome 1 in Unit 1 you will need to study
at least three artworks by different artists. For each artwork you
will need to consider what they express about the artists’ interests,
experiences, opinions and motivations and how they reflect the
artist’s personal and cultural identity. You will apply the Formal and
Personal Frameworks to help you examine the form and appearance
of the works and the motivation of the artists. You will also become
more aware of your personal response to the works and how this
affects your interpretations.
You will be asked to submit one or more assessment tasks to
successfully complete Outcome 1. Refer to the sample criteria sheet
on page 75.
72 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1-4

4
TIPS FOR COMPLETING ASSESSMENT TASKS
Short-answer questions supported by visual references
• Read the question carefully, underlining key words before you begin.
• Keep your answers brief and to the point.
• Refer to specific details about the artworks to support your responses.
Visit a number of exhibitions and respond to short-answer questions
• Make notes when you are in the gallery.
• Ensure that you address the specific questions set by your teacher.
• Take advantage of the fact that you are seeing original artworks and move close so
that you can see the surface. Comment on the physical properties, the texture of the
surface and the artist’s technique.
• Note the scale of the works and how this affects your response and interpretation.
• Make a note of the space in which the artwork is viewed and the impact this has on
your appreciation.
Annotated visual report
• Work directly from images of your selected artworks by ensuring that you have a
coloured copy in front of you while you write.
• You may choose to write on the illustrations as you work, using arrows to clearly
explain the relevance of the points you are making.
• Use the criteria sheet you have been given by your teacher as a guide to help you
make a list of the points you need to address.
• Write about each of these points in turn, referring to the artwork to supply evidence
for your opinions.
Annotated visual report in the form of a timeline
• Complete dot point notes or short paragraphs for at least three artworks using the
following points as a guide:
• the name of the artist, the title of the work, the date it was created and the
medium the artist used
• major formal qualities visible in the works
• any symbols and your interpretations of them
• your knowledge of the personal interests and concerns of the artist
• any way that you feel your interpretation is influenced by your personal
experiences and background.
Extended written response
• Organise the points you wish to make into an essay plan.
• Use the Formal Framework to analyse the works in terms of elements, principles,
style, artform, technique and symbolism.
• Use the Personal Framework to acknowledge the impact of the artists’ experiences,
feelings and beliefs on their work.
• Refer to how your own experiences and background affect your understanding and
interpretation of the works.
• Refer to relevant symbolism.
• Use visual evidence from the artwork to support your point of view.

Multimedia presentation
• Use PowerPoint or Photo Story (or other suitable program) to present a project that
addresses your interpretations of selected artworks using the Formal and Personal
Frameworks.
• Consider the layout and the links between pages, and the ways in which you
can take advantage of the multimedia format, such as hyperlinking, integrating
presentation formats and the manner in which you will present your work to the
teacher or the class.
• You could also ask someone to video you making an oral presentation.
In all responses:
• Select your artworks carefully. They should reflect varied personal motivations,
interests and experiences of the artists. Alternatively, they can reflect the artists’
personal and cultural identity through self-portraiture or self-reflection.
• Refer constantly to the criteria sheet you have been given. This is how the marks will
be allocated. Ensure that you deal with each assessment criterion in sufficient detail
to gain the allocated marks.
• Keep your responses short and relevant. Do not supply detailed information about
the artist’s life, for example, unless it is directly relevant to the works you are
discussing. In this case, make the link clear.
• It is advisable to organise a structure for longer responses in order to address the
set criteria successfully. Make a list of the important points and place them in a
logical order.
• Read about the artists and artworks you are studying. Background knowledge is
essential, especially when you are considering the personal influences on the artists
and their artworks.
• Analysis and interpretation of artworks require close and perceptive observation.
You will need to refer to coloured images of the artworks in order to examine them
accurately.
• Visit exhibitions as often as possible. Viewing original artwork allows you to
appreciate the scale, the surface and the artist’s technique. It also allows you to
gauge your reaction to the work in a physical environment rather than via the page
of a book or your computer monitor.
• Avoid obvious comments about superficial qualities of the artwork. Delve below
the surface and consider what effect is created and what impact this has on the
interpretation.
• Refer to good-quality source material while researching.
• Refer to page 3 for notes about selecting research and reference material.
No matter which task or tasks you complete, you must analyse and interpret your selected
artworks. To do this well, you will need to use appropriate art language correctly. The glossary
at the back of this book contains a range of relevant art vocabulary. Undertaking research from
reputable art books, journals and websites will also enhance your use of art language. When you
see a new word, ensure that you understand its meaning and context. You may need to look it up
in a dictionary or an art glossary to do this.

4
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: OUTCOME 1
Name: ____________________________________ &ORMAL 0ERSONAL
Outcome 1: Analyse and interpret artworks using the

Formal and Personal Frameworks.
Criteria for the award Very High Med Low Very Not Marks
of grades high low shown allocated
The extent to which

the work demonstrates:
Criterion 1
Selection of a range of artworks
that clearly reflect the varied /5
personal motivation and interests
of the artists
Criterion 2
Application of the Formal
Framework to analyse and
/5
interpret the artworks
Criterion 3
Application of the Personal
Framework to identify the ways
that artworks are influenced by
/5
and reflect the feelings, thinking
and life circumstances of the artist
Criterion 4
Discussion of the ways in which
the interpretations of the artworks
may be influenced by the
/5
background and experiences of
the viewer
Criterion 5
Expression of personal opinion
with reference to the artworks and
/5
their interpretations
Criterion 6
Use of appropriate research and /5
art language
These criteria have been developed from the VCE Art Study Design and would apply to
an extended response (such as the ones on the following pages.) Not all tasks need
to assess all criteria. This may be achieved instead by a combination of shorter tasks.
Student CD-ROM This criteria sheet is also available on the Student CD-ROM.

STUDENT SAMPLE RESPONSES
Both students used the criteria sheet on page 75.
Task: Select at least three self-portraits from widely
different times and cultures and analyse the way in
which they reflect the artists’ personal and cultural
identities.
Student 1: Teghan Hunt-Macdonald
Teghan chose to write about six artists: Dürer,
Rembrandt, Courbet, van Gogh, Kahlo and Picasso.
She introduces her theme:
Figure 4.1 Albrecht Dürer,

Self-portrait at 28, 1500,
oil on panel, 67 x 49cm, 6aad[i]ZhZVgi^hih\VoZY^cidi]Z^gb^ggdghVcY
Alte Pinakothek, Munich ViiZbeiZYid\gVhei]Z^gdlc^YZciî^Zh#I]Znhdj\]i
idedgigVni]Z^g^bV\Z!l]Zi]Zgîh]dlZYVXaZVg
gZegZhZciVi^dcd[i]Z^g[ZVijgZh!VlVaì]gdj\]i]Z^g
Criterion 1: The artists were
^bV\^cVi^dcdgVcdjiedjg^c\d[Zbdi^dch#HdbZhZa["
selected from a range of historical edgigVîhh]dldcanl]Vii]ZVgi^hilVcihjhidhZZ!
and cultural settings and Teghan hdbZX]gdc^XaZi]Z]^hidgnd[i]ZVgi^hi0di]ZghgZkZVa
and Brittany have considered the eZghdcVahZXgZihVcYVhZchZd[^hdaVi^dc#L]^X]ZkZg
ways in which the self-portraits bZi]dY^hZbeadnZY!ZVX]Vgi^hiidd`Vadc\aîZgVa
reflect the identities and interests VcYÃ\jgVi^kZadd`Vi]^bdg]ZghZa[#:VX]d[i]ZhZ
of the artists edgigVîh^hVcZmeadgVi^dcd[i]ZhZa[#
The following discussion of Albrecht Dürer’s Self-portrait,

is a further extract:
Refer to Dürer’s earlier drawing Self-portrait at 13, 1500,

on page 30.
Criterion 6: Appropriate art 9gZg »hbdhi^begZhh^kZVcYÃcVaeV^ciZYhZa["

language has been highlighted edgigVîlVhXgZViZY^c&*%%!l]Zc]ZlVh'-nZVgh
throughout the text of these two daY#I]ZhdaZbc!frontal pose VcYi]Z8]g^hi"a^`Z
extracts (in red) idealisationd[i]Z[ZVijgZhVhhZgiVcVji]dgîn
WZndcYi]ZgVc\Zd[dgY^cVgnedgigVîh#8dcig^Wji^c\
Criterion 2: Discussion of visual idi]^hdkZgVaaZ[[ZXi^hi]ZjcYZgan^c\ composition
analysis and style assist in the d[VX^gXaZVii]Zided[Vig^Vc\aZ!l]^X]hjeedgihi]Z
interpretation hZkZgZhnbbZignd[i]ZVgi^hi»h[VXZ#

4
Criterion 3: Consideration of the I]^hXdchigjXi^dcXVcWZigVXZYWVXìdi]Z
intentions of the artist Byzantine^bV\Zhd[8]g^hii]ZGZYZZbZg#I]Z
eV^ci^c\add`h!^c[VXi!a^`ZVhZXjaVg^hZYicon#IdYVn!
Criterion 4: Reflection on the
i]Zk^ZlZgb^\]iXdch^YZgi]ZVgi^hiVjYVX^djh^c
changing interpretation of the work XdbeVg^c\]^bhZa[id8]g^hi!WjieZg]Vehi]^h^hV
b^h^ciZgegZiVi^dcVcY]ZlVhh^beanWdVhi^c\d[]^h
h`âahVhVcVgi^hi#
9gZgjhZYi]ZhZh`âahidegdbdiZ]^bhZa[!bjX]
Criterion 5: Teghan’s opinion is i]ZlVnZVganedgigVîeV^ciZghlZgZXdbb^hh^dcZYid
evident in her interpretation of the ^bbdgiVa^hZi]Z^gZbeadnZgh#=ZeV^ciZY]^h^bV\Z
work idegd_ZXiVcV^gd[^bedgiVcXZ!idhj\\Zhi]^\]hdX^Va
hiVijh#=ZlVhdWk^djhan`ZZcanVlVgZd[]^hVjY^ZcXZ#
Criterion 6: Research is
=^hedgigVîh!i]dj\]i]ZnYdgZXdgYX]Vc\ZVcY
obvious and is supported by a Zbdi^dcVaigVchî^dcdkZgi^bZ!lZgZcdiVcZmeadgVi^dc
comprehensive bibliography d[]^hehnX]ZhdbjX]VhVbZVchd[h]dl^c\]^hg^h^c\
hdX^Vaedhî^dc#9gZgjhZhVneutral colour scheme
i]VibVnWZVc^gdc^XViiZbeiid]jbWaZ]^bhZa[#
IZ\]Vc=jci"BVXYdcVaY
Figure 4.2 Andy Warhol,

Self-portrait, 1986,
silk screen, 1.8 x 1.8m,
Australian National Gallery
STUDENT SAMPLE
RESPONSES
Student 2: Brittany Hendriks
In approaching the same task Brittany chose to
write about Gentileschi, Munch, Close, Flack,
Warhol and Bezor. She writes about Andy
Warhol:
This self-portrait by Andy Warhol was created

in 1986, the year before his death. He used four
photographic images of himself and silk-screened them
onto a large 1.8 metre square canvas so that they are not
properly aligned.

Criterion 2: Visual analysis is The four large heads are all facing towards the viewer
integrated into a description of the with staring eyes. This, along with the distortion of the
work faces due to the misaligned printing and Warhol’s signature
‘shocked’ hair, creates a sense of unease and awkwardness
in the viewer.
The heads are disembodied, giving them a floating,

alien-like quality. This, along with the contrast made by
the black background, makes them look eerie and surreal.
The warm colours are layered on top of one another, which
Criterion 3: Research is evident in suggests there being multiple faces within the one face,
relation to the interests and style of
perhaps giving reference to the drug-culture present at the
the artist
time it was made. The way each image has been placed
suggests imbalance and a lack of order, common themes
in Warhol’s work. The fact that there are four images, all
subtly different, suggests the layers of Warhol’s personality
Criterion 6: Appropriate art and the mystery behind them. Warhol was notorious for his
language has been highlighted membership in many diverse social circles and was often
throughout the text (in red)
thought of as being asexual. He was also very interested in
the underground filmmaking scene.
The focal points of this work are the eyes and mouths
Criterion 5: Brittany has expressed of each of the images. The eyes are all staring, which
her personal opinions and leaves the viewer feeling unsettled. The mouths are fixed
supported them with reasons and and expressionless, yet in combination with the eyes and
evidence hair, they evoke a range of emotions from anger to fear to
vulnerability. The hair is a further focal point and suggests
a sense of madness.
Warhol’s works have often been referred to as being

Criterion 6: Research is obvious unsettling, which can be seen as a reflection of his own
throughout the text personality. As an underground filmmaker, he liked to make
his viewers feel uncomfortable by presenting them with
confronting, provocative images, which, nevertheless, make
it difficult for them to turn away. Warhol’s self-portrait also
holds this quality; however, it is less confronting, which
perhaps makes it more appealing.
Brittany Hendriks

4
The award for satisfactory completion of this unit will be based on your teacher’s decision
that you have shown you have been able to achieve the outcomes they have specified for
the unit. This decision will be based on your teacher’s assessment of how successfully you
completed the set tasks of this unit.
To successfully complete Outcome 2 in Unit 1 you are required to show evidence that
you have explored a range of techniques, materials and processes. You must develop a folio
of visual responses to a variety of tasks set by your teacher in which you have explored
ideas and concepts of interest to you.
Assessment
There is no requirement to produce a finished artwork in Unit 1, however any works that
you consider to be finished artworks will be assessed as part of your exploration. The
important thing in Unit 1 is to explore different ways of working. Enjoy the experience of
‘bumping into things’. Try media, techniques and approaches that you have not tried before.
Be aware of the potential of unplanned results, chance experiences and embrace the
possibilities presented in the environment of your art studio.
Although they should not be seen as a check list, your teacher will observe how
effectively you have applied the key knowledge and key skills outlined in the study design.
Use these to determine how effectively you have met the criteria of the study design. Your
teacher may provide you with a list of criteria with which they will assess your folio. It may
also be useful to refer to the points below and to the criteria sheet at the end of this chapter
while you are developing your folio, to ensure that you are meeting the requirements of
this unit.
1 Communicating personal ideas and concepts through the development of a visual
language
Am I:
• using various means to explore my interpretations of ideas and concepts, including
brainstorming, annotation and an exploration of materials, techniques, processes
and artforms?
• establishing a personal visual language that effectively communicates my ideas and
concepts?
• allowing my media to achieve a visual representation of my concept or ideas?
2 Developing visual creative responses from methods of observation and the
exercise of imagination.
Am I:
• generating a range of visual interpretations of my ideas and concepts through both
observation and imagination?
• establishing ways that I can communicate my ideas and concepts in a visual way,
including the use of thumbnail sketches, exploration of media and developing a
range of images?
• being imaginative in the range of possibilities with which I can respond to the set
tasks?

3 Exploring materials, techniques, processes and art forms.
Am I:
• exploring my medium/media using a range of techniques?
• considering how this exploration is communicating my ideas and concepts?
• allowing my exploration, observations and discoveries to provide me with potential
tools with which to develop an effective visual language?
• exploring the expressive application of my medium/media and the symbolic meaning
expressed by the media, techniques and approaches?
• starting to consider the meaning associated with the medium/media, process and
techniques?
• pushing the boundaries of my medium/media?
4 Using the formal elements and principles to produce creative responses that
illustrate personal interests.
Am I:
• observing how artists use and combine formal elements, the way they compose the
image and how they use their technique to express themselves?
• considering how I can manipulate and combine the elements of art and the
relationships I am establishing?
• achieving mood or atmosphere, enhancing the message I want to convey in my
artwork through the application of the formal elements?
• producing visual responses that are aesthetically pleasing?
5 Applying knowledge of the Formal and Personal Frameworks in reflective
annotation as they apply to the artmaking.
Am I:
• analysing and discussing the meanings and messages in my artwork and evaluating
how effective is the visual language that I am developing?
• reflecting on how my experiences, feelings and thinking are evident in my work?
• applying the formal framework and considering my use of line, colour, texture, tone,
form, shape, sound, space, light and time as well as how they have been applied to
achieve balance, focal point, unity, variety, contrast, rhythm and space?
• considering how the formal qualities enhance the messages of the artwork?
• considering how my artmaking reflects the personal framework, how the use of the
medium etc. reflect my personality, thinking, values, interests and who I am?
• considering symbolism to explore my ideas and concepts?
6 Document thinking and working practices;
Am I:
• clearly annotating and communicating my thinking and working practice?
• using my analysis to determine how effective or ineffective my exploration is, so that
I can plan the next step I will take?
• communicating my understanding of what I am learning?
• applying the tools I have been given in theory?

4
Name: ____________________________________ &ORMAL 0ERSONAL
Outcome 2: A folio of visual responses to a variety of set tasks

exploring ideas and concepts of interest to you.
Criteria for the award of grades Very High Med Low Very Not Marks
high low shown allocated
The extent to which the folio

demonstrates:
Criterion 1
The effective communication of ideas and
concepts of personal interest through the
/5
development of a visual language
Criterion 2
The development of visual creative responses
from observation, the exercise of imagination /5
and the exploration of various media and
techniques
Criterion 3
The broad and creative trialing of materials,
techniques and processes with selected art /5
form/s. A developing skill in the application of
materials & techniques
Criterion 4
The use of the formal elements and principles
to produce creative responses that illustrate
/5
personal interests
Criterion 5
The application of knowledge of the Formal
and Personal Frameworks in reflective
annotation as they apply to the exploration
of the set tasks. An understanding is shown
/5
through the appropriate application, control
and documentation of elements, principles and
aesthetics
Criterion 6
The development and presentation of a
sustained body of work, documenting thinking
/5
and working practices
This criteria sheet has been developed from the VCE Art Study Design and is also available
Student CD-ROM
on the Student CD-ROM.

[5]
Chapter overview
ART AND By the end of Unit 2, you will have analysed, interpreted,
compared and contrasted works from different cultural
CULTURE contexts. In this chapter, you will examine ways in which

you can:
• discuss the role and purpose of art in cultural contexts
Unit 2 – Area of Study 1 • discuss the ways in which art reflects and
communicates the values, beliefs and traditions of
the societies in which and for which it is made
• apply the Formal and Cultural Frameworks to analyse
and interpret artworks
• compare and contrast artworks
• substantiate personal opinions about the artworks
• investigate images of war and conflict
• explore images of the mother and child
• examine images of the nude.
‘The work of art is above all a process of creation: it is never experienced as a mere product.’
Paul Klee (1879–1940), Swiss artist
INTRODUCTION
In Unit 1, we saw how art could often be interpreted as a reflection
of the artist’s beliefs and feelings. The focus of Unit 2 is the ways in
which art and culture are intertwined. As we know, art varies from
#ULTURAL culture to culture and from time to time. You are being asked to
explore and discuss ways in which art reflects the broader cultural
environment of the artist and how it may be influenced by the time,
place, beliefs and traditions surrounding its creation. To complete
this outcome successfully, you need to explore these changes
across time and culture and investigate their interrelatedness. Here
we will do this by considering the different ways in which artists
interpret and present themes.

5
In Outcome 1, you will be exploring influences on artists that are broader than their In this chapter,
personal worlds. You will look at ways in which art can reflect and communicate society’s we will explore
values, beliefs and traditions. You will find examples of how art may be made to reflect, the themes
of war and
communicate, celebrate and reinforce the values of a society. You will explore and
conflict; mother
investigate the ways in which the world and the artist have changed over time. Sometimes and child,
this is provoked by the artist and sometimes by historical, political and cultural factors. To and the nude.
do this, you will need to explore the society in which the artist lives. It may have a positive Many other
themes could
impact on the artist or the artist may challenge and rebel against its values. You will look at be used as
the role that art plays in society and analyse art’s varying social functions. starting points
To successfully complete this outcome you are asked to analyse and interpret the work to link the
of at least four artists and compare and contrast the ways in which they communicate artworks you
are comparing.
(or reject) the values of their time and place. The works you select need to be from very Other
different cultural contexts for the necessary comparison to be meaningful. It is generally possibilities
easier to select artworks that have their subject matter or a theme in common. In this way, include wealth
and power,
it is easier to find significant points of similarity or difference. You will use the Formal and
religious
Cultural Frameworks when analysing and interpreting your selected artworks. expression,
As you research and think about the artworks you have selected, you will form opinions landscape or
about them and the meanings they hold. As an integral part of the Study Design, you still life.
need to use evidence to support and justify these opinions. Finding evidence will involve
observing the artwork closely to identify details of subject matter, technique and style. It Figure 5.1
also means you will need to research your selected artists and their cultural contexts – the Pablo Picasso,
times in which they worked, their social environments, and their political situations. Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas,
349 x 776cm, Museo Reina Sofia,
In this chapter, we will look at a number of themes and artworks from a range of cultural Spain © Pablo Picasso/Succession
backgrounds. They will be explored in terms of how they reflect their cultural context. They Picasso. Licensed by Viscopy,
will be compared on a number of levels. Sydney 2009
Picasso painted Guernica as a personal response to the atrocity of the bombing of the small Basque town
of the same name in 1937. It has since become an icon of the anti-war movement and reflects the impact
that art can have on a society’s attitudes.

THE ROLE AND PURPOSE OF ART
‘The function of art is to disturb. Science reassures.’
Georges Braque (1882–1963), French artist
‘Art is not a mirror to reflect the world, but a hammer with which to shape it.’
Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930), Russian poet
‘I don’t think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates the soul, provokes
the imagination, and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of
manipulating it.’
Keith Haring (1958–1990), American artist
Art fulfils many roles in the twenty-first century, sometimes so

quietly that we are unaware of the part it plays and the influence
it has on our lives and our thinking. It also takes many forms. As
well as traditional and static forms, such as painting and sculpture,
which can be seen in galleries and public spaces, art is now
often time based. It can take the form of performance, installation
or video, or it can be an integral part of festivals and public
celebrations to commemorate specific events.
Art can also challenge. It can confront society’s values and
assumptions and defy its rules, often by assuming less traditional
forms, such as street art.
The roles that art fulfils change over time. They are influenced
by social and political events and subsequent shared values, or
they result from strong viewpoints held by artists who wish to
provoke changes in philosophy or action. These roles often overlap
and an artwork can fulfil more than one role at a time.
The viewer also plays a vital role in the way that art is perceived.
The knowledge, background and experiences that you, the viewer,
bring to an artwork greatly influences your understanding and
Figure 5.2 Franciscio Goya, The Sleep of Reason
Produces Monsters, 1799, etching, 21.6 x 15.2cm appreciation of its meaning. Your reading may well be different from
that of the artist or the interpretation of someone living at the time the
artwork was created.
As we saw in Unit 1, art can fulfil a very personal role in the life
of an artist. It can express personal thoughts, feelings, concerns and
interests. It can also convey imagination and fantasy by expressing
the inner life of the artist through their dreams and nightmares. The
nightmare quality of The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters by
Goya and the desire for a dreamlike, ideal world in Rousseau’s The
Dream reflect this role of art.
On the most fundamental and personal level, art can also
Figure 5.3 Henri Rousseau, The Dream 1910, oil
on canvas, 204 x 298cm, Museum of Modern Art, reflect the creative impulse, a desire to create beauty for the sake
New York of beauty. This is often achieved through abstraction, such as

5
in Rothko’s Orange, Gold and Red. Visit
http://www.nga.gov.feature/
rothko/ to see a collection of
Rothko’s work. Of his work the
artist said the, ‘only thing I care
about is the expression of man’s Weblink
basic emotions: tragedy, ecstasy,

destiny’. He achieved this by producing
starkly simple canvases with soft-edged
blocks of colour that suggest emotions and
encourage meditation.
Many of the roles of art can be seen as
social or cultural functions. Art can reflect
and record contemporary life, its daily
activities, its social conditions, its traditions and attitudes. In this way, the artist may Figure 5.4 Pieter
Bruegel,
reinforce cultural values and help to create cultural or national identity.
The Peasant
Many artists aim to represent the way they see the world around them. Often their Wedding, 1568, oil on
purpose is only to capture a fleeting moment or to please the viewer’s eye. Art that depicts wood, 124 x 164cm,
the small happenings of everyday life and its surroundings is known as genre. Such images Kunsthistoriches
can be as varied as illustrating rites of passage, such as Bruegel’s Peasant Wedding, to Museum, Vienna
reflecting the domestic values of women, as when Morisot painted scenes of middle class
life in the late nineteenth century. genre: depicts the
Much art commemorates historical events and the identity of significant people realistic representation
of everyday life;
and institutions. It may record individual likenesses or represent an historical moment
objectively and impartially such as Tom Roberts’ The Big Picture, or the artist may be categories of subject
personally or emotionally involved, such as the work produced by Australians commissioned matter
as official war artists including Wendy Sharp in East Timor and Lewis Miller in Iraq.
Figure 5.6 Tom Roberts, The Opening of the First

Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
by H.R.H. The Duke of Cornwall and York (later
H.M. King George V), May 9, 1901, 1903, oil on
Figure 5.5 Berthe Morisot, The Cradle, 1873, oil on canvas, 304.5 x 509.2cm, Parliament House Art
canvas, 56 x 46cm Musée d’Orsay, Paris Collection, Australia

patron: person who Art can be an expression of political thought. It may support the powerful – either
supports the arts, the government or the wealthy – and confirm their status and prestige and, in this way,
especially financially
reinforce political power. In the past, artists often produced artworks that reflected the
values of their patrons, the wealthy and powerful who commissioned the work. Political
leaders often commission art and architecture to consolidate their power and to create civic
pride by placing large works in public places. They also censor art and information that they
consider is not in their interest.
Governments and rulers sometimes use
art to present propaganda to support their
political purposes, by influencing opinion
and behaviour to achieve a political agenda.
The Arch of Constantine records the military
victory of the Emperor Constantine over
his political rival Maxentius in 312 in a way
that glorified Constantine, and inspired awe
and patriotism in the citizens of the Roman
Empire.
Art may also be the voice of dissent,
often through satire or subversion and
through this dissent, it can undermine the
ruling power.
Figure 5.7 Arch of
Constantine, 312 CE Art can communicate religious and spiritual values. It can inform people of accepted
ideals and morals. In many cultures, art presents and supports religious beliefs and values.
propaganda: the It embodies, in visible form, ideas that are spiritual. It may represent religious figures,
spreading of a doctrine events and concepts and is often used as an aid for prayer. In this way, artworks make
that reflects the these concepts and beliefs more concrete for the members of their society. At the same
views or interests of a time, such works often speak of the power of the patron, especially if they were themselves
particular group
depicted in the works, such as van Eyck’s The Madonna of the Chancellor Rolin.
The wooden Nkisi Nkondi, or spirit container, on page 87, was invested with magical
properties by the Kongo peoples who used it for a variety of purposes, from healing and
Figure 5.8 An example

of political Street Art
Figure 5.9 Jan van

Eyck, The Madonna of
the Chancellor Rolin,
c. 1435, oil on panel,
66 x 62cm, Musée du
Louvre, Paris

5
settling disputes to punishing the guilty and protecting the village. The nails were
added after the figure was carved, as part of ritual use.
Since ancient times, architects and artists have designed and constructed
churches and temples where people gather to worship. Angkor Wat in
Cambodia is an enormous temple complex built in the early twelfth century.
Some religious buildings, as well as being places of worship for priests or the
general community, also fulfilled a social role. Gothic cathedrals were not only
centres for worship, but were also meeting places and venues for conducting
business.
Our society today does not share one set of religious beliefs. There are
numerous forms of spirituality that are expressed in many ways. Today, religious
expression tends to be a more personal expression of the artist and may be non-
traditional in form and presentation.
An important role that art plays in contemporary life is that of challenging
issues and values. Today, artists are often social critics, commenting on
values they see as dubious and actively promoting change. Art can affect
social and political change by focusing the public on contentious issues
and provoking controversy. This was an aim of Mike Parr’s in Close the
Concentration Camps, (see page 52–53).
Figure 5.10
Kongo People, Nkisi nkondi (female
ACTIVITY 5.1 figure), date unknown, wood, nails,
1 Which of the three quotations on page 84 is closest to your 51.4 x 27.9 x 20.3cm, The Stanley
Collection University of Iowa, Museum
own opinion about the role that art should play? Write an
of Art
essay using it as a starting point for discussing the function
of art. Refer to specific artworks that support your opinion.
2 Organise a debate. Use Haring’s quote as your topic.
Further
Present it to your class and ask an adjudicator to assess your information
presentation on matter, manner and method. on Nkisi
Nkondi can
Weblinks be found
at www.
artsconnected.org/
artsnetmn/whatsart/
kongo.html and
www.randafricanart.
com/Bahongo_
Nkondi_figure.html
Figure 5.12 Mike

Figure 5.11 Parr, Close the
Angkor Wat, Concentration
Early twelfth Camps, 2002. View
century, the full installation
Cambodia on page 52

WAR AND CONFLICT
‘The most persistent sound which reverberates through men’s history is the beating of
war drums.’
Arthur Koestler (1905–1983), Jewish author and political activist
War is a tragic consequence of human existence. As such, it has been presented by artists
Refer to page 183 for
further discussion of throughout the ages and has reflected the changing nature of warfare. It has been treated
War and Conflict as history, myth, legend, fiction and symbol. Images of conflict are important documents for
historians as they provide information about military practices as well as cultural contexts.
The Bayeux Tapestry (see Figure 5.15) records the Battle of Hastings, fought on one day in
1066. The Battle of San Romano (see Figure 5.16) lasted for only eight hours. More recently
the village of Guernica (see Figure 5.19) was mercilessly bombed during a short two hours,
although this was but one event in a long civil war. Mona Hatoum’s glass hand grenades (see
Figure 5.22) refer to the broader issue of war without reference to a specific conflict.
The Australian government has commissioned a number of artists to chronicle

the armed services in times of conflict, including World War I, World War II and
the Vietnam War. More recently, artists have spent time recording the daily life
and activities of servicemen and women stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their
Weblink work can be seen at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Go to www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/war_artists/artists.asp for more
information.
War and conflict timeline

1438–1440 (London version)
at the Battle of San Romano, c.
Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino
Figure 5.16 Paolo Uccello,
c. 210 BCE
Figure 5.14 Terracotta warriors,
(detail of war scene)

Figure 5.15 Bayeux Tapestry
1784
David, Oath of the Horatii,
Figure 5.17 Jacques Louis
Exekias, c. 540 BCE
after the style of
black figure amphora,
Figure 5.13 Attic

5
Sometimes depictions of war simply record historical events, such as Eddie Adams’
photograph in Saigon (see Figure 5.20). More often, they take the form of propaganda by
controlling the information fed to the population. They may glorify the battle and the heroes,
as in The Oath of the Horatii (see Figure 5.17) or they may deceive with half-truths and
downright lies. Artists such as Käthe Kollwitz sometimes aim to stimulate an emotional
response in the viewer by expressing their personal responses to wartime experiences (see
Figure 5.46). Sometimes their work criticises and passes judgement.
Just as the approach to subject matter has varied with time and place, so too have the
conventions for recording battle – from the extreme reality of Qin Shi Huangdi’s Terracotta
Warriors (see Figure 5.14), to the stylised figures on Greek vases (see Figure 5.13), the
artificial structure of linear perspective in The Rout of San Romano and the monochromatic
Cubism of Picasso’s Guernica (see Figure 5.19). Symbolism and metaphor have always
been important, from the classical details and, indeed, the morality of David’s paintings to
the quality of irony reflected in Mona Hatoum’s Hand Grenades, which have the appearance
of confectionary.
Ask yourself these questions as you interpret artworks on the theme of war and conflict.
• What qualities of war are being represented? Personal pain and suffering?
Nationalism? Patriotism? Heroism? Death?
• Does the work document the process of war or comment on its morality?
• Was war seen as something right and just? Or something that lead to the suffering
of the innocent?
• Does the artist use symbolism and metaphor to express the message?
• Has the artist referred to earlier artworks in order to imbue the work with greater
levels of complex meaning?
• Do the images tell the truth? Who is the judge of this?
Against the Dead, 1994
Chapman, Great Deeds
Figure 5.21 Jake and Dinos
Dead, 1810
Great Deeds against the
Figure 5.18 Franciscio Goya,
Guernica, 1937
Figure 5.19 Pablo Picasso,
grenades, 2006–2007
Hatoum, Nature morte aux
Figure 5.22 Mona
1968
Cong Prisoner in Saigon,
Loan Executing a Viet
General Nguyen Ngoc
Figure 5.20 Eddie Adams,

Greek vase
‘We make war that we might live in peace’.
Aristotle, Greek philosopher
The vast majority of Greek ceramic vases were functional and their shapes were
determined by their function. This amphora was made on a potter’s wheel, to store liquids
such as oil, wine or honey. It is an example of black-figure ware in which the figures were
painted using black slip on the red clay body and lines were incised or painted. The story of
a battle scene encircles the vase, following its contours.
The Greek idea of beauty was achieved through simplicity, balance, harmony and unity
and is evident in the simplified realism of the figures on their vase. Contrast and line are the
major aesthetic tools used by vase painters. The figures are presented as dark shapes, almost
silhouettes, against the lighter red background of the central panel. They are generally seen in
profile, and are both motionless and emotionless. Their movements have been captured in a
moment of time and appear to be stiff and awkward. Space remains undefined.
Greek vase painting was always linear and relied on simplicity and a minimum of carefully
Figure 5.23 Attic
black figure amphora, observed detail. Such details can be seen in the shields carried by the soldiers, each of which
c540BCE, fired clay, had a symbolic meaning that was understood at the time. Repetitive line work was used to
54.8 x 36.2cm, National create patterns around the neck and base of the pot to enhance its elegance.
Gallery of Victoria, Fine clay was readily available and cheap in Greece. Vase painting was an important
Melbourne, Felton
Bequest 1957
industry and accounted for a major part of Greece’s international trade. Because of its
durability, clay objects form a large part of ancient Greece’s archaeological record and have
contributed much to our knowledge of people’s lives and social conditions. Vases such as
this amphora reveal details of life, war, death and religion. They also tell stories of the gods
and present domestic scenes.
&ORMAL War was considered the supreme test of a man’s courage in classical times. Individual
#ULTURAL
combat reflected the ultimate in personal bravery. Heroic combat was popular as a theme on
slip: liquid made by pots just as, in literature, Homer’s Iliad celebrates the heroes of the Trojan War.
mixing finely ground
clay with water, used
for decorating or Related works
joining clay Psykter amphora, attributed to the ACTIVITY 5.2
inscriptions painter, 540 BCE. Like Greek black figure vases,
incised: cut into the Bayeux Tapestry (see page
92) is a narrative. Make a list
References of all the other qualities they
linear: representing Boardman J. 2006, The History of Greek Vases
shapes and details by have in common as well as the
(Illustrated), Thames and Hudson, London.
using clearly defined ways in which they differ. Refer
Rasmussen T. and Spivey N. (editors) 1991,
lines or edges to cultural references as well
Looking at Greek Vases, Cambridge University
as formal qualities. Consider
Press, Cambridge.
classical: related to the elements and principles,
art of ancient Greece materials and techniques, styles
and Rome; used to refer of representation, function and
to the characteristics historical relevance. Write a
of beauty, balance and comparative essay that uses this
unity associated with list as a structure.
these periods of art

5
Terracotta warriors
‘Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive one; it is man and not materials
that counts’. Mao Zedong, (1943–1976), Chinese statesman
Qin Shi Huangdi was born in 259 BCE and was to become the first
emperor of a unified China. He initiated the creation of a national
road system and a major canal for transport and linked together
the walls of former independent states to form the first version of
the Great Wall of China. As a further monument to his greatness,
Qin Shi Huangdi commissioned the construction of a great tomb,
near present day Xi’an, with a terracotta army to guard its entrance
and accompany and protect him in the afterlife. The size of the
undertaking reveals much about the power of this ambitious and
aggressive ruler.
An estimated 8000 terracotta soldiers have been found in three pits, in military Figure 5.24
Terracotta warriors,
formation with armour and weapons, ready for battle. There are over 600 horses and 130 near Xi’an, China,
chariots, the majority of which are still buried. Cavalry, infantry, archers and charioteers c. 246–210 BCE
are all represented. Details vary according to each soldier’s rank and are of great military,
cultural, economic and historic interest. Many of the terracotta soldiers originally held
genuine weapons.
Estimates of the workforce conscripted to build the tomb and its surrounding pits (which
were discovered in 1974) vary from 70 000 to 700 000 and it is thought to have taken 37 #ULTURAL
years to build. The scale of the project is so grand that only a portion of the entire site has
been excavated. The tomb itself has not yet been opened but is believed to replicate the Qin
Empire with palaces, towers and rivers of mercury.
The life-size clay warriors and horses have been dated to 210 BCE but, obviously, took
many years to complete. Each figure was made by hand. Heads, torsos, arms and legs
were constructed separately and later joined. There were probably eight different face &ORMAL
moulds and clay was added separately to create individual facial features and expressions,
hairstyles, clothing and gestures in order to enliven the reality of the ‘army’. ACTIVITY 5.3
The clay was brought from nearby Mount Lishan and the warriors were originally Most statues of
painted to enhance their reality although the colour has now disappeared. soldiers today fulfil a
commemorative function.
Related works Find one in your local
community and compare
Simpson and his Donkey, Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne
Statue of Sir John Monash, Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne it to the terracotta
Nurse Edith Cavell, Kings Domain, Melbourne warriors. Write a short
There are similar statues in regional centres and war memorials around Australia. report that discusses
differences in function,
scale, site, materials and
Web resources surface treatment.
For an interactive panoramic view of the pit, go to www.world-heritage-tour.
org/asia/china/army-of-terracotta/main-pit/sphere-flash.html.
Go to www.youtube.com and search Terracotta Warriors for a video of the site.
Weblinks

Bayeux Tapestry
The battle of Hastings is described thus, ‘And the while, William the earl landed at Hastings,
on St Michael’s-day: and Harold came from the north, and fought against him before all his
army had come up: and there he fell, and his two brothers, Girth and Leofwin; and William
subdued this land’.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (compiled from documents written between
890 CE and the middle of the twelfth century)
The Bayeux Tapestry illustrates the events leading up to the Battle

of Hastings, fought between Harold, King of England and William, the
Duke of Normandy, now known as William the Conqueror, in 1066.
It takes the form of a visual document measuring no less than 70
metres long and 50 centimetres wide.
This example of narrative art has been called an eleventh-
century comic strip and has also been likened to a film storyboard.
The title tapestry is a misnomer: instead of being woven, the scenes
were in fact embroidered in wool yarn on a background of linen
fabric. It is made up of eight panels sewn together but is believed
to be incomplete, with perhaps as much as six metres lost. It is not
known with certainty when and where the Bayeux Tapestry was
Figure 5.25
Bayeux Tapestry, c. made, although it was soon after the battle. It is an example of political propaganda, told
1077, (detail of war from William’s point of view as the victor and justifying his actions in invading England. Its
scene) accuracy is therefore in doubt.
The tapestry’s makers have told the story in a linear sequence. The 50 scenes take place
in undefined space, although the overlapping of forms suggests depth. The story is told not
only via the images but also through the Latin text that was embroidered on each scene.
The 625 figures and more than 500 animals have been outlined in stem stitch and filled
&ORMAL #ULTURAL
in with stitching in eight colours. These colours have been used decoratively rather than
descriptively and simple linear shapes have been used to create a pattern. The main story
ACTIVITY 5.4
is bordered at the top and bottom by panels that provide background information not only
The Battle of Hastings
was fought and won in about battle and death in war, but also mythical and symbolic creatures. As a document, it is
the space of a single day a vivid description of eleventh-century life: housing, boat-building, farming, hunting and the
in 1066. The bombing seasons. The level of historical detail is great; the Anglo-Saxons can even be recognised by
of the Basque village their moustaches while the helmets of the Normans have distinctive nose guards.
of Guernica in 1937
lasted for a matter of
hours. The artworks that Related works
commemorate each have The Last Judgement, 1130 CE, relief sculpture in tympanum, St Foy, Conques, France
more than their subject
matter in common. Write Web resources
a comparative essay that For images and a translation of the entire tapestry, go to http://hastings1066.
documents the similarities com/baythumb.shtml.
and differences within To watch a four minute animation, go to www.youtube.com and search for Bayeux
these works. Consider Weblinks Tapestry.
scale, style, materials and
intention.

5
Paolo Uccello
‘What a delightful thing this perspective is!’
Paolo di Dono, known as Paolo Uccello, 1397–1475, Italian artist
Paolo Uccello (1397–1475) used linear perspective and

foreshortening to create a structure for understanding
space. While today it is easy to note inaccuracies of
scale and angle in the image, remember that this was
groundbreaking work when it was painted. The contrived
lines and rhythmic pattern of lances and rearing horses
provide structure to the battle scene. The mathematical
arrangement lends the composition a feeling of artificiality.
The figures appear wooden and frozen. Even though the
lines suggest chaos, the men and horses appear to be
suspended in motion. The lines lead the viewer’s attention
to the figure of Niccolò da Tolentino, sitting on the white horse and leading the Florentine Figure 5.26
cavalry. The landscape in the background lacks reality. There are no shadows and there is Paolo Uccello, Nicolò Mauruzi
da Tolentino at the Battle of
no blood. San Romano, c. 1438–1440,
Uccello’s painting blends the decorative tradition of late Gothic painting with the egg tempera with walnut oil and
Classical realism of the Early Renaissance. The patterned and terraced fields, the trees and linseed oil on poplar, 182 x 320cm,
the hedge of roses have the appearance of a stage backdrop more than the setting for a National Gallery of London
battle. He used gold and silver leaf to enhance the opulence of the painting, but they have
become tarnished over time and other colours have faded. Niccolò Manzi da Tolentiho at
the Battle of San Romano was painted in tempera on a wooden panel. Uccello used tonal
&ORMAL
modelling and scratched back through the metal leaf to create detailed pattern.
The Battle of San Romano depicts an episode of late medieval warfare and reflects linear perspective: illusion
of spatial depth created
the fact that battle was a popular theme for artists and weavers in the Early Renaissance.
by parallel lines that
It was commissioned by Lionardo Bartolini Salimbeni to record the events of a battle appear to converge as
between Florence and Siena. It was designed to be hung up high which helps to explain the they move towards the
strangeness of the perspective when it is viewed at eye level in a gallery. The panel reflects horizon
the medieval tradition of hanging tapestries to decorate walls as well as to tell stories. This
was also one of the functions of the Bayeux Tapestry, discussed on the opposite page.
Other works ACTIVITY 5.5 #ULTURAL

The Battle of San Romano: the Counter-Attack by ‘War is a bright, foreshortening: shortening
Michelotto da Cotignola, c.1440, Musée du Louvre, Paris glorious game in or distorting objects
The Battle of San Romano, c. 1440. Galleria degli Uffizi, this painting.’ So to create an illusion
Florence said Jonathan Jones of depth and make
in an article in the them look like they are
Web resources Guardian in 2003. coming towards the
For information on technical details of the What evidence would viewer
painting, go to www.nationalgallery.co.uk you use to support
tempera: paint made by
/PDFs/TB22_chp1.pdf this opinion?
mixing powdered colour
Weblink with a water-soluble
binder such as egg

Jacques Louis David
‘In the arts the way in which an idea is rendered, and the manner in which it is expressed, is
much more important than the idea itself.’
Jacques Louis David (1748–1825), French artist
Figure 5.27 The Oath of the Horatii tells of the three

Jacques Louis David, Horatii brothers who swore allegiance to
Oath of the Horatii, Rome before they went into battle with three
1784, oil on canvas,
326 x 426cm, Musée
Curatii brothers from Alba in the seventh
de Louvre, Paris century BCE. It also explores the conflict
between patriotism and love, because the
two families were linked by marriage and the
women would grieve for whoever lost. The
story was painted by Jacques Louis David
(1748–1825) and foreshadows the great
political change that was to come with the
French Revolution in five years’ time.
The painting’s references to the classical
world are a response to the sensational archaeological discoveries of ancient Roman life,
which were uncovered in the eighteenth century in Pompeii and Herculaneum. The subject
matter and the physical details of the Oath of the Horatii are reminiscent of classical
#ULTURAL &ORMAL
architecture and morality. It also contains a strong political message as David glorifies
Neoclassical: revival of the heroes and martyrs of the past. The French Revolution was looming, and the painting
the ideals of ancient urged patriotism and praised the importance of duty, discipline and loyalty. The combined
Greece and Rome emphasis on classical details and moral nobility makes this painting a significant example
of the Neoclassical style, which was championed by David and became popular during the
shallow space: limited
upheaval and the aftermath of the Revolution.
depth in an image
Classically inspired architecture frames the three sets of figures within shallow space. The
father stands in the centre, supporting and urging on his three heroic sons. They are tall and
ACTIVITY 5.6
muscular and represent all that is good, patriotic, energetic and courageous, in contrast to
Compare the Oath
of the Horatii, with their mourning sisters on the right. David rendered the women using curved lines and forms to
Great Deeds Against suggest less heroic emotions of love, despair, grief and tragedy.
the Dead, which was David has used precise brushstrokes, harsh lighting and crisp outlines to define his forms
produced by Goya 25 and figures. The father is the focal point of the composition, not only because he stands in the
years later. Contrast centre, but also because the actions of his sons and the linear perspective of the floor tiles
the artists’ approaches
lead to him. The rich red of his cape symbolises both passion and blood and was to become
to the subject matter
of war, the manner in the rallying colour of the French Revolution.
which they appeal to
the emotions of the Other works Web resources
viewer and the impact The Intervention of the Sabine Women, 1799 www.abcgallery.com/D/
of the application of Bonaparte Crossing the St. Bernard Pass, 1800 david/david.html
tonal modelling, colour For a video presentation, go to
and space on the References Weblinks www.youtube.com and
message of the works. Lee S. 1999, David, Phaidon, London. search Jacques Louis David.

5
Eddie Adams
‘Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them; but
photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths.’
Eddie Adams (1933–2004), American photojournalist
Eddie Adams (1933–2004) was an American

photojournalist actively involved in recording
13 wars. General Nguyen Ngoc Loan
Executing a Viet Cong Prisoner in Saigon was
photographed in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh
City) on 1 February 1968, at the height of
the Vietnam War. Adams captured a series
of images as he walked beside the Vietcong
prisoner being escorted by General Loan, the
Chief of Police. Adams’ shocking photograph
freezes the moment of death and has become
a symbol of the universal brutality of war.
This image appeared in newspapers
worldwide and helped to stimulate anti-war
sentiment in the US and Australia. It won
Adams the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, although afterwards he regretted having taken it Figure 5.28
Eddie Adams, General Nguyen
because, in its bluntness, it provided no context for the action it shows. It does not explain
Ngoc Loan Executing a Viet
that the Vietcong prisoner had just murdered eight South Vietnamese, including a member Cong Prisoner in Saigon, 1968,
of the general’s staff and his entire family. The execution was a reprisal for the Vietcong photographic print
action that had broken a truce during the Vietnamese holiday of Tet. Adams later said, ‘The
general killed the Vietcong; I killed the general with my camera’.
Black and white was the standard film type in the 1960s and enhances the immediacy
of the image while eliminating the distraction of colour. The abandoned and almost empty
street is littered with evidence of fighting and the pale background achieved through aerial #ULTURAL
perspective draws attention to the figures in the foreground. The General’s back is towards us
but his outstretched arm leads the viewer’s eye to the terrified face of the Vietcong prisoner.
The open composition reminds the viewer that the action continues outside the frame. &ORMAL
Other works ACTIVITY 5.7 aerial perspective: the use

of atmospheric haze to
Boat of no smiles, Vietnamese Refugees, Gulf of Siam, Adams is quoted as saying
enhance the illusion
Thanksgiving Day, 1977, 1977 ‘Photographs do lie’.
of depth; distance
Brother and Sister, Cambodia, 1979 Find another photograph
appears to be lighter,
that lies, either through bluer and less focused
manipulation or by
Web resources showing a half-truth. How
For more examples of Eddie Adams open composition:
important is the element
work, go to www.monroegallery. composition in which
of truth? Consider how
com/display.cfm?id=66. the objects in the
and to what purpose it can picture extend visually
Weblink be manipulated. beyond the edges of
the frame

Goya and the Chapman brothers
‘Because Goya was the first artist to reveal the gross face of war stripped of all chivalry, romance
and idealism, because he captured something quintessential about modern war, all succeeding
generations of artists have seen war through his eyes: they [the Chapman brothers] have recognised
in the Disasters of War a template for their own nightmares.’
Jonathan Jones, British arts writer in the Guardian
Figure 5.29 Goya, Great Deeds

Against the Dead, plate 39 of The
Disasters of War, c. 1810, etching,
15.24 x 21cm
Figure 5.30 Jake and Dinos Chapman, Great Deeds Against the Dead,
1994, mixed media, 277 x 244 x 152.5cm, White Cube Gallery, London
Goya and the Chapman brothers have much in common – they make statements with their
art and their work is provocative. In fact, British brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman are
obsessed with Goya’s work and praise him as ‘the first Modernist artist; the first who
#ULTURAL had psychological and political depth’.
The oeuvre of Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, known simply as Goya (1746–1828), is
closely tied to the political situation in Spain, a country that was at war during most of his life.
oeuvre: a French word
describing the collected
His work often commented on brutality and the folly of ignorance and superstition. Great Deeds
works of an artist Against the Dead is plate 39 from a series of more than 80 prints entitled The Disasters of War.
The prints were created in secret under the title of ‘Fatal Consequences of the Bloody War in
Spain Against Bonaparte’ and published 35 years after Goya’s death – they were considered too
horrific and unpatriotic to be shown in his lifetime.
The series has been called a ‘catalogue of atrocities’ and tells of macabre horrors on
the battlefield and behind the front lines during the Peninsula War, waged between Spain
and France from 1808 until 1814. One of the atrocities represented is the practice of
dismembering and mutilating the bodies of Spanish guerrilla fighters and leaving them
hanging in trees as a lesson to the Spanish people. It is unlikely that Goya actually saw the
carnage he drew, but he would have known of it and his images are a comment on war in

5
general. In a similar manner to the statement Picasso would make in his painting Guernica appropriation: using an
in 1937, Goya comments on the primitive barbarism that overwhelms society during image from another
artist, usually without
wartime. He knew that the local resistance fighters were just as violent as the French
permission, and placing
occupiers and used terror, unpredictability and brutality as their main weapons. it in a new context
Jake (1966–) and Dinos (1962–) Chapman have collaborated since the 1990s, using which changes its
wit and irreverence in their frequent references to Goya and his work. Like Goya, their meaning
imagery is controversial and provocative. Their installation Great Deeds Against the Dead
(1994) appropriated plate 39 of Goya’s Disasters of War (1610) series and rendered it in etching: a printing
process in which a
three dimensions, using reworked fibreglass shop dummies spattered with fake blood and
design is scratched
wearing bad wigs. The three figures are more aggressively shocking than Goya’s original through an acid
characters because they are life-size – they make the scene far more realistic. They also resistant ground on a
challenge the viewer to consider the morbid fascination we have with gruesome images of metal surface before
death, especially because in the twenty-first century, we are detached from the reality of being submerged in
acid. Ink is pressed into
wartime death, which is sanitised by the media. the resulting grooves
Goya’s Great Deeds Against the Dead is an etching, printed in black and white. Line and and printed onto paper
contrast were the only two elements available to create form, detail and space due to the
technical constraints of the medium, but Goya has used them dramatically to recreate a scene
of carnage. In 1999, the Chapmans created and published a series of their own etchings
inspired by The Disasters of War, combining Goya’s imagery with cartoons and World War
&ORMAL
II Nazi motifs in a style reminiscent of graffiti. At great expense, they also bought a cycle of
original etchings printed in 1937 from Goya’s Disasters of War etching plates, and in 2004 tableau: grouping
they ‘rectified’ or ‘improved’ (some said vandalised) them by painting clown and puppy faces which forms an image
over the victims’ heads. This caricatured the figures and magnified the brutality, while using or picture; plural
black humour to challenge taboos about war and the defacement of original artworks. – tableaux
Goya’s Disasters of War was first used by the Chapman brothers in 1993 as the
vitrine: glass cabinet or
inspiration for a set of 83 miniature tableaux of toy soldiers mimicking the gruesome scenes showcase
from Goya’s etchings, each on its own small patch of grass. The small scale contradicted
the barbarity of the scenes. The Chapmans later created Hell (1999–2000), a series of large
vitrines displaying 5000 melted down and painstakingly reconstructed toy soldiers acting
out the barbarity of war. Their obsession with Goya continues.
ACTIVITY 5.8
Other works Do you agree with art writer
Goya, The Colossus, 1810–1812
and critic Robert Hughes
Goya, The Third of May, 1808, 1814
when he says that Goya, ‘will
Jake and Dinos Chapman, Disasters of War, 1993, miniature mixed media sculptures
obviously survive these twerps
Jake and Dinos Chapman, Insult to Injury, 2004 ‘rectified’ etchings
[the Chapman brothers], whose
names will be forgotten a
References few years from now’? When
Connell E., 2005, Goya: Life and Times, Counterpoint, Berkeley. considering your response, view
Hackworth N. 2008, Jake and Dinos Chapman (Tate Modern Artists Series), Insult to Injury and reflect on
Tate Publishing, London. the ethics of reworking original
Hughes R. 2006, Goya, Knopf, New York. masterpieces. How successfully
do the Chapman brothers use
Goya’s images and ideas to make
Web resources their own artistic statements?
Warning: site contains adult themes and may be offensive to some viewers
www.jakeanddinoschapman.com
www.whitecube.com search for Chapman
Weblinks

Picasso and Mona Hatoum
‘A painting is not thought out and settled in advance. While it is being done, it changes as
one’s thoughts change. And when it’s finished, it goes on changing, according to the state of
mind of whoever is looking at it.’
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Spanish artist
‘I find work that obviously reveals itself, its intentions, so boring. It is about spoon-feeding
people instead of treating them as intelligent and imaginative beings who could be challenged
by the work.’
Mona Hatoum (1952–), Palestinian artist living in England
Figure 5.31 Pablo Picasso, Guernica is a powerful anti-war statement, painted by Picasso (1881–1973) in five weeks
Guernica, 1937, oil on as a response to the bombing of Guernica, a Basque village in northern Spain and a centre
canvas, 349 x 776cm,
Museo Reina Sofia,
of Republican resistance during the Spanish Civil War. It was market day on 27 April 1937
Madrid © Pablo Picasso/ and the men were away fighting in the war that was tearing Spain apart. Guernica was
Succession Picasso. behind the front lines and contained mostly women and children, but in little more than two
Licensed by VISCOPY 2009 hours of bombing, sources estimate that more than 1600 people were killed and nearly 900
were injured.
Picasso’s response to this event shows the brutality of warfare in contrast to the
heroism represented by images such as the Oath of the Horatii. While couched in terms of a
particular bombing raid, Guernica can be read as a universal comment on the violence and
#ULTURAL
suffering of war.
Conflict has also impacted on Mona Hatoum’s life. She is Palestinian, born in Beirut in
1952 and now living and working in London and Berlin. She was in London when civil war
broke out in Lebanon in 1975 and was unable to return.
Throughout her career, Hatoum has used a range of artforms such as installations,
sculpture and video, and unconventional and non-traditional materials such as human hair,
wire mesh cages and grass sprouting from seed in sandbags. In Nature Morte aux Grenades

5
(Still Life with Grenades) she has used hand blown Figure 5.32 Mona Hatoum,
crystal shapes resembling grenades to represent the Nature morte aux grenades,
2006–07, crystal, mild steel
malignancy of war.
and rubber, 95 x 208 x 69.8cm,
Many of Hatoum’s sculptures show familiar Galerie Chantal Crousel.
domestic items transformed into alien and threatening Photograph by Marc Domage.
objects, such as a carpet of pins or electrified kitchen View a detail of this work on
page 89.
utensils. She uses subtle humour and subversion,
which undermine and disrupt the superficial meaning.
surreal: having a
Nature Morte au Grenades is menacing on an dreamlike quality
intellectual level. Consisting of dozens of prettily
coloured grenade-shaped crystals, it is displayed on a Cubist: early twentieth-
wheeled steel table similar to those found in operating century art style in
rooms or morgues. The grenades are fragile and appealing but, at the same time, they which objects were
fragmented and
embody threat and are ominous and deadly in a surreal manner.
rearranged, often using
Guernica and Nature Morte aux Grenades are very different in form and style. Picasso’s multiple viewpoints
painting is Cubist and typically uses multiple views to strengthen its expressive qualities
while Hatoum’s work is a postmodern installation and depends on wit and non-traditional
materials to enhance its message.
The figures in Guernica are simplified and distorted to emphasise the horror, brutality
and suffering of war. The work contains a sense of confusion, a visual chaos that echoes the &ORMAL
subject matter. Rather than a single centre of interest, Picasso has created multiple focal
Postmodern: art style
points. The enormous scale of Guernica (almost 8 metres long by 3.5 metres high) increases that challenges
its impact, while the intimate scale and toy-like colours of the fist-sized balls of Nature Morte traditions and the
au Grenades contradict its deadly reference. idea of originality
Picasso suppressed colour in Guernica, in fact removing the colour he had already by using non-
traditional materials,
painted in, preferring to allow monochromatic black and white to symbolise the sombre appropriation or
desolation of the chaotic scene. On the other hand, Hatoum uses colour to subvert or humour
contradict the inherent meaning of the usually lethal hand grenades.
Picasso used numerous symbols in Guernica. The horse is said to represent the Spanish monochromatic:
people, suffering and in pain; the broken sword represents their defeat. The bull has been consisting of only one
colour and its tints and
interpreted in a number of ways, but is usually thought to represent brutality or death. The
shades
lamp is a symbol of liberty and the delicate flower in the hand of the dead figure in the
foreground signifies hope for new life springing from the devastation of war.
Other works Web resources ACTIVITY 5.9

Picasso, Weeping Woman, 1937 For a spatial immersion 1 Observe Guernica closely. The figure
Picasso, The Charnel House, into Guernica, go to and the sword on the ground are
1944–45 www.lena- reminiscent of Uccello’s Battle of San
Hatoum, Misbah, 2006 Weblinks
gieseke.com/ Romano (page 93). Compare the two
Hatoum, Hot Spot, 2007 guernica/ paintings. Consider the reasons they
movie.html. were created, the styles and techniques,
www.whitecube. the artists’ preoccupations and the
References com search for Hatoum impact on the viewer.
Bell K. 2009, Mona Hatoum:
Unhomely, Holzwarth Publications, 2 How has Picasso represented conflict
Berlin. in Guernica? How has Hatoum done
Hatoum M. 1997, Mona Hatoum the same? Compare another artwork
(Contemporary Artists), Phaidon, by each artist to show their different
London. approaches not only to subject matter
but also to materials and aesthetics.

MOTHER AND CHILD
‘Every culture since the ancient civilisations has recognised the bond between mother and
child in their art and has interpreted the subject in countless ways.’
Matt Foley, Queensland Minister for the Arts (1998–2001)
The image of mother and child is central to society. The relationship is so basic to humanity
Madonna: the Virgin that it has been a universal subject and a major preoccupation in the visual arts through
Mary, the mother of the ages. The maternal bond has been represented in a multitude of forms, from carving
Jesus and painting to photography and installation. It has been treated with affection, compassion
and humour as well as being an expression of religious belief. More recently, artists have
conventions: accepted
challenged our understanding of this intensely personal relationship.
rules
Until the fifteenth century, the image of mother and child was represented by the
Humanist: one who Madonna and Christ Child, who were pictured using a system of conventions and symbols
gives priority to human that varied little over the period of a millennium. This can be seen in the Theotokos (see
endeavours and values Figure 5.33) and The Madonna of the Chancellor Rolin (see Figure 5.34). The maternal bond
rather than religious or was used in the service of religion to highlight the human qualities of God, as shown in
spiritual beliefs
Michelangelo’s Pietà (see Figure 5.35). Images of the Madonna were created in a range of
secular: worldly, sizes, from imposing altarpieces to miniatures used for private devotions.
materialistic The introduction of Humanist thought in the Renaissance accompanied a resurgence
of the classical belief in the importance of secular interests. Mythological subjects, such as
genre: depicts the Venus and her son Cupid, reflected non-Christian storytelling. By the seventeenth century,
realistic representation genre painting showed an interest in everyday experiences and artworks were created that
of everyday life;
reflect the familiarity and ‘ordinariness’ of motherhood with images such as Portrait of Marie
categories of subject Antoinette and her Children (see Figure 5.36) and The Cradle (see Figure 5.37). We also see
matter
Mother and child timeline

Chancellor Rolin, c. 1435
The Madonna of the
Figure 5.34 Jan van Eyck,
Pietà, 1499
Figure 5.35 Michelangelo,
Children, 1787
Antoinette and her
Portrait of Marie
Vigée-Le Brun,
Figure 5.36 Élisabeth
1872
Morisot, The Cradle,
Figure 5.37 Berthe
century
Vladimir, twelfth
Theotokos of
Figure 5.33

5
images of the mother and child used to express profound emotions such as love and grief.
Woman with Dead Child by Kollwitz (see Figure 5.38) is a heart-breaking example of this.
Since the late twentieth century, artists have been breaking boundaries and using non-
traditional materials and imagery to shock the viewer into examining issues we take for
granted. Artists such as Hirst, Moffatt and Mueck have queried stereotypical gender roles
for women and have challenged our understanding of our closest relationships.
Ask yourself these questions as you interpret artworks on the theme of mother and
child:
• What attitude to motherhood is visible in this work?
• Are there religious references or mythological references?
• Does the work raise questions about what motherhood should ‘look’ like? Is there a
right way to mother? How should a mother feel about her child?
• Does the work pass judgement on motherhood?
• Does it make the viewer question what motherhood is?
• Has the artist used symbols to make us think about motherhood in a different light?
Related works
Duccio, Queen of Heaven, 1311
Raphael, Madonna della Sedia, 1512–1514
Lucas Cranach, Venus and Cupid, c.1537
Georges de la Tour, The New Born, c.1650
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Portrait of Mrs Renoir Nursing Pierre, 1885
Mary Cassatt, The Bath, 1891–92
Yoruba, Benin or Phemba (African) statues of Mother and Child of the nineteenth century
Barbara Hepworth, Mother and Child, 1934
1903
Woman with Dead Child,
Figure 5.38 Käthe Kollwitz,
Up in the Sky #1, 1997

Figure 5.41 Tracey Moffatt,
1995
Xiaogang, A Big Family,
Figure 5.40 Zhang
1993
Mother and Child Divided,
Figure 5.39 Damien Hirst,
2001–03
Mother and Child,
Figure 5.42 Ron Mueck,

Theotokos of Vladimir
The Theotokos of Vladimir ‘is of considerable importance in the history of painting, for it not
only is a work of outstandingly high quality but also is in a new, more human style, anticipating
the late Byzantine style that flourished between 1204 and 1453.’
David Talbot Rice, art historian
‘Theotokos’ is the Greek term for the Virgin Mary as

the Mother of God. This image reflects the strong bond
between mother and child that lies at the heart of
&ORMAL
Christianity. Its style and symbolic detail place it in the
Byzantine tradition, when artists sought to depict the spiritual nature of
the religious figures and followed a strict code of conventions in doing
so. The Virgin’s oval face has been simplified, and her large, melancholy,
almond-shaped eyes, long nose and small mouth comply with the rules
of the time, as do the proportions of the exaggeratedly small Christ Child
and the stylised linear patterns on the drapery. The gold background
symbolises the glory of God and gives no indication of time and place,
thus emphasising the eternal qualities of the subject matter.
The purpose of Byzantine art was the glorification of God. Icons are
sometimes called ‘windows into heaven’ and aim to inspire holiness.
This particular icon is the patroness of Russia. The image has been
copied many times and it is considered to be of sufficient importance
that a cathedral was built to house it in the Russian town of Vladimir
(although today it is in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow). It has fulfilled,
and still fulfils, an important cultural role in Orthodox Christianity. The
coronation of tsars and the elections of patriarchs take place in front of
it. The image has witnessed numerous important ceremonies of state,
and miracles, such as saving Russia from defeat by Tamerlane, the
Tartars and Hitler (as recently as 1941), have been credited to it.
Figure 5.43 Theotokos of
Vladimir (our lady of Vladimir), Related works
c12th Century, 104 x 69cm, Throned Madonna, fourteenth century, National Gallery
Tretyakov Gallery, Russia
of Art, Washington D.C. ACTIVITY 5.10
Duccio, Maestà, 1308–11
Compare the Theotokos
as a representation of the
Web resources mother child relationship
#ULTURAL http://econcept.dk/icon/dox.html to The Cradle by Berthe
Morisot. What do they have
conventions: accepted in common? Which image do
rules you identify with more easily?
What cultural experience and
stylise: simplified using Weblink understandings do you bring
a set of rules to this discussion?

5
Jan van Eyck
‘Painting is a form of profound creative release.’
Jan van Eyck (1385–1441), Flemish artist
In The Madonna of the Chancellor Figure 5.44 Jan van

Rolin, the Christ Child sits on Eyck, The Madonna of
the Chancellor Rolin,
his mother’s lap and blesses the 1435, oil on panel,
chancellor, who commissioned and 66 x 62cm, Musée de
paid for the work. This painting by Louvre, Paris
Jan van Eyck (1385–1441) reveals an
impressive ability to represent space
convincingly. He does this by using
linear perspective in the details of
the symmetrical interior, such as the
tiles on the floor appearing to recede, &ORMAL
and also by using the tricks of aerial
linear perspective: illusion
perspective to render the landscape in of spatial depth created
the distance; it is paler, bluer, smaller by parallel lines that
and less detailed than the foreground. appear to converge as
Van Eyck has used thin glazes they move towards the
horizon
of the new oil painting technique to create layers of rich, jewel-like colour. His intense
observation of detail is obvious in the fabric of Rolin’s robes, the sculpted capitals of the
aerial perspective: the
columns and the representation of space and depth in the landscape visible through the use of atmospheric
archways. haze to enhance the
Van Eyck worked in the courts of late medieval Europe, alongside men such illusion of depth;
as the high-ranking government minister who commissioned this painting for distance appears to be
lighter, bluer and less
his chapel. It tells today’s viewer much about the physical environment and the
#ULTURAL focused
religious context of the time. It also hints at the importance of the Chancellor
Rolin that he shares equal space with the Madonna and Christ Child. The Christian
glaze: a thin translucent
symbolism of the angel as a messenger from God, the crown signifying the Virgin’s role as layer of oil paint
Queen of Heaven and the triple archway symbolising the Trinity would have been clearly
understood by those who viewed the painting at the time.
Other works References ACTIVITY 5.11

The Madonna with Canon van der Borchert, Till-Holger 2008, Jan van Research medieval art – list the
Paele, 1436 Eyck: Renaissance Realist, Taschen, ways in which The Madonna of
Madonna in the Church, c.1425 Cologne. the Chancellor Rolin is similar
to or different from examples
of Romanesque and Gothic
Web resources painting. Consider subject
Search van Eyck’s works at the Louvre website, www.louvre.fr. matter, detail, level of reality,
painting technique, symbolism
and venue for display.
Weblink

Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun
‘Before beginning a portrait, engage your model in conversation, try several different poses,
and finally select not only the most comfortable and natural, but the one that best suits his or
her age and character; for all that helps to make the likeness better.’
Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun (1755–1842), French artist
Figure 5.45 In the informal state portrait of Marie

Élisabeth-Louise Antoinette and her Children the queen
Vigée-Le Brun, Portrait
of Marie Antoinette
seems to be more interested in the
and her Children, way she appears to the viewer than
1787, oil on canvas, in her children. This painting is one
275 x 215cm, Musée of 30 portraits of Marie Antoinette
National de Chateau
painted by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-
et des Trianons,
Versailles Le Brun, the most famous French
woman painter of the eighteenth
century and a popular painter of life
at the French court. It shows Marie
Rococo: an eighteenth- Antoinette in an informal pose but
century art style noted
wearing most of the trappings of
for its delicacy and
elegance wealth and royalty that so incensed
the common people in France and
contributed to the political unrest
that would soon culminate in the
French Revolution and the fall of the
#ULTURAL
monarchy. As a royalist, Vigée-Le
Brun was forced to flee France at the beginning of the Reign of Terror. She lived in exile for
12 years, travelling and painting for the courts of Europe, before she could return to France.
The empty cradle in the painting reminds the viewer of the death of one of the
ACTIVITY 5.12 queen’s daughters the year before the portrait was painted. The prince, standing on Marie
In Vigée-Le Brun’s Antoinette’s left was to die within two years and the queen herself was to die on the
family portrait of Marie guillotine in 1893, after being convicted of treason.
Antoinette, the queen Vigée-Le Brun’s portraits were painted with Rococo delicacy and
presents her family to
sentimentality. Always elegant, graceful and finely detailed, they retain a level
the viewer in a similar
way to the Madonna in
of artificiality that flattered her sitters. In this painting, she has used a warm
van Eyck’s Madonna of palette; realistic modelling to suggest three-dimensional form; and a delicate
&ORMAL
the Chancellor Rolin. treatment of surface texture gained through close observation and careful
Compare these two
paintings in terms of the Other works
cultural context of the
artists, the use of detail,
Vigée Le Brun and her daughter Julie, 1789 Web resources
The Marquise de Peze and the Marquise de www.batguano.com/vigee.
the depiction of space
Rouget with her Two Children, 1787 html
and the symbolism.
Weblink

5
Käthe Kollwitz
‘While I drew, and wept along with the terrified children I was drawing, I really felt the burden I am
bearing. I felt that I have no right to withdraw from the responsibility of being an advocate.’
Käthe Kollwitz, (1867–1945), German painter, printmaker and sculptor
The nurturing and protective love of mothers for their

children was an abiding theme for Kollwitz. In Woman
with Dead Child she has drawn, in the medium of
etching, a pietà – an image of heart-wrenching
tenderness. In their physical closeness, there is a
powerful link between the mother and her lifeless
child. The body language speaks loudly of grief and
excruciating pain. Kollwitz has simplified Figure 5.46
them and eliminated all unnecessary Käthe Kollwitz,
Woman with Dead
detail, placing the figures close to the Child, 1903, etching
viewer to increase their emotional &ORMAL on ivory wove paper,
impact. She has used strong directional 42.7 x 48.5cm,
lines to describe the forms and has handled the Galerie St. Etienne
dramatic interplay of light and shadow with sensitivity. The use of black and white emphasises
the sombre subject matter and helps to express raw emotion.
Kollwitz’s work was a commentary on the hardships facing working class people
living in Germany during the first half of the twentieth century. She observed the life
around her and created imagery showing war, the plight of women and children, and
human vulnerability in general. Her prints were based on close observation and she felt a
strong sense of empathy with the women she lived among; their strength and character
when faced with seemingly insurmountable suffering. Her artwork reflected her social #ULTURAL
conscience and her experiences living in the poor parts of Berlin where she saw at first etching: a printing
hand poverty, injustice, hunger and death through her husband’s medical practice. Kollwitz process in which a
was no stranger to the personal suffering of war: her son Peter died in World War I and her design is scratched
grandson died in World War II. through an acid
resistant ground on a
metal surface before
Other works ACTIVITY 5.13 being submerged in
Death Seizing a Woman, 1934 Kollwitz’s Mother and Dead acid. Ink is pressed into
Seed Corn must not be Ground, 1942 Child and Michelangelo’s Pietà the resulting grooves
both tell similar stories. List as and printed onto paper
many differences as possible, in
References materials, techniques, depiction pietá: Italian word
Israel G. 2002, Senior Artwise: Visual Arts 11–12,
of space, detail and so on. Write a meaning ‘pity’ or
John Wiley and Sons, Brisbane
300-word report that explains how ‘compassion’, usually
these differences are responsible applied to an image
Web resources for such divergent interpretations of the Virgin Mary
www.kaethe-kollwitz.de of the same situation. mourning over the dead
body of Jesus
Weblink

Zhang Xiaogang
‘The concept of family in China goes far beyond one’s immediate family and the ties of family
blood … the ties of social and cultural blood are very strong forces indeed.
Zhang Xiaogang, (born 1958), Chinese symbolist and surrealist painter
With the obvious exception of the face of the

central figure, Zhang Xiaogang (born 1958) used a
monochromatic palette when he painted A Big Family.
The choice of red emphasises the boy’s separateness
and is symbolic of political correctness during the
Chinese Cultural Revolution. A fine red thread connects
the figures, not only as a nuclear family, but also as part
of the larger Chinese ‘family’. The smoothly painted
surface of Zhang’s painting reflects a realistic style
that has overtones of dream and illusion, similar to
Surrealism.
Like all people of his generation, the Cultural
Revolution affected the artist Zhang Xiaogang
greatly. ‘For me the Cultural Revolution is a
psychological state, not an historical fact. It has
Figure 5.47 a very strict connection to my childhood.’ The revolution saw the destruction of a
Zhang Xiaogang, A Big Family, number of Chinese traditions. Among these was family photographic portraiture. Zhang
1995, oil on canvas, 179 x 229cm,
addresses the loss of these important family memories in The Big Family canvases.
courtesy Pace Beijing, China and
Pace Wildenstein, New York © Zhang’s artworks reflect the place of the individual in Chinese society. The stiff,
2009 Zhang Xiaogang, courtesy silent and staring faces recall the conformity and lack of individuality that was expected
Pace Beijing, China and Pace during the Cultural Revolution. They stand frontal, formal and unsmiling. They all have the
Wildenstem, New York same blank face and staring eyes, which conceal their identity and personality behind
a culturally acceptable exterior. While the two children and their mother stand together,
monochromatic:
consisting of only one
their expressions suggest alienation and emotional distance. The anonymous background
colour and its tints and suggests emptiness and disengagement.
shades
ACTIVITY 5.14 Other works
The posed and formal appearance of Family Portrait, 1992
the figures in Big Family No. 2 creates Bloodline: Big Family No. 9, 1996
no suggestion of family relationships
or affection. A similar sense of
disengagement can be seen in Ron Web resources
&ORMAL
Mueck’s Mother and Child. Compare www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/
the painting and the installation, artists/zhang_xiaogang.htm
concentrating on an interpretation www.hanart.com/
of the relationship between the Weblinks statement.php?artist_
characters in the works. Present number=1
your response as two annotated
#ULTURAL www.mbergerart.com/xzg/
illustrations, with a third sheet listing
about.htm
the points of comparison.

5
Tracey Moffatt
‘In her films and photographs, Moffatt has a way of retelling stories we think we know, shifting
the point of view and undercutting our expectations… she creates staged tableaux that hint at
a storyline but leave much to the viewer’s imagination.
Jean Dykstra, ‘Fantastic Narratives’ in afterimage, January/February, 1998
Tracey Moffatt (born 1960) is an Australian photographer.

Up in the Sky #1 belongs to a series of 25 images with
an ambiguous and fragmented narrative. Moffatt leaves
it to the viewer to interpret the message, acknowledging &ORMAL
that there is more than one reading. The desolate ‘set’, Figure 5.48
photographed in the harsh landscape around Broken Hill Tracey Moffatt,
in New South Wales, with its graffiti and its damaged Up in the Sky
wall, evokes a mood of desolation. Typical of Moffatt’s #1, 1997, offset
print from a
work, it has something of the quality of a film still, which
series of 25
is unsurprising as Moffatt is also a filmmaker. images, 61 x
The photograph contains a subtle tonal range and 76cm (image
employs framing and contrast as means to identify the size), 72 x
mother and child as the focal point of the image and the approaching nuns as a secondary 102cm (paper size). Courtesy of the
artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery,
centre of interest. Moffatt has used selective focusing as an added means of drawing Sydney
attention to the figures inside the house by throwing the background details out of focus
and thus creating a shallow depth of field. There is a voyeuristic quality to this private
drama; we feel uncomfortable watching a scene that promises pain.
Up in the Sky #1 references the ‘stolen generation’, and as such contains
#ULTURAL
autobiographical elements of Moffatt’s Indigenous heritage. The somewhat menacing
figures of the nuns can be interpreted as symbolising institutional authority and the power framing: to isolate and
draw attention to
relationship that was part of the ‘stolen generation’ policy.
the most important
part of an image by
Other works Web resources surrounding it with a
Birth Certificate, 1962, Scarred for Life www.roslynoxley9.com.au/ visual ‘frame’
series, 1994 artists/26/Tracey_Moffatt/
Night Cries – A Rural Tragedy, 1989 selective focusing:
(17-minute film) Weblink photographic term
referring to focusing
on a particular part
References of a composition and
Newton G. 1996, Tracey Moffatt: Fever Pitch,
throwing other sections
Piper Press, Annandale. out of focus
ACTIVITY 5.15
depth of field:
Go to www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/26/Tracey_Moffatt and view photographic term to
other works by Moffatt, such as Mother’s Day and Birth Certificate from her describe the distance
Scarred for Life (1994) series. If possible, view her film Night Cries – A Rural between the nearest
Tragedy. Each of these works tells of a mother and child relationship. Draw and furthest points that
comparisons and make contrasts about the way she depicts this powerful are in acceptably sharp
bond. Does an overall feeling emerge? focus in a photograph

Michelangelo and Ron Mueck
‘Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.’
Michelangelo (1475–1564), Italian artist
Figure 5.50 Ron Mueck, Mother and Child, 2001–03, mixed

Figure 5.49 Michelangelo, Pietà, 1499, marble, 174 x 195cm, media, 24 x 89 x 38cm, Museum Brandhorst, Munich © Ron
St Peter’s Basilica, The Vatican Mueck Photograph: Anthony d’Offaly, London
Although Michelangelo’s Pietà and Ron Mueck’s Mother and Child are separated by 500
years, they have much in common. Both are three-dimensional artworks that embody
classical: related to the
art of ancient Greece
very private moments in the relationship between mother and child. Both are very real,
and Rome; used to refer Michelangelo’s in the classical mode of the Renaissance, Mueck in a twenty-first century
to the characteristics version of hyperreality. Both mothers appear emotionless, accepting their fate.
of beauty, balance and When we think about mother and child as subject matter, we immediately think of the
unity associated with
bond of mutual affection. We see this connection very clearly in the Pietà, where the Virgin
these periods of art
is cradling the body of her dead son. However, we struggle to find it in the confronting
representation of Mueck’s Mother and Child. Perhaps this is linked to the religious function
of Michelangelo’s sculpture and the very personal moment shown in Mueck’s installation.
Both works allow the viewer to see the reality of space and volume. Michelangelo
&ORMAL sculpted the Pietà in the round, using a drill to create depth, then carving around these
spaces to achieve detail and, finally, polishing it to a lustrous surface. It is pyramidal in
in the round: freestanding structure, with the weight at the base as Mary convincingly supports the body of her adult
three-dimensional form
that can be viewed son. Details are highly realistic, a result of Michelangelo’s study of both classical sculpture
from all sides and human anatomy.
Mueck’s sculpture has been described as hyper-real, especially in its anatomical detail.
The artist works from photographs, medical texts, and, in this case, from memories of the
birth of his children. The mother and child could be confused with living, breathing people if
it were not for their reduction in scale to half life-size.

5
Both works show reality in proportion, texture and surface detail. While the Pietà was
sculpted in marble and retains the purity of the stone, Mueck used less traditional materials,
casting the figures in fibreglass and silicone, and punching in each single strand of hair to
enhance the effect of reality. He used traditional sculptural techniques though and made
drawings and maquettes, before sculpting clay figures and casting them in fibreglass maquette: small-scale
and silicone. model made as a
The viewer has different experiences of the two works because of their physical preliminary study for a
larger work
presentation. The figures in Mother and Child lie on a plinth, so the observer is very close to
the material reality of the birth process. They can see the umbilical cord, which still attaches
the baby to its mother. In contrast, the Pietà is now behind Plexiglass and it is impossible to
experience its three-dimensional reality as it was when it was completed by Michelangelo.
In creating the Pietà, Michelangelo was guided by classical ideals and the Humanist
philosophy of the Renaissance. According to Humanism and Neo-platonic theories,
ideal beauty was equated with spiritual and intellectual worth. Renaissance society was #ULTURAL
increasingly more secular than that of the Middle Ages but Michelangelo combined pagan Humanist: one who
interests within a Christian context. gives priority to human
Mueck, on the other hand, comes from a background in children’s television, endeavours and values
animatronics, and the advertising and movie industries. His work reflects the fact that in the rather than religions or
spiritual beliefs
twenty-first century, no subject matter is considered taboo. He shows us a mother and child
at the beginning of their relationship, yet to bond. The mother is exhausted and tense, still
secular: worldly,
in the birthing pose. She looks wary, somewhat startled at the appearance of her child, only
materialistic
minutes old. This is very different to traditional and more intimate representations of the
Madonna and child, where the bond of mutual affection has already been formed. voyeur: a French term
Some viewers and critics are uneasy about the forced intimacy of Mother and Child. for an obsessive, often
They feel like voyeurs, watching an intensely private physical and emotional moment. secretive, watcher
Because the figures are so much smaller than life-size, the viewer feels distant. There is
a psychological barrier separating us from the figures of the mother and child, who seem
vulnerable.
Michelangelo and Mueck approached their work with very different aims in mind but
both used the tools of realism to provide the viewer with an image that challenges their
understanding of the relationship between mother and child.
Other works ACTIVITY 5.16

Michelangelo, Madonna of the Steps, c.1491
In an article in the Guardian,
Michelangelo, Bruges Madonna, 1501–04
Adrian Searle wrote that, ‘There
Ron Mueck, Pregnant Woman, 2002
must be much to admire about
Ron Mueck, A Girl, 2006
sculptor Ron Mueck’s astonishingly
life-like representations of the
References human body. But, apart from the
Greeves S. and Wiggins C. 2005, Ron Mueck, technique, I cannot think what
National Gallery Company, London. it is . . . it is all so perfect – and
perfectly boring’. Write a rebuttal
to Searle, explaining why Mueck’s
Web resources Mother and Child engages your
nga.gov.au/mueck/index.cfm attention and challenges you to
interpret its meaning.
Weblink

Berthe Morisot and Damien Hirst
‘It is important to express oneself ... provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own
experience.’
Berthe Morisot, (1841–1895), French painter
Figure 5.51 Berthe Morisot, The Figure 5.52 Damien Hirst, Mother and Child Divided, 1993 steel, GRP composites, glass,
Cradle, 1873 oil on canvas, 56 x silicone, sealants, cow, calf, formaldehyde solution; dimensions variable, © Damien Hirst/
45cm, Musée d’Orsay Paris DACS. Licensed by VISCOPY 2009
Morisot’s sister Edma and her infant daughter Blanche modelled for the intimate study
of a new mother that we see in The Cradle. The lack of detail and the loose, sketchy
brushwork, in an Impressionist style, lend the painting a quality of freshness. The high key
&ORMAL palette of the cradle and the pale colours of the background draw the viewer’s attention to
the deeper tones of the mother. Her gaze and the diagonal lines of her arm, reinforced by
the line of the curtain behind her, lead the viewer’s eye to the sleeping child. Thus, we are
Impressionism: a French drawn into the work.
art movement that
represented everyday We are also drawn into Hirst’s Mother and Child Divided but in a very different manner.
scenes in an attempt to Because of the three-dimensional quality of the installation, the viewer is lead around and
capture light, surface through the work physically. Furthermore, the title Mother and Child Divided suggests a
and atmosphere layered meaning compared to the uncomplicated story of The Cradle. As Nicholas Serota
was quoted in his lecture ‘Who’s afraid of modern art?’, ‘Walking between the two halves
high key: composed
and seeing the isolation of the calf from the cow encourages deeper readings of the work’.
mainly of light tones
The separation of the mother and child is not only literal but also symbolic. The viewer
is encouraged to recognise the universality of motherhood in the bodies of the cow and calf.
However, Hirst does not give us ready answers to our inevitable questions. He expects each
viewer to engage with his works and interpret them from their own position of experience
and understanding. He relies on the high shock value of his subject matter to provoke a
wide range of responses in the viewer, from intrigue to outrage.

5
Mother and Child Divided is a work from Hirst’s Natural History series in which animals
are preserved and suspended in formaldehyde and encased in museum-style vitrines.
They float, seemingly weightless, in their ‘transparent aqua tombs’. A gentle light passes
through the liquid, contradicting the gruesome subject matter and creating the contrast #ULTURAL
that draws the viewer’s eyes towards the macabre details. The mother and child of the title
are in fact divided. The physicality of this allows the viewer access to details which are
otherwise unavailable and which force them to realise the reality of death. In this way, we
are reminded of our own mortality. &ORMAL
Much of Hirst’s work can be interpreted as an exploration of the fundamental questions
of life and death. His approach is often unconventional and controversial as he explores
non-traditional materials and artforms. He works with a team of assistants, which
sometimes causes viewers and critics alike to question the authenticity of his work. This
practice follows the tradition of artist’s apprentices, which was the accepted norm in vitrine: glass cabinet or
Renaissance studios. Andy Warhol’s ‘factory’ of the 1960s brought this practice into the showcase
modern world but, like Hirst, it could be argued that he did so for reasons of convenience
rather than for the education of the next generation.
Morisot also broke through boundaries. She worked in the circle of Impressionist
painters and exhibited in seven of their eight exhibitions. While today a career in the arts is
available for women, Morisot was only able to pursue an artistic career as well as marriage
and motherhood due to the emotional and financial support of her husband and family. #ULTURAL
Like her Impressionist colleagues, Morisot was inspired to record fleeting scenes of
everyday life. She depicted the domestic lives and values of upper-middle-class women by
focusing on day-to-day experiences. Perhaps she reinforced the stereotypical views held
at the time about the role of women. Hirst, on the other hand, challenges us to consider the
broader issues of what it means to be human.
Other works Web resources

Berthe Morisot, Hide and Seek, 1873 www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/
Berthe Morisot, La Lecture (Reading: the Mother auth/morisot
and Sister Edma of the Artist), 1869–70
www.whitecube.com search
Damien Hirst, The Virgin Mother, 2006 Weblinks for Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst, Birth (Cyrus), 2006
www.damienhirst.com
References
Adler K. 1995, Berthe Morisot, Phaidon, London. Refer to page 198 for
Higonnet A. 1995, Berthe Morisot, University of further discussion on
California Press, Berkeley. Hirst’s work
ACTIVITY 5.17
1 Berthe Morisot believed that ‘It is important to express oneself ... provided the feelings are
real and are taken from your own experience.’ Do you think that it is necessary for an artist to
use their own experiences and feelings as the basis of their artwork? Do you believe that it is
important or preferable to do so in your own work?
2 ‘Have they gone stark raving mad? The works of the “artist” are lumps of dead animals.’ So
said Norman Tebbit after seeing Hirst’s work in the ‘Sensation’ exhibition in 1997. Do you
agree with Tebbit’s understanding of Hirst’s work? Explain your opinion and use evidence to
support it.

THE NUDE
‘The male image is one of power, possession and domination; the female is one of submission,
passivity and availability.’
Linda Nochlin, 1972
In 1972, John Berger and Linda Nochlin both wrote that in the tradition of European art, the
naked woman is the object, the surveyed. She is the passive figure displayed for the male
gaze. She is conscious of being watched but, by her very presence, she is there to flatter
the spectator, who is assumed to be a man. In Ways of Seeing, Berger wrote ‘Men act and
women appear. Men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at’.
The image of the nude is timeless, fundamental and universal. We can all empathise with
the unclothed figure; it can provoke curiosity, desire, guilt or disgust. Images of the nude have
long reflected society’s attitudes to the body and beauty, gender and sexuality. More recently,
they have revealed the attitudes and beliefs of the artist. They often reflect cultural stereotypes
and refer to issues of race, sensuality, sexuality, censorship and morality.
The nude has been represented in Western art in an unbroken line from the 25 000-
Weblink
year-old Venus of Willendorf, whose rotund figure emphasised fertility, through to the
twenty-first century, when shock value has become an important element of the imagery,
Venus of Willendorf used by artists such as Damien Hirst and Ron Mueck who defy tradition and conventions.
http://witcombe.sbc. In the classical world, it was believed that perfection of the body reflected spiritual beauty
edu/willendorf
and nobility, while in the Middle Ages the naked figure was rarely shown and when it was,
it usually suggested the bestiality of evil. In the Renaissance, Michelangelo dissected
bodies to learn and understand them. This allowed him to create images based on physical
Refer to page 184 for reality (see Figure 5.55). In the late nineteenth century, Degas placed the nude in everyday
further discussion of
situations (see Figure 5.60), in compositions inspired by the new ways of seeing, influenced
The Body
by the snapshot quality of photographs and the unusual angles of view in Japanese prints.
The nude timeline

Venus, c.1485
Figure 5.54 Botticelli, Birth of
Laocoön, c.40BCE
Polydorus and Athanadorus,
Figure 5.53 Agesander,
1504
Michelangelo, David,
Figure 5.55
1601–02
Amor Vincit Omnia,
Figure 5.56 Caravaggio,
Graces, c.1639
Rubens, The Three
Figure 5.57 Peter Paul

5
Working from the naked human figure was, for centuries, an integral part ACTIVITY 5.18
of a male artist’s training. Women had restricted access to models until the late 1 Compare any two artworks
nineteenth century because it was considered unsuitable and immoral for them to from The Nude timeline.
be exposed to nudity. Interestingly, the nude female served as the subject in more Discuss the ways in which
artwork than the male, largely because the artist and the patron were typically they represent the nude
male and the female figure was presented for their pleasure. and research the ways in
which they reflect the time
Consider these questions as you interpret artworks representing the nude
and place of their creation.
• Why has the nude been represented? 2 The following paintings
• What was acceptable in the society in which this artwork was made? How follow a tradition of
has acceptability varied over time? representing the recurring
• How are beauty and the nude related? How was beauty defined at the time theme of the reclining
the artworks were created? female nude: Giorgione,
Sleeping Venus, c.1508–10;
• Are there obvious (or not so obvious) attitudes to gender in the works? Are
Titian, Venus of Urbino,
these the same attitudes that are accepted by contemporary society or that 1538; Goya, The Nude
you hold? Maja, c. 1800, Edouard
Manet, Olympia, 1863;
Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,
Related artworks Amedeo Modigliani,
Ancient Greek korous (male figure) or kore
1907 Reclining Nude, 1917.
Man Ray, Violon d’Ingres (Kiki de Find illustrations and
(female figure)
Montparnasse), 1924 explain how each image
Ancient Greece, Venus de Milo, 130–120
Norman Lindsay, Spring’s Innocence, 1937 approaches the theme of
BCE
Yves Klein, L’Esclave de Michel-Ange, the reclining nude in a
Bernini, David, 1623–24
1962 slightly different manner.
Rembrandt, Bathsheba Bathing, 1654
Lucien Freud, Benefits Supervisor
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, The
Sleeping, 1995
Bather of Valpinçon (The Great Bather),
Guerrilla Girls, Get Naked Poster, 2004
1808
References
John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Penguin, 1972
Margaret Walters, The Nude Male – A New Perspective, Penguin, 1978
Linda Nochlin, Representing Women, Thames and Hudson, 1999
Kenneth Clark, The Nude: A study in Ideal Form, Princeton University Press, 1990
Germaine Greer, The Boy, Rizzoli, 2003
Tub, 1886
Figure 5.60 Edgar Degas, The
O’Murphy, c. 1752
Boucher, Marie-Louise
Figure 5.58 François
Untitled #8, 2007–08

Figure 5.62 Bill Henson,
Manga, c.1811–1820
Hokusai, Hokusai-
Figure 5.59 Katsushika
1992
Saville, Propped,
Figure 5.61 Jenny

Botticelli and Jenny Saville
‘A large female body has a power, it occupies a physical space, yet there’s an anxiety about it.
It has to be hidden.’
Jenny Saville, in an interview with Susie McKenzie in the Guardian, 22 October 2005
Figure 5.63 Sandro Botticelli, Birth Figure 5.64 Jenny Saville, Propped, 1992, oil on canvas,
of Venus, c. 1485 tempera on 213.5 x 183cm © Jenny Saville, courtesy Gagosian Gallery
canvas, 172.5 x 278.5cm, Galleria
degli Uffizi, Italy The Birth of Venus by Botticelli (1445–1510) and Propped by Jenny Saville (born 1970) are
both figurative paintings of female nudes. Botticelli’s painting of Venus was revolutionary for
its time. Instead of being an image related to a religious theme as was usual, the subject
matter was secular and mythological. Five hundred years later, Saville’s painting questions
#ULTURAL the appearance and the role of such traditional paintings of the nude.
figurative: representing Botticelli’s Birth of Venus owes its inspiration to the classical ideas and ideals of ancient
objects in a way that
they can be easily
Greece and Rome, which were becoming increasingly popular during the Early Renaissance in
recognised fifteenth-century Italy. The mythological figure of Venus was the symbol of female desirability
and represented beauty and pleasure. Here she is shown being blown gently ashore by the
mythological: relating to winds soon after her ‘birth’ as a fully-grown woman. Her pose was inspired by the classical
myths, imaginary sculptures that Botticelli would have seen in the collection of his patrons, the Medici family.
Painted at a time when naked women symbolised sinful lust, Botticelli’s Venus remained
cropping: to trim parts modest. He exaggerated the length of her neck and slope of her shoulders to enhance her
of an image to remove
unwanted sections natural elegance and grace, in accordance with contemporary taste.
Saville also exaggerates and distorts the female nude, but she does this by distorting
foreshortening: the angle of view and by dramatically cropping and foreshortening the figure, which
shortening or distorting emphasises its physical bulk. She is fascinated with the body, particularly by female flesh,
objects to create which she describes as ‘ugly, beautiful, repulsive, compelling, anxious, neurotic,
an illusion of depth
dead, alive’. About the time she painted Propped, Saville was intrigued by plastic surgery
and make them look
like they are coming and spent many hours watching surgeons manipulate flesh. In her work, she raises
towards the viewer contemporary concerns about expectations of beauty and the female body. As Susie

5
McKenzie wrote in the Guardian (22nd October 2005), ‘Her exaggerated nudes point monumental: resembling
up, with an agonizing frankness, the disparity between the way women are a monument, grand or
imposing
perceived and the way that they feel about their bodies.’
Both Birth of Venus and Propped are monumental in scale. Botticelli’s mythological story
was painted to fit an architectural setting and was the first large-scale canvas painted in linear: representing
shapes and details by
Renaissance Italy. Saville, on the other hand, uses scale to overwhelm the viewer. using clearly defined
In Propped, the angle of view is low; as viewers, we are forced to look up as the figure lines or edges
looks down, sitting uncomfortably on a tall stool, which is almost hidden by her abundant
flesh. Foreshortening causes her head to look disproportionately small although her gaze tempera: paint made
demands an embarrassing level of intimacy between the model and the viewer. by mixing powdered
colour with a water-
Both artists have used a restrained and somewhat muted palette. Botticelli’s painting
soluble binder such as
style is linear, a necessary quality of the tempera technique he used. He applied egg
clear, precise outlines to define his forms and details. In some places, these are
reduced to decorative patterns, such as the waves and the leaves on the trees. painterly: painting with
In Saville’s painting, however, there is a sensuous quality to her expressive and visible brush strokes
&ORMAL
that create areas of
painterly brushwork as it echoes the physical quality of the flesh. The depiction
colour and tone that
of space is unimportant in both artworks. In Birth of Venus, it is shallow and unconvincing merge rather than
and in Propped, depth is not suggested although the viewer feels a claustrophobic space being contained within
surrounding the figure. outlines
John Berger said in Ways of Seeing that in the European tradition of art, ‘Women watch
themselves being looked at’. They are very aware of the spectator, who is usually male. voyeur: French term to
describe an obsessive,
This is certainly true of Botticelli’s Venus, who is aware of the voyeuristic male gaze. When
often secretive,
observing the figure in Propped, however, there is a feeling that the intended observer is watcher
not necessarily male. Saville’s distorted figure dares the viewer to look at her and pass
judgement on her size and shape. She’s not comfortable with the bulk of her flesh. Incised
text covers her like a net, both confining and protecting her body behind a veil of words
taken from the writings of the French feminist philosopher Luce Irigaray and painted in
mirror reverse.
In short, Botticelli contemplates beauty and pleasure in the Birth of Venus while Saville
questions the definition of beauty in Propped.
ACTIVITY 5.19
Other works Saville’s work is often compared to the paintings
Botticelli, Venus and Mars, c.1483 of Peter Paul Rubens and Lucian Freud. Compare
Botticelli, Primavera, c.1482 the figure in Saville’s Propped to the female nude
Saville Branded, 1992 in a painting by Rubens or Freud. What does
Saville, Plan, 1993 each artist ‘say’ about female flesh? Do you think
it makes a difference that one was painted by
a woman and the other by a man? Do you think
References that they represent the body differently?
Berger, J. 1972, Ways of Seeing, Penguin, London
McKenzie, S. 2005, ‘Under the Skin’, Guardian, 22 October
Web resources
www.bergerfoundation.ch/Home/Ahigh_botticelli.html
The unofficial Jenny Saville homepage is at www.geocities.com/
craigsjursen/index.html
Weblinks www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2005/oct/22/art.
friezeartfair2005

Caravaggio and Bill Henson
‘All works, no matter what or by whom painted, are nothing but bagatelles and childish trifles
... unless they are made and painted from life, and there can be nothing ... better than to follow
nature.’
Caravaggio, Italian artist
[Henson’s] photographs, with their cinematic use of light and dark, depth and ambiguity,
are moody in both texture and subject matter. Henson’s images are beautiful, disturbing,
ambiguous and emotionally riveting.’
Gerard Vaughan, director, National Gallery of Victoria
Amor Vincit Omnia by the Baroque artist Caravaggio and Untitled #8 by

contemporary photographer Bill Henson can be compared on a number of
levels. In both, the subject matter is the naked figure of a male youth. Both use
extreme light and shade to suggest aspects of the human condition, but unlike
the animated figure in Caravaggio’s painting, Henson’s photograph hints at
vulnerability and fragility.
By all accounts, Caravaggio (1571–1610) was a volatile and violent man.
He led a life marked by murder and exile and died before he was 40. Given
these experiences, it is not surprising that he painted many scenes of struggle,
torture and death in his relatively short career. He was born at a time when
the classical idealism of Michelangelo was considered the height of beauty.
Like Michelangelo, he painted from life, but his models were ordinary people,
including street children and prostitutes; they were not beautiful and, in his
religious paintings, they did not look particularly holy. This was controversial
– while it was easier for ordinary people to identify with the characters in his
religious stories, many of his patrons thought his figures were vulgar and some
refused to accept and pay for his work.
Figure 5.65 Amor Vincit Omnia was inspired by a line from the Roman poet Virgil, ‘Love conquers
Caravaggio, Amor Vincit Omnia, all: let us yield to love!’ and was a common theme at the time. In the painting, we see
1601–02, oil on canvas, 191 x
the young god Amor, known to the ancient Romans as Cupid, spotlit against a dark and
148cm, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
poorly defined background. On his back is a pair of powerful eagle’s wings and at his feet
Refer to page 202 for are symbols of war, music and learning. The young figure was painted from a model and
further discussion on reflects the artist’s acute observation of reality. Amor makes eye contact with the viewer
Bill Henson’s work
and his cheeky grin is endearing.
Melbourne Photographer Bill Henson (born 1955) also works with live models. The
chiaroscuro: subject in Untitled #8 is an adolescent male, no longer a child, not yet an adult, and unlike
Italian for
‘light-dark’
Amor, he avoids our gaze. He remains anonymous and is indifferent to the camera, lost
refers to the in his own private thoughts. This quality of separateness enhances the tenderness and
#ULTURAL
contrast of mystery of the image and increases the vulnerability of the figure. We, the viewers are
light and dark voyeurs, unseen observers.
to make forms
Both Caravaggio and Henson use light as a powerful tool in their artworks. Caravaggio’s
look three
dimensional paintings are known for their chiaroscuro. He used it not only to suggest three-dimensional
&ORMAL form, but also to heighten the sense of drama by deepening the shadows and increasing the

5
strength of the light. The figure of Amor is posed and appears
to be illuminated by a spotlight.
Henson can also be called a tenebrist; he uses light in a
similar way in Untitled #8. The figure emerges from the rich
black darkness outlined by backlighting. Both time and space
seem ambiguous; he appears to be in a twilight zone between
waking and sleep. Henson’s long exposures create finely
focused photographs and enhance their dreamlike melancholy.
His large format images are painstakingly produced in the
darkroom. The name Untitled hints at the fact that Henson
wants to leave the meaning of the image open for the viewer. In
the absence of a narrative, we are forced to use our imagination
to interpret the ambiguous, moody, casual drama. Figure 5.66
Caravaggio’s painting technique, on the other hand, was characterised by immediacy. He Bill Henson, Untitled #8, 2007–08,
Type C photograph, 127 x 180cm.
worked alla prima, straight onto the canvas, sometimes scratching the lines of the composition
Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn
directly onto the canvas with the handle of the brush. He generally finished each work in one Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
sitting, without the preliminary drawings that, at the time, were thought to be essential.
Both artworks are large and the artists have used a restricted palette. The portrait
format of Amor Vincit Omina echoes the verticality of the figure and contains clues about
the ‘story’ told through symbolism, while the horizontal format of Untitled #8 forces us to
think about the empty space that surrounds the model.
The explicit nakedness of the young Amor in Amor Vincit Omnia and the suggested
nakedness of Henson’s figure in Untitled #8 confront the viewer when the works are first &ORMAL
seen. It has been said, but remains disputed, that Amor Vincit Omina was kept behind a
backlighting: light
curtain by its owner and only revealed to a select few men. In a similar way, the use of coming from behind the
young naked models has lead to controversy around Henson’s photographs. subject
Other works Visit www.abc.net.au/news/

alla prima: Italian for ‘the
Caravaggio, Bacchus, 1597 stories/2009/03/12/2514552. first time’ or all at once;
htm for a theory that links a method of painting
Caravaggio, St John the Baptist, 1602
Caravaggio and Henson. in which the picture
Henson, Untitled #7, 1998/1999/2000 Weblink is completed in one
Henson, Untitled #33, 2002/2003 sitting
References ACTIVITY 5.20

Puglisi, C. 2000, Caravaggio, Phaidon, London.
Compare the figures in
Spike, J. T. 2007, Caravaggio Abbeville Press, New York. Boucher’s Marie-Louise
O’Murphy and Untitled #8.
Web resources The young models seem
unaware of the viewer.
www.caravaggio.com
Do you believe this is true
www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/18/Bill_Henson of both? Use evidence
www.billhenson.net.au to support your opinion.
Weblinks
www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/ed/resources/ed_kits Compare the artworks in
/bill_henson terms of what the image says
about the individual model.

[6] Chapter overview
In this area of study, you will examine ways in which you
can develop and apply the skill you established in Unit 1,
while exploring the idea of art as a cultural expression. In
this chapter you will be presented with ways to:
• produce a folio of visual responses to an area of
ARTMAKING
interest
• produce at least one finished artwork.
AND • develop The Human Body and Culture as a possible

concept to explore in your Unit 2 folio
CULTURAL • interpret a concept

• visually interpret your idea using thumbnail
EXPRESSION
sketches and digital photography
• explore the process of making art:
• qualities and characteristics of selected materials
Unit 2 – Area of Study 2 and artforms – working directly
• trialling materials, techniques, processes and
artforms – a systematic, progressive approach
• manipulate the elements of art to establish a visual
language
• apply the Formal and Cultural Frameworks
• document your thinking and working practices.
‘It is important to express oneself ... provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own
experience.’ Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), French Impressionist
INTRODUCTION
In this Area of Study, you are encouraged to develop and apply
the skills you established in Unit 1. You will continue to develop a
visual language as you produce a folio of visual responses to an
area of interest, which must include at least one finished artwork.
You should trial different ways of working to develop your own style
and approach to the application of various techniques, materials
and processes. Because your practical folio should be an extension
of Area of Study 1, you should explore the idea of art as a cultural
expression.
In the past, art was used by different cultures to define what the
culture stood for, and what it did not. The social function is one of

6
the most important factors we need to consider when studying art. This function has a lot to
do with the meaning of the artworks.
Pre-modern artists worked hard to stregthen social and cultural values. Art was used as
commemoration, to demonstrate power, as propaganda and for subversive purposes (now a
favourite theme in contemporary society).
Art is closely related to the way members of a particular culture live, together with
their religious beliefs, philosophy and environment. Religious art was often commissioned
to strengthen shared beliefs. Egyptian tombs, Christian churches, Buddhist temples and
Muslim mosques often present significant works of art because the people who made them
understood that the arts stimulate the imagination and promote thought about the quality of
life and the possibility of an afterlife.
Art was often created to perform cultural functions rather than for its own sake. Much
pre-modern art was made for functions such as propaganda. A ruler would commission an
idealised portrait that transformed them from a weak and indecisive monarch into a divinely
inspired figurehead of the nation. The destruction of some of these images shows evidence
of the passing of political power. In some cultures, when a mourner wanted to provide safe
passage of a relative from one world to the next, they would have an artist carve a ferocious
guardian spirit. To convey the message of the artworks, artists would often make use of
symbols. These visual references are sometimes difficult for us to interpret but would have
been immediately recognisable to people in the culture in which the artwork was created.
They functioned as a visual language that viewers could read.
For Unit 2, you are required to explore artmaking and cultural expression where you
can consider values, beliefs, traditions or even cultural events. For this unit, it may be
appropriate to use the concept of The Human Body and Culture as a starting point.
A PATHWAY TO MAKING ART

Using visual language to explore
issues and ideas of personal and
cultural interest
Key skill: produce visual responses to personal and cultural ideas and issues through
exploration and experimentation.
You could, again, complete a series of teacher-directed tasks, but it would be helpful to
familiarise yourself with the requirements of Units 3 and 4 by completing a self-directed
and personal body of work under the guidance of your teacher. A number of things could be
used as a starting point for the exploration of your chosen artform/s, including observations,
imagination, ideas or concepts.
ACTIVITY 6.1
Research how the human body is viewed in different cultures and the role it
plays in the art of different cultures.

The Human Body and Culture
What can you do with this concept?
You may identify with your ethnicity and culture of origin, or you could explore other
cultures, social groups or subcultures. A subculture could be a group of people with a
common interest such as ‘petrol heads’, ‘punks’ or ‘footy fans’.
You could examine the human body and how cultural identity is often easily established
by physical traits, clothing, adornment or activities. The use of the figure, male and female,
in art has its precedent in prehistoric cave paintings and sculpture. Since then, the figure
has been used in a variety of ways. Sometimes it is part of a narrative, or a symbol;
sometimes it is used to celebrate the pinnacle of God’s creation, or as a record of human
achievement or folly. Artists have depicted the human body as an exploration of beauty or
sometimes purely as a vehicle of artistic expression. All of the traditions of the past in art
have presented us with the human body in every conceivable pose and situation sanctioned
by history, religion, or mythology.
You have no doubt studied the depiction of the human body in art during theory classes
over the past few years and may even have drawn the human form as a tool of expression
or to develop skill and techniques in life drawing.
The human body plays an important role in the art of certain cultures; its depiction
is forbidden in others and, in some cultures, it is the body itself that becomes art. The
body can be the subject of art or the surface on which art is created. The body can be
seen as graceful, awkward, classical, emaciated, obese, beautiful, ugly, at rest, dynamic,
idealised, symbolic, emotional or spiritual. You could look at the body and its relationship
to its environment. Is it comfortable in, or alien to, its environment? When entering another
country we often feel out of place and uncomfortable. This could be because of our dress,
ACTIVITY 6.2
our size or the expected codes of behaviour in a particular culture.
Create a mind map to
establish ideas that
Enhancing or altering the human form by means of what we add to it, could be
you associate with an option. Fashion and jewellery are also very important aspects of The Human Body
The Human Body and and Culture. Fashion varies from culture to culture. In some, the body is celebrated or
Culture. emphasised but in others, it is hidden.
Once you have established your area of interest

Once you have a few ideas of the possible directions you would like to explore, then you can
begin to collect relevant images relating to the idea/s you wish to pursue. The collection of
images, objects and surfaces is referred to in Chapter 1 in the section ‘Creating a practical
folio’ starting on page 16. Establishing your ideas, and researching possible interpretations
and approaches to these ideas, is just the first part of the visual exploration of issues of
personal interest through observation and imagination.
It is important to begin your personal exploration of ideas by exploring interpretations or
representations of your idea/s in a visual way. The best way to do this is to use thumbnail
sketches or a digital camera to begin recording images. This is a personal exploration that
is informed by your research. The use of both these methods can be seen in the work of the
following two VCE students. Phoebe Garrett uses thumbnail sketches to explore a number of
interpretations of ritual using images, symbols and even words that she associates with the
concept, while Diana Mejia-Correa uses thumbnail digital photographs to explore ideas she
has developed about an aspect of seeing.

6
Figure 6.1
Examples of thumbnail sketches by Phoebe Garrett
exploring a number of options for ritual
Figure 6.2
ACTIVITY 6.3 Examples of thumbnail
Use thumbnail sketches or a digital camera to record 10 images that provide photographs by Diana
Mejia-Correa
a visual interpretation of the concepts you would like to explore for The
Human Body and Culture. Produce a range of ideas to interpret these. Do not
only think of the obvious. Don’t limit your choices because you are not sure
how you will be able to resolve your ideas. Your teacher will be able to assist
you with possible solutions and others will come to you as you begin to trial
media and methods. Often solutions can present themselves by chance.
QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF

SELECTED MATERIALS AND ARTFORMS
How they may be used to present
concepts and images
Key skill: produce visual responses to personal and cultural ideas and issues through
exploration and experimentation.
Using the ideas you have generated though brainstorming or mind mapping, and creating
thumbnail sketches and photographs as a starting point, you should begin to develop a folio
of creative visual responses that presents your own understanding of The Human Body and
Culture. Ideally, this should be done in a variety of materials, techniques and processes.
To develop a knowledge of the qualities and characteristics of selected materials
and artforms and how they may be used to present concepts and images, you have to
experiment with them and note the effects achieved by certain techniques and approaches.
With this knowledge, you can begin to make art.
Making art is a process. Artists have their own way of approaching this. Some will plan
each step of the way while others will work directly, developing an artwork as they go

– ‘knocking about in the studio and bumping into things’. The latter approach was
evident in the ‘splatter paintings’ of Jackson Pollock, where he worked directly on the canvas
without any preconceived ideas beyond his process. ‘When I am in my painting, I’m not
aware of what I’m doing. It is only after a sort of ‘get acquainted’ period that I
See see what I have been about.’
Lavender Yet, even for Pollock there was a development and refinement of the work. ‘I have no
mist and
many other fears about making changes, destroying the image etc., because the painting
Weblinks Pollock has a life of its own. I try to let it come through’. His paintings were built up and
works at developed over time as he poured and dripped his paint from a can. Instead of using
http://www.nga.gov/
brushes, he manipulated the paint with sticks, trowels or knives. Yet despite the way they
feature/pollock
appear to many viewers, his paintings were not totally accidental. The pouring of paint from
the tin was not random. Pollock said, ‘When I am painting I have a general notion as
to what I am about. I can control the flow of paint: there is no accident. When
I lose control, the result is a mess.’ To maintain control over the paint, Pollock placed
a stick into the tin and allowed the paint to run down the stick, directing it onto the canvas.
He controlled the amount of paint that poured down the stick, by the angle at which he
tipped the can. In these seemingly random accidental paintings, there was still an element
of control, a development, a process.
Refinement can be seen in his work with the final touches of paint or the final drop
that achieved what he wanted at that point in time. However, refinement of composition
can also be seen in his process. Pollock introduced a style called All-Over painting, evident
holistic: the idea that in Lavender Mist (1950), which used oil, enamel and aluminium on a canvas 2.20 metres
all the properties of by 2.97 metres. This style avoids any points of emphasis or identifiable parts within the
a given system (e.g. whole canvas and, therefore, abandons the traditional idea of composition in terms of
physical) cannot relations among parts. The paintings seem to have no beginning or end. They extend to the
be determined or
explained by its
limits of the canvas and even beyond. The painting became holistic, an environment that
component parts encompasses the viewer. The design of Pollock’s paintings had no relation to the shape
alone painting with or size of the canvas; in fact, once the painting was completed, Pollock would often select
no particular focal a piece of the canvas that he considered successful, then cut it out and stretch it. This is
point and no natural
another way of refining the composition. Selection is made and the desired composition
boundaries
achieved. This concept of the holistic unstructured picture space was not entirely new.
Monet’s late Water Lily series, for example, uses all-over modulations of the picture surface
with no particular focal point and no natural boundaries.
In order to develop knowledge of the qualities and characteristics of selected materials
and artforms you have to experiment broadly, just as Pollock did. By using different media
and experimenting with different techniques and applications of your selected media, you
will begin to establish an understanding of how they may be used to present your concepts
effectively. Below are examples of a student’s work that demonstrates this trialling of
materials. At this point in her folio, Phoebe Garrett has decided that she wants to create a
book of images that relate to her idea and now begins to experiment with a range of media
to work out how she will resolve her final artwork. The exploration of media and techniques
goes through various stages, allowing her to see how each medium reacts on the surfaces
she wants use in her final and which techniques and combinations will provide her with the
effect she is looking for.

6
Figure 6.3 and 6.4
Examples of Phoebe
Garrett’s folio in
which she develops
***INSERT AW 0603*** a knowledge of
the qualities and
characteristics of
selected media
and how they may
be used to present
concepts and
images
APPROACHES FOR TRIALLING ACTIVITY 6.4

MATERIALS, TECHNIQUES, PROCESSES
Use different media
and experiment
AND ARTFORMS with techniques and

different applications
Key skills: of your selected
• explore media, materials, techniques, processes and artforms and investigate media to establish an
understanding of how
how these can be used to create artworks
they may be used to
• develop skills in art making present a particular
• manipulate art elements and principles and technical qualities of artforms concept effectively.
to produce creative responses using visual language.
During this semester, you will need to identify ways of visually representing your concepts
and resolving your exploration so that you can produce a finished artwork. You may find
Jackson Pollock’s direct approach works for you, but other artists like the French artist
Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) follow a more systematic approach to trialling materials,
techniques, processes and artforms, than Pollock. This structured approach is a logical way Figure 6.5
Théodore Géricault, The Raft
of interpreting the key knowledge and key skills listed in the Study Design, and is a method
of Medusa, 1818–19 oil on
you may find useful when developing your folio. The approach Theodore Géricault used to canvas, 491 x 716 cm, Musée
develop his painting The Raft of Medusa provides us with an effective method of developing du Louvre, Paris
an artwork from initial concept through various
stages of development to a final image. Many of
his preparatory works have been preserved and
it is fascinating to follow his thinking and working
practices. His preparatory work can be divided into
two areas of exploration: collecting visual source
material and compositional planning.
Géricault’s painting was based on a
shipwreck of 1816, which resulted in a great deal
of controversy. When the ship sank, the captain
and crew took the lifeboats and left many of the
passengers to fend for themselves. After 13 days,
only 15 people of the 152 passengers left behind
were rescued. Although his painting is often
discussed in terms of its social commentary and

the recording of a contemporary event, Géricault was less concerned with commenting on
where blame lay in this tragedy than in making a powerful work of art.
Always consider the combination of formal qualities, technique and your skilful
application of the medium as a primary concern, as a powerful drawing, for example, will
be more effective in conveying your message than a poor one. Géricault’s massive painting
The Raft of Medusa, which measures 3 by 7 metres, is a bold statement of human suffering
rather than a sensationalised tragic event.
In order to achieve the most effective artwork possible, he immersed himself in the
subject. You will find that it is a lot easier to create a more meaningful and effective image
if you work from your own experience, irrespective of whether the image is factual or
imagined. Work with what you know. Géricault was not part of the incident, so he had to do
the next best thing; he researched it extensively.
The artist read every account of the incident that he could find, both to stimulate his
imagination and to add authenticity to his work. He spoke to survivors and even had a full-scale
model built of the raft the survivors were rescued from. He then observed it to see how it sat in
the water and moved on the waves. He completed studies, both drawn and painted, of survivors
in hospital and bodies of the dead in the mortuary. He observed the effect of exposure on the
bodies and the difference in the colouring between the survivors and the dead sailors. He drew
from life, placing his models into the poses to tell the stories he was considering.
Figure 6.7
Théodore
Figure 6.6 Théodore Géricault, Heads
Géricault, Head of of Guillotined
Shipwrecked Man, Men, 1817–20
Study for raft of
Medusa, 1817–19
Figure 6.8
Théodore
Géricault,
Anatomical
Pieces,
1818–19 oil Figure 6.9
on canvas, Théodore
52 x 64cm, Géricault, Study
Musée Fabre, for raft of
Fratice Medusa, 1818

6
One of the big decisions that
Géricault had to make was which
part of the narrative he was going
to illustrate in his painting. He made
drawings of a number of the stages
from when the ship ran aground, to the
construction of makeshift rafts, and
the eventual rescue of the survivors.
He tried alternative approaches,
showing the survivors being rescued by
rowing boats, he explored the trauma
experienced by the people on the raft
– the survivors calling a boat as it sails
close by – before he settled on what he
considered the point of most impact.
The survivors have just spotted a ship
on the horizon and are trying desperately to attract their attention. The emotional response Figure 6.10
Théodore Géricault,
of the viewer is heightened by the uncertainty of the rescue. Sketch of the survivors
Géricault used drawing and painted sketches to determine what would best resolve his being rescued by
intention for the piece. Often you have a vague idea of what you intend but need to explore a rowing boats, 1817–18
range of options. Drawing is a good way of clarifying what is going to work best. You may also ink on paper,
35 x 41cm
wish to explore your ideas with a digital camera. You could photograph various environments
and set up different scenarios that you can photograph from different viewpoints.
Géricault also used drawing to explore a range of compositional options once he
finalised his idea for the painting. Why bother with planning your composition? You know
what you want to paint, draw or photograph, so why waste time? Planning your composition
allows you to find the most effective representation of the idea. It allows you to achieve
the balance you desire, to work out how to draw the viewer’s eyes towards the areas of
importance – the focal point – and to hold the viewer’s attention in your work. The balance
and harmony of the work, or the dynamic movement of the composition, will all affect the
effective representation of your intention. Planning on a small scale is helpful because you
Figure 6.11 Théodore Géricault, Ink sketch of Figure 6.12

the survivors calling to a boat as it sails close by, Théodore Géricault, Preparatory work of the raft of
1817–18 ink on paper, 24 x 33cm Medusa, 1817–18 ink on paper, 41 x 55cm

can easily make changes with minimal time, whereas changing your composition when you
discover problems in the final work can be difficult and very time consuming. This does not
prevent you from altering your composition or image once you have begun the final work.
Many works do evolve during the working process.
Compositional planning can also be done on the computer using a program such as
Photoshop, or even by using a photocopier to make multiple copies and vary the scale of
the images, which you can then cut and paste.
It is worth looking at the different ways that Géricault adds to the drama of the scene,
as it is important to consider how you can most effectively portray your idea through your
artwork. The subject matter, body language and expression, as well as the formal quality of
colour, tone, line and so on, all add impact to your composition. To explore options and refine
his ideas Géricault produced a number of preparatory paintings using watercolour, coloured
ink and even large-scale oil paintings. It is useful to explore your ideas for an artwork in a
range of media, to establish what medium would most effectively achieve your intention.
ACTIVITY 6.5
Choose an idea or image that you would like
to represent in a medium of your choice:
1 Using thumbnail sketches explore eight
to ten varied options for how you could
represent your ideas.
2 Note which would be the most effective
in communicating your idea and explain
why.
3 After choosing the option you will use as
the representation of your idea, explore
five to ten compositions. These can be
done as drawings or using a digital
camera. Attempt different viewpoints.
Consider your focal point and how you
can maintain the viewer’s interest in your
work. If working in three dimensions, be
sure that you consider the way in which
your artwork will interact with the space Figure 6.13 Théodore Géricault, Preparatory work
it is placed in. Is the composition equally for the Raft of Medusa in oil paint, 1817–18, oil on
effective from all views, or is the work canvas, 38 x 46cm
meant to be viewed from the front only?
Elisa Bongetti, a VCE student was inspired by a visit to the

Archibald Portrait Exhibition. In particular, the double portrait of Jack
Thompson (left) by Danelle Bergstrom appealed to her.
Figure 6.14 She wrote: ‘I love the use of blue and red hues in the face to
Danelle Bergstrom, highlight and recede certain areas. The brushwork is so loose
Take Two: Jack and expressive. I particularly like the way in which the shirt has
Thompson, 2007, not been completely painted. Most attention is drawn to the
oil on linen, 182 x face. The artist has cleverly avoided detail in the background
182cm, Photograph and clothing. The painting is split across two canvases with two
© Jenni Carter portraits of the sitter. The close up portrait and the full figure in

6
the background combine well and create depth.’
‘Too realistic – I need to loosen up my brushstrokes.’
‘Palette – autumn colours. I used warm hues to highlight and cool hues to recede areas.
Shadows were kept fairly warm most of the time.’
The subject matter, colouring and loose style of painting inspired Elisa to explore
portraiture in oils using a similar approach. Working from photographs she took of a friend,
Elisa began trialling her medium and technique.
‘This painting is incomplete because it began to get too controlled and realistic. That is not the
style I want to achieve. It shows the layers and techniques I used.’
Figure 6.15 Incomplete
trial in oils on oil paper
A second attempt of a portrait on canvas allowed Elisa to develop a more free style of
by Elisa Bongetti, with
painting as her confidence grew (see Figure 6.17 and 6.18). evidence of colour
Elisa resolved her technique and pallet in a series of portraits in oil on canvas, including mixing
the Portrait of Erin (see Figure 6.19).
Elisa continued to explore
the ideas generated by Danelle
Bergstrom’s double portrait in other
ways, using digital photography,
oil painting and charcoal drawing.
Using photographs of another friend
taken in the studio, Elisa combined
two of these two achieve a similar
composition as Danelle Bergstrom’s
double portrait, in which she explored
the interaction between the cloned
model and the space of the format
(Figure 6.20), the play of light and her
painting technique.
Figure 6.16 Detail Figure 6.17 Detail

of portrait with of portrait with
colour swatches and colour swatches
annotation and annotation

Figure 6.18 Elisa
Bongetti, Portrait of
Erin
Figure 6.19 Elisa

Bongetti, Double
portrait of Nisha
The use of two views of the same figure provided Elisa with an opportunity to expand
on her exploration of the human form in life drawing classes. She experimented with
combining multiple life drawings into one composition, which she resolved (Figure 6.22). It
foreshortening: is important that you keep an open mind when exploring an idea, as this one idea may be
shortening or distorting able to lead you to a number of solutions in a range of media and approaches.
objects to create Drawing was also used by Géricault to study details of his final work to resolve problems
an illusion of depth
and make them look
such as expression, decay, texture, perspective and foreshortening. This approach is very
like they are coming valuable when not working directly from an object or scene. If creating a composite image,
towards the viewer you must make sure that you maintain a common viewpoint and light source. Digital
photographs are very useful as reference if you choose not to work from life as Géricault did.

6
Nicky Purser, a VCE
student, chose to attempt a
refined tonal drawing of her
grandfather using pencil.
Once she had established
her composition and had the
required reference it was
important for her to trial her
medium and her technique.
Through experimentation she
established the grades of
pencils that would achieve the
tones she wanted and the type
of paper that would provide the
correct texture for the drawing
style she intended using.
Nicky also identified potential
problems she may have when
drawing areas of her subject Figure 6.20 Elisa Bongetti, Figure 6.21 Elisa Bongetti,
Life drawings Resolved double life
matter. She attempted a full-
drawing
scale trial of a section of her portrait (Figure 6.23), dealing with problems such as wrinkles,
creases in the skin, fine hair and her grandfather’s glasses.
After resolving how she would deal with these difficulties in her drawing, she was
confident enough to begin her final artwork (Figure 6.24).
Figure 6.23
Figure 6.22 Nicky Purser, resolved
Nicky Purser, pencil drawing pencil drawing of her
(detailed trial) grandad

FORMAL ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES OF
ARTWORKS
Key skill: manipulate art elements and principles and technical qualities of artforms
to produce creative responses using visual language.
Using the Formal Framework, you must analyse the formal qualities in your artworks and
&ORMAL document your creative and technical processes. You must reflect on your own artmaking and
examine how you have used art elements and principles to develop your visual language.
Establish an awareness of the elements and principles of art in your own exploration.
Many students intuitively employ these elements and principles effectively in their own
work without realising it. This is usually because they subconsciously recall what they have
been taught in the past, or observed or studied in theory when looking at other artists’ work.
It is important, however, that you become aware of what applications or combinations of
the elements and principles work, what to avoid and how they can impact on the meaning
of your work. You should use the elements and principles to develop a visual language and
as a means to convey symbolic meaning in your work. An important component of the new
Art Study is for you to become familiar with using the Formal Framework to analyse the
formal qualities in your art. You will explore how the formal art elements and principles, as
well as your use of the materials, techniques and processes, affect the meaning of your
own artworks, and the work of other artists you have researched. In order to do this, you
will need to document your ideas, processes and the resulting practical applications of your
techniques and materials.
Jess Maguire, a VCE student, explored a range of textures, colour combinations and
techniques of applying paint in order to see what results she would achieve.
‘I created this sample using acrylic paints. I began by layering warm and cool red for the
background. I added a little purple to achieve more depth. I then used the back of the
brush to scratch into the paint revealing different tones of red. The scratch marks are
defined, short sharp motions. I then applied red and green from a squeeze bottle in the
same direction I made the scratch marks. I was trying to achieve the emotion of anger.
When I asked friends and family what they felt when they looked at it, I got reactions
such as passion, anger, death, confusion, and Christmas. One observed that the green is
too bright and ‘lifted’ the mood of the work. If I am to still use complementary colours, I
will have to use a darker green next time.’
‘I think I have achieved depth quite well in this sample (Figure 6.25). I layered cool blue
with purple in the background and scratched into it. I splattered gold, silver, red and
different tones of purple on top. I also sprayed gold glitter hairspray. When people looked
at this some said it reminded them of a galaxy. I just liked the patterns created by the
splatter technique and the harmonious colours of the purple and blue. I especially like
the lightness of the cool blue.
‘In the second sample (Figure 6.26) I have blended both cool and warm blue and
scratched into it. I then dribbled red and gold paint on top. The red lines are energetic and
create a feeling of electricity and excitement, whereas the first sample makes me feel
calm.’

6
Figure 6.24 Example of Jess
Maguire’s manipulation of art
elements and principles to
produce creative responses
ACTIVITY 6.6
1 Choose five artworks.
2 Explain how the formal art
elements and principles, as
well as the use of the materials,
techniques and processes, affect
the meaning of the work of the
artists you have selected.
ACTIVITY 6.7
Reflect on your own artmaking and
examine how you have used art
elements and principles to develop
your visual language.
Figure 6.25 Example of Jess Maguire’s splatter Figure 6.26 Example of Jess Maguire’s
trial – Galaxy splatter trial – Energy

USING FORMAL AND CULTURAL
FRAMEWORKS TO SUPPORT REFLECTIVE
ANNOTATION
Key skill: apply knowledge of the Formal and Cultural Frameworks in reflective
annotation as they apply to their own artmaking.
Examine your work and reflect on how cultural aspects are evident in your finished
artwork/s. You are required to analyse and annotate the meanings and messages in your
own artwork. Discuss how effective the visual language you have developed is in achieving
&ORMAL your intended outcome/s. Use the Cultural Framework to identify the influences on you
with reference to the cultural environment in which you worked. Was the purpose of your
art affected by your own or any other culture? You could discuss how you were influenced
by past or present cultural issues, political, social or religious implications, or aspects of
ethnicity and gender. Throughout the process of developing your folio, you must analyse
#ULTURAL the formal qualities of your work and document the ways in which you have used visual
language to comment on qualities of your or any other culture or an aspect of the human
body and culture.
You may also wish to consider the impact of your work on viewers from different cultural
backgrounds, as our cultural background and experience will always effect the way we see
and interpret art.
Points to consider when applying the

Cultural Framework to the analysis of
your artworks
What cultural issues have you dealt with in your folio? Have you made any specific
references to historical, cultural or social events? How have you represented these? This
representation could be an obvious reference through subject matter or a more subtle
reference made through the application of symbolism.
In Figure 6.27, a VCE student, Kathryn Panias, was exploring the rituals surrounding
Greek Easter. She explored the painting and decorating of eggs, Easter egg hunts, table
decorations at the Easter celebration and Easter candles. She brought all of these ideas
together in an abstract painting that references the colours, shapes and patterns she
associated with Easter, including a subtle reference to the crucifixion.
In what ways do your works reflect present cultural factors? They could relate to
tensions between two cultures currently being reported on, or use graffiti and stencil art to
explore an issue that interests you from the perspective of ‘youth culture’ or ‘street culture’.
Was it your intention to influence the emotions of the viewer? If so, how have you
attempted to do this? Do you believe you were successful in this? Do your artworks contain
Figure 6.27 messages? If so, what is that message?
Kathryn Panias
Do you think the interpretation of your artwork could change over time? Would the cultural
Abstract painting
exploring Greek background of the viewer affect their interpretation of your artwork? Explain your response.
Easter, oil on canvas What symbols have you used in these works? Explain how they enhance the message.
These may be generally recognisable symbols or personal symbols.

6
ART LANGUAGE FOR DOCUMENTATION
AND ANNOTATION
Key skill: document your thinking and working practices.
Continue to develop your art language as you document and annotate your work and the
work of the artists who have inspired you this semester. The annotation will assist you in
formalising your understanding and help you to continue to develop a visual language to
present your ideas effectively.
The annotation will help you to reflect on your research, experimentation, observations
and attempts to visually represent a concept or idea. The analysis of your own work will
enable you to determine how successful your decisions are regarding subject matter,
symbolism, techniques and the use of the elements and principles of art. You must make
use of real-time annotation, as apposed to annotating after the fact. By writing down your
thoughts as they occur to you, you are less likely to forget them.
Analysing your work as you create it allows you to make informed decisions in your
folio. Documenting your thoughts and your approach to developing your folio (thinking and
working practices) will assist the viewer to understand what you are trying to achieve. It will
also show evidence of your understanding to the person assessing your work. It is important
that the person viewing your work is able to read your reflections of individual pieces in the
context of viewing the work. If you are working in a visual diary, it is best to annotate your
observations next to the work and if the work is not in a sketchbook or presentation folder,
then annotate on the back of the work.
The language that you use to document your thinking and working practices should
reflect the language that you are developing in theory. Make use of the terminology
appropriate to both the Formal and Cultural Frameworks. As with the written responses Figure 6.28 Jess
in theory, you should substantiate your statements. This will demonstrate insight and Maguire, Exploration
in acrylic paint to
understanding.
elicit an emotional
Jess Maguire, a VCE student, explored colour, texture and paint application as a means or psychological
to achieve emotional and psychological responses from the viewer. After a particular response
experiment with acrylic paint, she wrote:
‘I tried to achieve the emotion of calm.
Previously, I used blues that were too
dark to convey calm, so in this situation
I used lighter blues and whites. Using
long rectangular shapes and long brush
strokes emphasises the feeling of calm.
The direction that this piece is viewed
in changes the emotion evoked. When
vertical it suggests strength and energy.
When the lines are horizontal a more
stable, flowing and calm emotion is
suggested, which achieves my intention’.

[7]
Chapter overview
ASSESSMENT In this chapter, you will read how assessment will gauge
your ability to:
FOR UNIT 2 • recognise the role and purpose that art plays in society
• apply the Formal Framework
• apply the Cultural Framework
Unit 2 – Outcomes 1 & 2 • compare and contrast artworks
• justify personal opinions
• use creative responses that demonstrate your
exploration of ideas about culture through trialling
techniques, materials and processes to produce an
artwork.
You will find:
• assessment criteria sheet
• a sample response by a student with margin notes
that highlight assessment.
‘Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.’
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

To successfully complete Outcome 1 in Unit 2, you will need to
study artworks by at least four artists from a range of cultural
contexts. You must use the Formal and Cultural Frameworks as tools
to discuss the different ways that art reflects and communicates the
values, beliefs and traditions of the societies for and in which it is
created. It is suggested that you do this by examining different ways
that artists interpret and present social issues.
Your teacher will set the assessment task. Some tasks are more
complex than others, and you may be required to present more than
one assignment to cover the necessary criteria.

7
TIPS FOR COMPLETING ASSESSMENT TASKS Tips for
responding to
Unit 2 requires you to address the Cultural Framework as a means of understanding how an short answer
artwork reflects the time and place of its creation. It also asks that you compare your questions,
selected artworks and provide evidence to support your opinions. an annotated
visual report,
Consider the following when comparing and contrasting selected artworks in an multimedia
extended written response: presentation
• Organise the points you wish to make into an essay plan. and exhibition
reports can
• Refer to both similarities and differences when you compare artworks.
be found in
• Comparing and contrasting should take place throughout an essay. Chapter 4.
• Use the Formal Framework to compare and contrast artworks in terms of elements,
principles, style, artform, technique and symbolism.
• Use the Cultural Framework to compare and contrast the different ways that artists
at different times and in different places and societies create and interpret images.
• Refer to relevant symbolism.
• Use visual evidence from the artwork to support your point of view.
Additional tips
• Choose your artworks carefully. They need to reflect and communicates the values,
beliefs and traditions of a range of cultures across time. Remember that you will
be comparing them so make your selection with a point of comparison in mind. For
example, how do they reflect society’s response to a particular concern, such as war
and conflict, mother and child, or the nude?
• Research your selected artists and artworks and their cultural contexts. This will
increase your knowledge and understanding of the environments in which the works
were created and the roles they played in their original settings.
• Analysis, interpretation and comparison of artworks require close and perceptive
observation. Place coloured images of the artworks side by side to assist you to compare
formal qualities, technique and style and examine them carefully.
• When comparing and contrasting, select the most important points of difference. This is
always easier if the works you discuss are linked by an idea or a theme.
• Refer to both similarities and differences when you compare the artworks. When
comparing and contrasting you need to do so on a number of levels. Consider the
following questions:
1 How does the appearance of the artworks differ? Were they created in the same
artform, using the same materials, techniques and processes?
2 How can the meaning of the work be interpreted? By the artist? By the public at that
time? By you, now? Are these all the same?
3 In what situation was the artwork originally viewed? Has this changed over time? Is
the exhibition venue important in understanding the aims of the artist and the way
the work is observed and interpreted? If so, how?
• In Unit 2, you are expected to substantiate your personal opinions by presenting
evidence from the artworks. Make clear and specific reference to the artworks. This
will come both from close observation of the works and from research.

Name: ____________________________________ &ORMAL #ULTURAL
Outcome 1: Analyse, interpret and compare artworks

from different cultural backgrounds.
The extent to which

the work demonstrates:
Criterion 1
Application of the Formal
Framework to analyse and /5
interpret the artworks (including
symbolism)
Criterion 2
Application of the Cultural
Framework to identify the ways
that artworks are influenced by
/5
and reflect their cultural context
(including symbolism)
Criterion 3
Discussion of the roles and
purposes of artworks, how they
reflect the societies in which they
/5
are made and how this is evident
in the works
Criterion 4
Comparison and contrasting of
the similarities and differences
/5
between the artworks
Criterion 5
Expression of personal opinion
supported by evidence from the
/5
artworks and research
Criterion 6
Use of appropriate research and /5
art language
These criteria have been developed from the VCE Art Study Design and would apply
to an extended response (such as the one opposite.) Not all tasks need to assess all
criteria. This may be achieved instead by a combination of shorter tasks. This criteria
Student CD-ROM
sheet is also available on the Student CD-ROM.

7
STUDENT SAMPLE RESPONSES
Task: Analyse, interpret and compare two artworks from different
cultural backgrounds that are linked by the theme of Mother and Child.
Address each criterion and use evidence to support your opinions.
Francesca Ohlert used the criteria sheet on the opposite page.
Figure 7.1 Jan van Eyck, The Madonna of the

Chancellor Rolin, c. 1435 oil on panel, 66 x
62cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Figure 7.2 Tracey Moffatt, Up in the Sky #1, 1997 from a series
of 25 images, off-set print, 61 x 76cm (image size), 72 x 102cm
(paper size). Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn9 Gallery, Sydney
Criterion 6: Appropriate art I]ZbViZgcVagZaVi^dch]ê!l]âZi^bZaZhh!

language has been highlighted jc^kZghVaVcYedlZg[ja!^hk^ZlZYVcYgZegZhZciZY
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]^\]a^\]iZY^cVXdbeVg^hdcd[ldg`h[ZVijg^c\
The introduction sets the scene for
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ZbWgVXZYWnV8VjXVh^Vcbdi]Zg!gV^h^c\
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lî]gZ[ZgZcXZidi]ZºhidaZc\ZcZgVi^dc»#

Criterion 1: Visual analysis of van >ci]^hldg`!l]^X]lVhXdbb^hh^dcZYWn
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and the application of colour. i]Z]danÃ\jgZhd[bdi]ZgVcYX]âYhZViZYV\V^chi
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medium of oil paints and the a^\]ihdgZVa^hi^XVaan^hYjZid]^hjhZd[dâ"WVhZY
attention to detail refers to van
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YZiVâZYeV^ci^c\bZi]dYVcYZbeadnhXdcigdaaZY!
Eyck’s working environment and
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cultural context.
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bVhiZgldg`!i]ZK^g\^cBVgn]Vh]Zg\VoZÃmZYdc
]ZgX]âY#I]^h\VoZXdccZXihi]ZildÃ\jgZh0î^hkVc
:nX`»hgZ[ZgZcXZidBVgn»hXdcXZgc[dg]Zghdc!i]Z
higdc\WdcYi]Znh]VgZ#
Criterion 1: Discussion of Moffatt’s IgVXZnBd[[Vii]Vh\^kZci]Zk^ZlZgbjX]id
technique and the ways in which Xdch^YZg^c]ZgedlZg[jaldg`ºJe^ci]ZH`n&»#>i
this strengthens the artist’s
^hVmonochromatice]did\gVe]^cl]^X]Vl]îZ
bdi]ZgXgVYaZhVc6Wdg^\^cVaX]âY#Bd[[Vii»hhinaZ
representation of the subject
d[e]did\gVe]nd[iZcegdYjXZhgVl!edlZg[jaVcY
matter.
egdkdXVi^kZ^bV\Zhi]ViXdciV^cYZZeZgbZVc^c\hVcY
hnbWda^hb#I]Z^bV\Z^hh]di[gdbVcelevated angle!
Vh^[i]Zk^ZlZg^hhiVcY^c\dkZgi]Zgjhi^c\WZYdc
l]^X]i]Zbdi]ZghîhXgdhh"aZ\\ZY#LZVgZi]ZgZ[dgZ
VWaZidXaZVganhZZi]ZVXi^kîndjih^YZi]Zl^cYdl#
Criterion 5: Reference is made
I]gZZcjchXVcWZhZZcVeegdVX]^c\i]ZYâVe^YViZY
to specific details in the work to ]djhZ!edhh^WanidgZbdkZi]ZX]âY[gdbîhbdi]Zg»h
support the analysis Vgbh#IZX]c^fjZhhjX]Vhselectivefocus]VkZWZZc
^beaZbZciZYidbV`Zi]Zbdi]ZgVcYX]âYi]Zfocal
pointd[]Zgldg`VcYWnpre-flashingVcYoffset
printing!Bd[[Vii]VhVX]^ZkZYVsofterfocusdci]Z
Zci^gZ^bV\Z#
I]Zg^\]ih^YZd[i]Ze]did\gVe]^hvisually heavier
i]Vci]ZaZ[i!lî]i]ZÃ\jgZhd[bdi]Zg!^c[VciVcY
i]ZcjchÃaa^c\i]^h]Va[d[i]Z^bV\Z#I]gdj\]XaZkZg
hjW_ZXiVggVc\ZbZci]dlZkZg!Bd[[Vii]VhbVcV\ZY
idbalancei]ZYVg`Zghâ]djZiiZd[i]ZldbVcVcY
X]âYlî]i]ZWg^\]iZgVgZVd[i]Zl^cYdla^\]i#I]Z
]daZejcX]ZY^ci]ZlVaaXVcWZ^ciZgegZiZYidh]dli]Z
Criterion 2: Discussion of culturally V\\gZhh^dcVcY[gjhigVi^dcd[i]ZhdX^Zini]ZnÃcY
relevant interpretations. i]ZbhZakZh^c!i]ZedkZgini]Vii]^hbdi]ZgVcYWVWn
bjhiXdeZlî]VcY!bZiVe]dg^XVaan!i]Z[gV\âînd[i]Z
[djcYVi^dchd[VhZchZd[^YZciîn[dgi]^h6Wdg^\^cVa

7
X]âY#>i^h^ciZgZhi^c\idcdiZi]ViIgVXZnBd[[Vii!
Vahdd[6Wdg^\^cVa]ZgîV\Z!lVh[dhiZgZYWnVl]îZ
ldbVc!hd^cbVcnlVnhi]^h^bV\ZXVcWZhZZcVh
VjidW^d\gVe]^XVa#
Criterion 4: Comparison of use of 7di]Vgi^hih]VkZjhZYXdadjghnbWda^XVaan#
colour and its symbolism. KVc:nX`[VkdjghVYZZeVcYYgVbVi^Xpaletteid
h]dllZVai]VcY^bedgiVcXZ#Bd[[Vii]VhX]dhZc
monochromeid[jgi]ZgZmV\\ZgViZi]ZgVX^VaY^k^YZ
WZilZZcWaVX`VcYl]îZ!ZheZX^Vaanlî]gZ\VgYh
id6jhigVa^V»haVg\ZanhZ\gZ\ViZYeVhiVcYi]Z
XdcigdkZgh^Va^hhjZd[i]ZºhidaZc\ZcZgVi^dc»^cl]^X]
Criterion 4: Comparison of the VWdg^\^cVaX]âYgZclZgZgZbdkZY[gdbi]Z^g[Vbâ^Zh#
7di]Xdbedhî^dchXdciV^cdeepspace!lî]ZVX]d[
representation of space and their
i]Zbdi]ZghhZViZYcZVgVl^cYdl!l]^X]Vaadlhi]Z
culturally relevant symbolism.
k^ZlZgidhZZkVhiVgZVhd[WVX`\gdjcY#I]ZVgi^hih
]VkZjhZYi]^hid]ZaeXdchda^YViZi]ZhZii^c\VcY
Vaadl[dgWZiiZgjcYZghiVcY^c\d[ZVX]bdi]Zg
VcYX]âY»hX^gXjbhiVcXZhWni]Zk^ZlZg#I]gdj\]
i]gZZGdbVcZhfjZVgX]Zhlî]hXjaeiZYXVeîVah!
hnbWda^h^c\i]Z=danIg^cîn!kVc:nX`Y^heaVnhV
ajh]VcYe^XijgZhfjZkâaV\ZWVX`Ygde!hj\\Zhi^c\i]Z
[ZgiâînVcYWdjcind[i]^hbdi]ZgVcYX]âYVcYi]Z
YdbV^cdkZgl]^X]i]ZngjaZ#>cXdcigVhiidi]^h!WZndcY
Bd[[Vii»hY^ginVcY\gV[Ãi^ZYl^cYdl!V]Vgh]
VcYVg^Y6jhigVa^VcaVcYhXVeZ^hk^h^WaZ!]^ci^c\Vi
^hdaVi^dcVcYYZhiîji^dc#
Figure 7.3 Photographer

Tracey Moffatt at the
Museum of Contemporary
Art in Circular Quay, Sydney

EZg]Vehi]Zbdhihj\\Zhi^kZdjilVgY
gZegZhZciVi^dcd[i]ZbViZgcVaWdcY^hi]ZWdYn
aVc\jV\ZY^heaVnZYWni]Zbdi]ZgVcYX]âY^ci]Zild
ldg`h#>ckVc:nX`»hdâeV^ci^c\!?ZhjhhîhdcBVgn»h
Criterion 5: Reference to specific
`cZZ!lZVg^c\VcZmegZhh^dcd[l^hYdbWZndcY]^h
details to support interpretation of
nZVgh#7di]Ã\jgZhVeeZVgedhZY!jeg^\]iVcYgZ\Va#
symbolism. I]ZeV^ghîhVcVgb»haZc\i]VeVgi!BVgn]daY^c\
?Zhjh\ZcianVgdjcYi]ZlV^hihdi]ViZkZgndcZbVn
k^Zl]^bXaZVgan#Dcan]ZgZnZhhj\\Zhii]Z^ci^bViZ
WdcYi]Vii]Znh]VgZ#>cJe>ci]ZH`n&i]Zbdi]Zg
Criterion 4: Comparison of ^hVahdadd`^c\^ciZcianVi]ZgX]âY!WjigVi]Zgi]Vc
egZhZci^c\]ZgWVWnidi]ZldgaY!h]Z]Vh]ZgVgbh
approaches to the theme of mother
lgVeeZYi^\]ianVgdjcYî!YgVl^c\î^cid]Zg!Vh
and child.
^[id]^YZi]Z^c[VciVlVndgegdiZXiî[gdb]Vgb#
Jca^`Zi]ZÃ\jgZd[?Zhjh!i]^h^c[Vciadd`h]ZaeaZhh
VcYkjacZgVWaZ0lZXVccdihZZîh[VXZVcYVgZaZ[i
ldcYZg^c\VWdjiîh[ViZ#KVc:nX`]Vhh]dlcjhV
ejWa^XhXZcZd[Vg\jVWani]Zbdhi[Vbdjhbdi]Zg
VcYX]âY^c]^hidgn^cVeVhh^kZbdbZcid[Y^k^cîn#
Bd[[Vii!]dlZkZg!]Vhh]dlci]Zk^ZlZgVeg^kViZan
h]VgZYbdbZciWZilZZcVcVcdcnbdjhbdi]Zg
VcYX]âY#Je^ci]ZH`n&]VhVYZÃcîZV^gd[
jcXZgiV^cin!d[hVYcZhhVcY^bb^cZciYVc\Zg[dgi]^h
bdi]ZgVcY]ZgX]âY#
Criterion 4: Contrast of religious >i^h^ciZgZhi^c\idcdiZi]ZXdcigVhi^c\lVnh
interpretations – a major difference ^cl]^X]gZa^\^dc]VhWZZcedgigVnZY^ci]ZhZild
in the cultural contexts of the ldg`h#I]ZkZgnejgedhZd[kVc:nX`»heV^ci^c\^h
images. id\adg^[ngZa^\^djhWZa^Z[hVii]ZhVbZi^bZVh
XdbbZbdgVi^c\8]VcXZaadgGda^cl]dXdbb^hh^dcZY
î#6aiZgcVi^kZan!Bd[[ViiYZe^Xihi]gZZcjch^cV
XdaYZg!aZhhZcX]Vci^c\a^\]i#I]Zcjch»Ã\jgZhVgZ
ha^\]iandjid[[dXjh!i]jhVaadl^c\i]Zk^ZlZgid
Criterion 5: Expression of hjheZXii]Z^gVXi^dchVcY^ciZci#EZg]Vehi]ZnVgZ
Xdb^c\idhZeVgViZi]^hWVWn[gdbîhbdi]Zg#I]Z
personal opinion about subject
X]jgX]hjeedgiZYi]ZgZbdkVad[6Wdg^\^cVaX]âYgZc
matter and presentation, supported
Yjg^c\i]ZZgVd[i]ZºhidaZc\ZcZgVi^dc»VcYeZg]Veh
by reasons.
Bd[[Vii!]Vk^c\ZmeZg^ZcXZYhZeVgVi^dc[gdb]Zg
bdi]ZgViVndjc\V\Z!^hZmegZhh^c\VXdcXZgcVWdji
X]jgX]^ciZg[ZgZcXZ^ci]Za^kZhd[bVcn>cY^\Zcdjh
eZdeaZ#
Criterion 2: Consideration of the Dg^\^cVaan^ciZcYZYidYZXdgViZi]Z8]VcXZaadg»h
presentation of the artwork to its adXVaeVg^h]X]jgX]!I]ZBVYdccVd[8]VcXZaadgGda^c
audience and how this changes cdl]Vc\h^ci]ZAdjkgZ^cEVg^h#Lî]djii]ZhiV^cZY
with time. \aVhhhjggdjcYhVcYhd[ia^\]id[VX]jgX]idb^ggdg

7
i]Vih]dlc^ci]Ze^XijgZ!>[ZZai]Vii]^hldg`]Vh
adhiV\gZViYZVad[îhdg^\^cVaVjgV#Dci]Zdi]Zg
]VcY!Bd[[Vii»hJe^ci]ZH`nhZg^ZhlVhYZh^\cZY[dg
Zm]^Wî^dcVcYV\VaaZgnZck^gdcbZci[ZZahVeegdeg^ViZ#
Criterion 3: Discussion of the 7di]IgVXZnBd[[ViiVcY?VckVc:nX`]VkZ
role these artworks play in their ^cY^k^YjVaan^ciZgegZiZYbdi]Zg]ddYVcYi]Z
societies. bViZgcVagZaVi^dch]ê#I]Zn]VkZjhZYkVhian
Y^[[ZgZcibViZg^VahVcYZmeadgZYVcYZmegZhhZYi]Z
bViZgcVaWdcYkZgnY^[[ZgZcian#:hhZci^Vaan!i]ZnlZgZ
XgZVi^c\i]ZhZe^ZXZh[dgildY^[[ZgZcigZVhdch#Bd[[Vii
^hl^h]^c\idZcXdjgV\Zi]Zk^ZlZgid^ciZgegZiVcY
fjZhi^dchdX^Va^hhjZh!l]âZkVc:nX`lVh]dcdjg^c\
]^hZbeadnZg!i]ZX]VcXZaadg!VcYgZldg`^c\i]Z[Vbdjh
hjW_ZXibViiZgd[i]ZBVYdccVVcY8]âY#Bd[[Vii
egdk^YZhi]Zk^ZlZglî]VcdeZchidgni]Vii]Zn
i]ZbhZakZhbjhi^ciZgegZiidYgVlbZVc^c\#EZg]Veh
i]^h^hVajmjgn\gVciZYid]ZgYjZidi]Z[VXii]Vi
i]ZXdciZbedgVgnejWa^X^hbdgZdeZcidZmegZhh^c\
i]Z^gk^ZlhVcY]Vk^c\i]ZbX]VaaZc\ZY!VhdeedhZY
idkVc:nX`»hbZY^ZkVaVjY^ZcXZl]dhZWZa^Z[hlZgZ
VjidbVi^XVaanXdchda^YViZYk^Vk^hjVaZmVbeaZhd[
[Vî]VcYaîZgVa^ciZgegZiVi^dchd[i]Z^ggZa^\^dc#
I]ZgZ[dgZ!î^hi]gdj\]i]ZhZildY^[[ZgZcildg`h!
WnVgi^hihlî]kZgnY^[[ZgZciXdciZmihVcYZmeZg^ZcXZh!
i]Vii]Zk^ZlZgWZXdbZhVlVgZi]Vii]ZWdcYWZilZZc
bdi]ZgVcYX]âYXVcWZ^ciZgegZiZY^cVbng^VYd[
lVnh#I]^he]nh^XVaWdcY]VhgZbV^cZYVegZhZcXZ^c
Vgii]gdj\]djii]ZV\ZhVcY^che^gZhZbeVi]n^ci]Z
k^ZlZgYjZidi]Z[jcYVbZciVacVijgZd[i]ZbViZgcVa
gZaVi^dch]ê#
;gVcXZhXVD]aZgi
Assessment: This is a very high use of art language reflects an

scoring response to the task. The understanding of formal qualities
student has addressed each of and has been employed in insightful
the criteria and used evidence to analyses.
support well-framed opinions. The

The award of a satisfactory completion in Outcome 2 will be based on your teacher’s
decision that you have shown that you have achieved the outcomes they have specified for
the unit. This decision will be based on your teacher’s assessment of how successfully you
completed the tasks designated for this unit.
To successfully complete Outcome 2 in Unit 2 you are required to show evidence that
you have trialled different ways of working to develop your own style and approach to the
application of various techniques, materials and processes. You must develop a folio of
visual responses in which you identify ways of visually representing your concepts and
resolving your exploration so that you can produce at least one finished artwork.
Assessment
You are required to produce at least one finished artwork in Unit 2. Finished artworks,
however, are not assessed individually, but will be assessed as part of your exploration. It is
important that you continue to explore different ways of working in Unit 2. Explore media,
techniques and approaches that you have not used before, while developing your skill in the
application of the media and techniques you used in Unit 1.
Although they should not be seen as a checklist, your teacher will observe how effectively
you have applied the key knowledge and key skills outlined in the study design. Use these
to determine how effectively you have met the criteria of the study design. Your teacher may
provide you with a list of criteria that they will use to assess your folio. It may also be useful
to refer to the points below and to the marksheet at the end of this chapter while you are
developing your folio, to ensure that you are meeting the requirements of this unit.
1 Producing visual responses to personal and cultural ideas and issues through
exploration and experimentation
Am I:
• using various means to explore my interpretations of ideas and concepts, including
brainstorming, annotation and an exploration of materials, techniques, processes
and art forms?
• developing a personal visual language that effectively communicates my ideas and
concepts?
• allowing my media to achieve a visual representation of my concept or ideas?
• making use of ideas influenced by aspects of culture in my artwork/s?
• generating a range of visual interpretations of my ideas and concepts through both
observation and imagination?
• establishing ways that I can communicate my ideas and concepts in a visual way,
including the use of thumbnail sketches, exploration of media and developing a
range of images?
• being imaginative in the range of possibilities with which I am exploring my ideas?

7
2 Exploring materials, techniques, processes and art forms
Am I:
• exploring my medium/media using a range of techniques and surfaces?
• considering how this exploration is communicating my ideas and concepts?
• allowing my exploration, observations and discoveries to provide me with potential
tools with which to develop an effective visual language?
• exploring the expressive application of my medium and the symbolic meaning
expressed by the media, techniques, approaches and art forms?
• pushing the boundaries of my medium/media?
• developing a knowledge of the qualities and characteristics of my materials and art
forms and how I can use them to visually represent my concepts and images?
• exploring a range of options to establish what the most effective medium would be
to meet my needs?
3 Develop skills in artmaking
Am I:
• developing my skill in the application of my selected medium/media and tools?
• developing my skill in the application of my techniques?
• developing my skill in the application of my selected processes?
• developing my skill in the application of my selected art form/s?
• developing my skill in the manipulation of the elements and principles of art?
• developing my skill in establishing a visual language?
• skilfully using my medium, techniques and processes to achieve the best
resolution of my intention?
4 Using the formal elements and principles to produce creative responses that
illustrate personal interests
Am I:
• observing how artists use and combine formal elements, the way they compose the
image and how they use their technique to express themselves?
• considering how I can manipulate and combine the elements of art and the
relationships I am establishing?
• achieving mood or atmosphere, enhancing the message I want to convey in my
artwork through the application of the formal elements?
• producing visual responses that are aesthetically pleasing?
• using the formal qualities of my work to create a visual language that comments on
qualities of my and other cultures and aspects of my concept and ideas?
• evaluating how effective my use of art elements and principles is in developing my
visual language?
• exploring how the formal qualities, as well as my use of the materials, techniques
and processes, affect the meaning of my artworks?
• exploring ways of visually representing my concepts and resolving my exploration so
that I can produce a finished artwork?

5 Applying knowledge of the Formal and Cultural Frameworks in reflective
annotation as they apply to the artmaking
Am I:
• analysing and discussing the meanings and messages in my artwork and evaluating
how effective the visual language is that I am developing?
• reflecting on how my experiences, feelings and thinking are evident in my work?
• applying the Formal and Cultural Framework in my annotation and using them to
inform my artmaking?
• considering how the formal qualities enhance the messages of the artwork?
• considering how my artmaking reflects the cultural framework?
• considering symbolism to explore my ideas and concepts?
• explaining the meanings and messages in my own artwork?
• using the Cultural Framework to identify the influences on me and my artwork?
6 Document thinking and working practices
Am I:
• clearly annotating and communicating my thinking and working practice?
• using annotation to reflect on my research, experimentation, observations and
attempts to visually represent my concept or idea?
• using my analysis to determine how effective or ineffective my exploration is, so that
I can plan the next step I will take?
• communicating my understanding of what I am learning?
• applying the tools I have been given in theory in order to continue to develop my art
language as I document and annotate my work and the work of the artists who have
inspired me?
• using the annotation to help me to continue to develop a visual language to present
my ideas effectively?

7
Name: ____________________________________ &ORMAL #ULTURAL
Outcome 2: A folio of visual responses that identify ways of visually

representing concepts and resolving exploration that
result in the production of at least one finished artwork.
Criteria for the award of grades Very High Med Low Very Not Marks
The extent to which the folio

demonstrates:
Criterion 1
The effective communication and production of
visual responses to personal and cultural ideas and
/5
issues
Criterion 2
A broad exploration of media, materials, techniques
and processes with selected art form/s to create
/5
artworks
Criterion 3
The development of skills in art making and
the exploration of media, materials, techniques,
processes and art forms. Competence and control /5
in the application of materials & techniques, from
initial exploratory work to resolved artworks is
communicated through visual material
Criterion 4
The manipulation of art elements and principles and
technical qualities of selected artform/s to produce
/5
creative responses using visual language
Criterion 5
The application of knowledge of the Formal and
Cultural Frameworks in reflective annotation as
they apply to the exploration of media, materials,
techniques, processes and the production of a
/5
finished artwork. An understanding is shown
through the appropriate application, control and
documentation of elements, principles and aesthetics
Criterion 6
The documentation of thinking and working practices /5
throughout a sustained body of work
Criterion 7
The resolution of ideas, directions and/or concepts
in a body of work that includes at least one finished
/5
artwork
This criteria sheet has been developed from the VCE Art Study Design
and is also available on the Student CD-ROM.
Student CD-ROM
[8]
Chapter overview
INTERPRETING By the end of Unit 3, you will have gained experience in
ART the interpretation and analysis of artworks. In this chapter,

• develop a knowledge of artworks selected from pre-
and post-1970
Units 3 – Area of Study 1 • develop interpretations and analysis of the
meanings and messages of artworks through the
application of the Formal, Personal, Cultural and
• select and apply these Frameworks appropriately to
the interpretation of an artwork
• substantiate interpretations of artworks with
evidence taken from the artworks themselves and
with reference to a range of resources
• use appropriate art language and vocabulary in the
analysis, interpretation and contrast of artworks
‘Interpretation is an articulated response based on wonder and reflection. Works of art are
mere things until we begin to carefully perceive and interpret them – then they become alive
and enliven us as we reflect on, wonder about and respond to them.’
Terry Barrett, art historian and critic, Interpreting Art
INTRODUCTION
This Area of Study enables you to put all the skills you have learnt in
Units 1 and 2 to use. The Analytical Frameworks that you have been
introduced to will be used as a tool for interpreting and analysing
the meanings of artworks. The Analytical Frameworks help you to
understand that there are many layers of meaning for an artwork.
If this is the first time you have studied VCE Art, it might be
useful to return to the previous chapters that focus on the tools
for researching and interpreting art and the chapters that focus on

8
the Formal, Personal and Cultural Frameworks. In this chapter, you will be introduced to the
Contemporary Framework through the study of artworks that are made prior to and post 1970.
Another aspect of this course is the way in which ideas and issues can influence the
#ONTEMPORARY
making and interpretation of art. Post-1970 art represents the expression of contemporary
culture and ideas and issues. The chapter following this will cover ideas and issues relating ACTIVITY 8.1
to art.
Find a range of
Your understanding of the theoretical aspects of art will help you understand your artworks that relate to
own art practice. By studying the formal, personal, cultural and contemporary aspects your own artmaking.
of artworks, you will be able to use these in the reflection of your own artworks. This is Compare these works
covered in other chapters and you can link the ideas that you gain from your research to to your own. The
your art practice. works may relate to the
following: techniques,
ideas, interpretative
SELECTING ARTWORKS FOR STUDY frameworks, subject, use

of design elements and
The focus of this study in your final year is upon you. The artworks that you select to principles.
research are important, as they should relate to your own ideas and artmaking. You may
select artworks that express similar ideas to your own or artists that use similar techniques
to your own. You could return to some of the ideas that were covered in previous chapters
and continue to explore the artworks that were covered. However, it is important that you
&ORMAL
select artworks that cover the four interpretative frameworks. There may be some artworks
that can be interpreted specifically using one framework more than others. techniques: the manner
It is essential that you interpret the artwork thoroughly using the Formal Framework by in which the artist
investigating the design elements and principles, the techniques used by the artist, the style applies materials to the
artwork
of the artwork and the symbols and metaphors used by the artist. This is your starting point
for using the other interpretative frameworks.
symbols: signs that
In your research, you must investigate the artwork by examining and analysing the
represent ideas in the
points of view of others about the artwork as was outlined in the commentaries section of artwork
Chapter 1.
To begin your study you must select the following: metaphors: one thing
• one artist who produced work before 1970 used to represent or
• one artist who has produced work after 1970 symbolise another with
similar qualities
• two artworks by each artist.
You will be asked to compare and contrast the artworks by each artist using art
language. When you are comparing and contrasting artworks you must look at the various
aspects of the artwork that you can compare and contrast. These aspects include:
• the ideas that the artist expresses
• the techniques that the artist uses to express their ideas
• the style of the artwork
Refer to Chapter 1,
• the use of design elements and principles page 4 for information
• interpretation of the artwork using Analytical Frameworks. about using art
This chapter will present a range of artists in pairs that you could compare and contrast. language. Refer to
The information can be used as a starting point to investigate the artist and their work the Chapter 9 for
assessment information
further. As the Art Study Design recommends you study a range of artists from different about comparing and
cultures, some of the artists analysed in this chapter come from Indigenous and Asian contrasting artworks.
contemporary cultures.

ACTIVITY 8.2
Figure 8.1 Emily Kame
Find five pairs of artists (one post-1970 and one pre-1970 for each pair) that
Kngwarreye, Big Yam Dreaming,
you could compare. Use the following topics as a point of comparison: ideas,
1996, synthetic polymer paint
on canvas, 401 x 245cm techniques, style, and interpretation.
overall, National Gallery Victoria,
AUSTRALIAN ART FROM A FEMALE

Melbourne. Purchased by the
National Gallery Woman’s
Association to mark the
directorship of Dr. Timothy Potts, PERSPECTIVE
1998 © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/
Licensed by VISCOPY 2009 Emily Kame Kngwarreye
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910–1996) was an initial
member of the Utopian art group, which began in
1977. The co-operative of artists was formed on
Utopia station where Kame Kngwarreye had worked
mustering cattle. Under the reforms established
for Aboriginal Land Rights in the 1970s, the
station was returned to the Aboriginal people and
they decided to set up small communities. Kame
Kngwarreye first exhibited as an individual artist in
1990 in Perth and later at Utopia Art in Sydney. She
was known as an elder in the Utopian community
and she applied an individual approach to her
artmaking.
Formal Framework
This work is typical of the style of Emily Kame
Kngwarreye and the Utopia Art group. The work
consists of four large canvas panels, which are 4
metres by 2.5 metres when put together. Kame
Kngwarreye has overlaid large tangled lines in
pale colours such as pink, brown and white. The
lines intertwine to form a web and they blend in
areas such as the top area of the canvas. The lines
are based on Kame Kngwarreye’s response to her
country and the contours of the landscape, the
cycle of the seasons, the parched land, the flowing
of waters and rains.
The work is also created from an aerial
perspective and hence there is a rhythmical
movement created by the intertwined lines.
Kame Kngwarreye would have painted the work
quite rapidly as she was used to using a similar
technique with Batik wax which can dry quite
rapidly. The batik process similarly overlays line
work with each application of wax and dying of the
material.

8
The manner in which Kame Kngwarreye paints the work is quite gestural, which is
similar to the work of the Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock. Hence, the work
appears abstract in style. The lines the artist has used is a response to her emotions and
&ORMAL
retelling of stories and ceremonies connected with the land.
co-operative: a group
of artists working
Personal Framework together
Big Yam Dreaming is an artist’s personal response to her environment. Kame Kngwarreye
has retold her stories using these rhythmic lines. They evoke a spiritual quality as overlaid: placed over
Kngwarreye is using the colours and lines to create an atmosphere that could be calming the top of one another;
and meditative. However, the tangled lines could suggest the state of uncertainty in which overlapping
many Indigenous artists find themselves.
aerial: viewing an
artwork from directly
ACTIVITY 8.3 overhead; a bird’s eye
What aspects of Kame Kngwarreye’s work appeals to you? How do you view
relate to the work? Consider the design elements and principles and the
techniques that Kame Kngwarreye uses. batik: a process which
involves using wax
Cultural Framework on fabric; the fabric
As Kame Kngwarreye’s style is unique, she challenges the way in which we view works is dyed and the wax
by most Indigenous Australians. In another work by Kngwarreye, ‘Kame’ the dots that are removed using heat;
a pattern forms where
painted on the surface of the work take on the forms and colours of the local geography and
the wax covered the
vegetation in the area. At the same time, the work depicts the women’s ceremony as the fabric and resisted the
dots take on the markings that are painted on women during women’s ceremonies. Both dye on the fabric
works tell a dreamtime story that is related to the formation of the land.
It is unusual for Kame Kngwarreye to be singled out as an indigenous artist from her abstract: not
cultural group in Utopia. This goes against Aboriginal tradition, which demands reciprocal representing outward
appearances; having no
rights and obligations concerning the group of clan. The rights of ceremony, songs, dances
recognisable subject
and ownership of land belongs to the group. Nonetheless, Kame Kngwarreye has an
inherited place within her cultural group and her sense of belonging has enhanced her work.
www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection.pub/itemDetail?artwor 0ERSONAL
kID=7377
Weblink
ACTIVITY 8.4 #ULTURAL

1 Research other artworks by Emily Kame Kngwarreye. How do these
works relate to the Indigenous ownership of the land? depict: show, represent
2 Compare the work of Kame Kngwarreye to another Indigenous artist. or demonstrate
What cultural aspects are similar?
ACTIVITY 8.5
View Kame Kngwarreye’s work in a gallery such as the National Gallery of
Victoria. How does the presentation of the work in the gallery differ from
the location in which it was created. You may have to view video work of
Indigenous women working in Utopia to understand the significance in the
creation of the work.

Contemporary Framework
Kame Kngwarreye’s work appears to be abstract and spontaneous. However, the
development of her style has come from years of learning traditions and rituals. As her work
#ONTEMPORARY
has progressed through the years, often motifs have repeated and the marks and gestures
have become more sophisticated.
motifs: signs or symbols Kame Kngwarreye was one of the first Indigenous female artists to exhibit her work,
that represents a with the assistance of the Australian Aboriginal Media Association. She has been able to
personal idea for the
artist, their beliefs and
transpose traditional designs using contemporary media. Her work is now represented
culture in most Australian public galleries and many European modern galleries such as the Tate
Modern in Britain and the Guggenheim in New York. Kame Kngwarreye expresses the ideas
of a female indigenous woman in an art field that is often dominated by men.
Her work expresses the issues of Land Rights and the importance of spiritual
possession of the land by the Indigenous people.
ACTIVITY 8.6
1 Find the location of Kame Kngwarreye’s works in public or commercial
galleries. What values do these galleries place on the work? How does the
meaning of the work differ when it is removed from its original context?
2 What do you feel makes Kame Kngwarreye’s work feminine? Discuss the
aesthetic qualities of the work as well as the techniques and ideas behind
the work.
3 What symbols in Kame Kngwarreye’s work demonstrates the Indigenous
connection with the land?
Related works
Kame, 1991, Synthetic Polymer paint on canvas, 137 x 300 cm, National Gallery of Victoria
References
Hart, D. 1995, Emily Kame Kngwarreye: Paintings from 1989-1995, Parliament House, Canberra.
Isaacs, J. 1998, Emily Kngwarreye Paintings, Craftsman House, Smith, T. North Ryde, Sydney.
Neale, M. 1998, Emily Kame Kngwarreye: Paintings from Utopia, Macmillan Publishers, South Yarra,
Victoria.
Neale, M. 2008, Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, National Museum of Australia Press,
Canberra.
Thomas, D. 1988, Earth’s Creation: The Paintings of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Malakoff Fine Art Press,
North Caulfield, Victoria.
Web resources
www.nga.gov.au/exhibitions/Kngwarreye/index.html
www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/utopia_the_genius_of_emily_
kame_kngwarreye
Weblinks

8
Grace Cossington Smith
Grace Cossington Smith (1892– Figure 8.2
1984) grew up in the Northern Grace Cossington
Sydney suburb of Turramurra. She Smith, The Curve of
the Bridge, 1928–29,
had an interest in art at school
oil on cardboard,
and attended painting classes with 110.5 x 82.5cm, Art
Anthony Dattilo-Rubbo in 1910. Gallery of New South
She travelled to England with Wales. © Estate of
her family, furthering her artistic Grace Cossington
Smith, Photograph
development by attending art © Jenni Carter.
classes at Winchester Art School Purchased with funds
and joined outdoor sketching provided by the Art
classes in Germany. She returned to Gallery Society of
New South Wales
settle in Turramurra in 1914, which
and James Fairfax AO
was her home for the next 65 1991
years. Cossington Smith continued
to attend the Dattilo-Rubbo school, development works:
working with her contemporaries, sketches or small
artworks that assist
such as Max Meldrum and Roy de
in the development of
Maistre, who were considered the techniques and ideas
founding members of the Modernist for an artwork
colour movement in Sydney.
perspective: see linear
and aerial perspective
Formal Framework
Cossington Smith had an interest in topical subjects that were occurring in Sydney during
the 1920s. Although her work was largely private, she completed many sketches and
development works that demonstrated the growth of Sydney during the 1920s and the
subsequent depression and World War II. This view of the almost completed Sydney Harbour &ORMAL
Bridge is depicted from an unusual perspective showing the undercarriage of the bridge. At geometry: mathematical
the base of the pylons, you can see some of the construction equipment indicating that the shapes often used
bridge is yet to be finished. Cossington Smith has focused upon the geometry of the bridge in the structure
caused by the repetition of the struts, concrete brickwork and lattice ironwork. and composition of
artworks
The colours used in the work are quite dull in tone, which was unusual for Cossington
Smith as she had an interest in colour. However, you can see the influence of artists such
foreground: space
as Cezanne as Cossington Smith has broken the surface of brushstrokes into little blocks of created in the front
colour. This provides texture in the painting, particularly in the repetition of brushstrokes in area of an artwork,
the sky and on the foreshore in the foreground of the work. Strong lines outline some of the particularly in
shapes in the work and patterns are created, as in the stack of wood on the left of the work landscape works
and the houses on the further shore.
Cossington Smith developed the work through a series of sketches. However, she
is known for her use of colour and light in her works. Like other artists, such as Roy De
Maistre and Ronald Wakelin, Cossington Smith structured her works based on colour, a
technique adopted from the influences of Cezanne and the Cubists. The works of van Gogh,

atmosphere: emotion who used colour to convey emotion in his work, inspired her interest in colour motivating
created in an artwork the atmosphere of the work. In this painting, the dark shape of the bridge dominates the
by the techniques or
work and it is made reference to in the title. Another work by Cossington Smith The Lacquer
formal elements that an
artist uses Room shows how the red used in the cedar chairs links the viewpoint in the composition
and creates rhythm. In the same way, the small brushstrokes in this work create a rhythm.
medium: the canvas, Cossington Smith also painted her works on cardboard or paper, which would have been
board or paper that an the most readily available medium at the time.
artwork can be painted
or drawn upon; most
mediums are prepared
ACTIVITY 8.7
with a surface that Analyse The Lacquer Room using the Formal Framework. After
allows the paint, pencil reading this information about Grace Cossington Smith, what ideas
or charcoal to adhere to was she expressing with the use of technique, style, symbols,
the surface design elements and principles. The Lacquer Room can be found at Weblink
www.nga.gov.au/exhibition/cossingtonsmith
Personal Framework
Cossington Smith’s works were a personal response to her environment. She documented
the city and its social and industrial development from the point of view of a woman. The
0ERSONAL
Lacquer Room depicts the tearoom at the Farmers Department Store in George Street,
Sydney. Cossington Smith would have developed the work sitting in the restaurant sketching.
This work features a young man with golden hair and blue eyes who sits in the centre of
the composition. His colouring draws the attention of the viewer. It is said that Cossington
Smith, who came from a conservative Anglican background, would often depict momentous
personal events in her personal and private life. Perhaps this young man has drawn her
attention. She was also influenced by the works of Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico
who depicted Christ-like figures at the centre of his works. The fact that Cossington Smith’s
work is intensely private in its subject matter enhances this interpretation.
ACTIVITY 8.8
Research artworks by two female artists who were contemporaries of Grace
Cossington Smith: Margaret Preston and Thea Proctor. Analyse an artwork
by each artist using the Personal Framework. Compare aspects of the
interpretation of the three artists in a discussion.
Cultural Framework
Cossington Smith has captured the events that were important in the development of Sydney
as a city. The scene created in The Lacquer Room and the figures in the work are typical of
#ULTURAL
the time in which it was produced. The work was probably painted in August, during winter,
as the women are wearing fur coats. It also signified the end of the Depression, as women
were able to dress up and go into the city to dine, which shows an improvement in the
economic situation of the country. The restaurant has been designed in the Art Deco style, as
indicated by the lights on the background wall. It was designed by Cossington Smith’s close
friend, the artist Thea Proctor, and to dine there would have been very fashionable.

8
Viewing Cossington Smith’s work from a contemporary perspective allows the viewer to
analyse the manner in which she presented her subject matter. It was unusual for a woman,
#ONTEMPORARY
at the time, to depict scenes that were usually the domain of male artists. In addition,
Cossington Smith was able to convey her subject matter from a woman’s perspective. Many subject matter:
of her scenes were domestic but rendered in a contemporary style. the content or subject
of an artwork
References
Hart, D. 2005, Grace Cossington Smith, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
James, B. 1990, Grace Cossington Smith, Craftsman House, Roseville.
Thomas, D. 1973, Grace Cossington Smith. Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney.
Thomas, D. 1993, Grace Cossington Smith: A life from drawings in the collection of the National
Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Student CD-ROM
A comparison of Emily
Web resources Kame Kngwarreye
www.nga.gov.au/Exhibition/cossingtonsmith/Default.cfm and Grace Cossington
Smith can be found on
www.evabreuerartdealer.com.au/cosssmith.html the Student CD-ROM.
Weblinks
ASIAN ART: TRADITIONAL AND

CONTEMPORARY Figure 8.3 Utagawa Hiroshige, Odawara
– Sakawa River; Travellers Crossing a River
Utagawa Hiroshige (colour woodcut from the series The Fifty-three
Stations of the To-kaido-), c. 1831–34

stylised: a simplified Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) is one of Japan’s most famous woodblock designers. He
style where the artist became devoted to the Ukiyo-e style of printing at a young age after viewing the works
removes all detail so
of his contemporary Hokusai. Ukiyo-e painting developed around the cities of Kyoto in
the artwork is reduced
to a series of shapes 1600 and then moved to Edo (Tokyo) around the late seventeenth century. The woodblock
and lines (e.g. Egyptian printing style sprung from another form of stylised painting known as Kano painting, which
art) Hiroshige first trained in as a young man. Both painting styles were connected with the
Kabuki theatre and the depiction of the actors and scenery. However, Ukiyo-e prints were
commissions: situations known as ‘pictures of the floating world’ displaying interpretations of landscapes and
in which an artist is
people of the time. They were very much reflective of the cultural and social systems in
paid or requested by
another person to place in Japan.
create an artwork; Hiroshige is most famous for his series of works that were published in books. Ukiyo-e
often the benefactor prints were popular at the time because they were cheap and easy to produce. Throughout
will state what the
his career, Hiroshige was responsible for many commissions; however, his most famous
subject matter of the
artwork will be and were One Hundred Famous Views in Edo, The Fifty-three Stations of the To-kaido- and The
the techniques that the Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido-. These were produced in a small format and were sold
artist will use to travellers and tourists to promote the city. The stations along these routes were the guest
houses along the road where travellers could obtain food and lodgings for the night.
ACTIVITY 8.9
Research Ukiyo-e prints by Hokusai. What were some of the subjects of
these prints? Describe some of the images by Hokusai. Compare the subject
matter of these prints to that of Hiroshige.
Formal interpretation
Travellers Crossing a River (1831–34) depicts a group of travellers crossing the Sakawa
River on the backs of waders. Right of centre, on the plain on the opposite bank, is the
&ORMAL prosperous town of Odawara. To the right is the fifteenth-century castle of Odawara. The
scene is probably set in the summer at the approach of evening. The dark strip along the
upper edge of the otherwise yellow sky implies this. The mountains in the background of
hand colouring: the print indicate the challenging journey the travellers have just completed.
many black and white
wood block designs are As the image is a print it is characterised by the large flat shapes outlined in black. The
coloured by hand; the image would have been printed in several main blocks and then smaller details would have
artist will paint in the been completed by the artist using hand colouring. A particular characteristic of Hiroshige is
white areas of the print the ability to create light in his prints. This was created by the printing technique where the
ink was partially rubbed off the printing block to give the tonal effect of light. This is evident
in the tones of the river, from dark blue to light turquoise. Texture has been created in the
grass in the middle of the image and in the pattern of the trees in the mountains in the
background. The mountain shapes are angular and the varying colours of pink, green and
blue provide depth.
Hiroshige was influenced by Western painting techniques, as is evident in his use of
perspective. The work is divided into three main bands, the foreground of the river, the
middle ground of the plain and the mountains in the background. This technique created
a sense of space in his work. This was important, as it lead to creating atmosphere in
the print. The size of the mountains and river overpower the smaller people. Hiroshige

8
was indicating that life was a balance between the powerful forces of nature over man.
The space in the image also creates a strong sense of balance, which contributed to the
contemplative atmosphere of the image.
As Hiroshige was commissioned as the designer of the print, he would pass his design,
with colour notations, on to a woodblock specialist who would prepare the block in the
Ukiyo-e style. A third man would print the image. The characteristics of woodblock were
the fine pigments on high quality rice paper. These materials allowed detail to come out in
the work. Ukiyo-e prints conveyed the ever shifting moods of the Japanese seasons and
displayed the natural beauty of the landscape.
Personal interpretation
The views of the To-kaido- Road were the personal perspective of the artist. Hiroshige was
0ERSONAL
known to state
‘l leave my brush in the East, And set forth on my journey. I shall see the famous places in the
Western Land.’ – Utagawa Hiroshige
He was referring to the road between Edo and Kyoto, and the images depict not only the
physical journey but a spiritual journey. Later in life, Hiroshige became a Buddhist monk so
his art was often a result of his reflections on life. The space and colours in the work were
aimed at creating a meditative state when the viewer contemplated the work.
The series based on the To-kaido- Road arose from the story that Hiroshige was selected
to escort the white horse presented to the Emperor by the Shogun, the imperial army
commanders, in 1831. This would have been a considerable honour for the artist and he
would have taken it as a duty to document the event. This series was also a turning point in
Hiroshige’s career, as he had been influenced by the work of Hokusai and his style became
more developed.
ACTIVITY 8.10
Investigate some other prints by Hiroshige. Describe the images and any
symbolism you can see in the image. List the aesthetic qualities (design
elements and principles) and techniques that have been described in the
paragraphs above. Try to find examples of these in the Hiroshige prints you
have investigated.
Cultural interpretation
The work of Hiroshige is an important visual document of the events of the time. His prints
depict the lifestyle and daily events of the people as a narrative. In Travellers Crossing a #ULTURAL
River, it is interesting to note that the travellers are carried upon litters by waders. This
indicates the importance of the travellers, as they were members of the Imperial Army.
Other series by Hiroshige also depicts scenes of Edo and the importance of public
buildings. Again, this symbolises the power of the Emperor and his army. In Kinryzan Temple
at Asakusa the temple is shown dominated by a large lantern that has been cropped. This
symbolises the Japanese observance of the ruling class.

Many of Hiroshige’s prints have the obligatory features of snow, moonlight, evening
light, fireworks and cherry blossoms. These were all important metaphors for the power of
nature that was observed in Japanese culture.
These prints were the first images produced as ‘books’. Ukiyo-e prints could be
purchased in booklet form with poetry or stories of the area. They were seen as promotional
brochures for the city. Hence, the titles of the works were often ambiguous, leaving much to
the viewer’s imagination. They were intended to promote discussion.
Figure 8.4 Utagawa

Hiroshige, The
Kinryuzan Temple
at Asakusa (from the
series One Hundred
Famous Views in
Edo), 1856–58,
woodblock print, 35.9
x 24.4cm, Brooklyn
Museum, New York

8
Contemporary interpretation
It is interesting to view the work of Hiroshige from
a contemporary perspective. His work, along with
many other Ukiyo-e artists provided inspiration for the
Impressionist and Post-impressionist painters such as
Manet, Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne. They were inspired
by the artists’ use of flat coloured shapes to create
perspective; a technique that they began to implement in
their own work. The Impressionists were also interested
by the use of colour to depict light and began to break
down their paintings into optical illusions of colour.
ACTIVITY 8.11
Investigate the work of the artists Monet,
Cezanne, van Gogh and Manet. What
similarities can you draw between their works
and those of Hiroshige? Consider techniques,
formal elements and the subject matter of the
artworks. Provide examples from the artworks
to support your point of view.
Through their images, artists such as Hiroshige

provided documentation of their period of time and culture.
Because the prints were produced in booklet form, they
were readily accessible, a bit like a travel brochure. It
should be noted that as the prints became increasingly
popular many were reproduced and, because of this, there is often a difference in the colour Figure 8.5 Claude Monet, Water-
lily Pond, 1907, oil on canvas,
and quality of many of the prints held in art collections. Often the individual images are
Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo
displayed as a series in an art museum so the viewer can read the images as a story.
It was Hiroshige’s intention that viewers were to speculate on the story presented in the
images – he was leaving the interpretation up to individual viewers. They were intended to
promote discussion. Hiroshige was therefore promoting postmodernist concepts with his work. postmodernist:
artworks in the
ACTIVITY 8.12 postmodern style
What do you feel when you look at the work of Hiroshige? Support your collapse the differences
point of view with examples from the artworks. between what is
known as ‘high art’
and the visual imagery
References of popular culture;
Smith II, H. D. and Poster, A. G.; Lehman, 1986, Hiroshige: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, George postmodernist artists
Braziller Inc, New York. often break the rules
Forrer, M. 1997, Hiroshige Prints & Drawings, Royal Academy of Arts, London. of art to provoke a
reaction from the
viewer – the artworks
Web resources are intended to be
www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/online/edo/ interpreted differently
by different people
Weblink

Figure 8.6
Guan Wei, Dow:
Guan Wei
Island, 2002 acrylic Guan Wei (born 1957) grew up in Beijing and was trained in traditional art and calligraphy
on canvas, 48 panels, by his father. He is a descendent of the Manchu nobility, who ruled China in the Qing
101.5 x 50.5 cm each. Dynasty (1644–1911). He graduated from the Fine Arts department of the Beijing Capital
With mixed media
University in 1986. Guan Wei migrated to Australia with his family in 1989.
installation, Sherman
Galleries Sydney
Formal Framework
The large-scale paintings of Guan Wei draw on his personal experiences, imaginings and
interests. Dow: Island is presented as an installation work that has 48 canvas panels with a
tonne of sand in front of them on the gallery floor. Other domestic objects are present, such
as a clock and a looped video of waves crashing on a shore played on a television monitor
on the floor. The canvas panels show an aerial view of islands and an expanse of blue water
with stylised waves. On the lower edge of the map, the shoreline of Australia is symbolised
with crows guarding the territory. Each of the islands has a name, such as Calamity
&ORMAL Island, Trepidation Island and Aspiration Island. The figures and creatures in Dow: Island
are observed with precision and minute detail. On one island, the figures cluster together
stylised brushstrokes:
brushstrokes that are
for protection; to the right another group are swimming in what appears to be dangerous
simple lines or shapes waters. Another figure is solitary on an island while another dangles from the mouth of a
mythical creature.
narrative qualities: The work, like many of Wei’s artworks, expresses the vulnerability of many people
artworks that feature who have escaped their homeland, sometimes taking great risks searching for a better
narrative qualities
life in Australia. In this image, the plight of many refugees attempting to get to Australia is
tell a story through
the subject matter or exhibited.
symbols created by the Much of this imagery is symbolic and can be read on many levels. Guan Wei has
artist executed the work in a style that is similar to Chinese painting with the use of stylised
brushstrokes. The narrative qualities of the work are like the scroll paintings of early China,
fourth dimension: the where a story is told as you read through the images. The artist’s use of clouds in the work
element of time in a
contemporary artwork
is also symbolically used in Chinese scroll paintings.
The elements and principles that Wei has used also contribute to the aesthetic
symbolism of the work. The strong use of blue with white suggests purity in the work and

8
creates a peaceful atmosphere. The placement of the islands across the canvas panels Figure 8.7
creates visual rhythm and movement in the work. The rhythmical crashing of the waves Guan Wei, Dow:
Island, 2002 (detail of
on the television monitor would enhance this atmosphere. The space represented two
clouds)
dimensionally on the canvases is also presented as a fourth dimension in the exhibition
space. The concept of space is important to the meditative contemplation of the work.
Scale is an important aspect of this artwork. The islands are presented in a much
larger scale to the smaller people. Again, it is as though the forces of nature are
overpowering the smaller groups of figures.
ACTIVITY 8.13
Personal Framework Investigate the
Guan Wei was introduced to art through his father, who was a singer and performer with symbols used in
the Beijing Opera. Chinese Opera allows the performer to express his emotions through another work by Guan
colour and gesture. In this manner, Wei has translated this expression of emotion to the Wei. How do these
symbols represent
canvases of his artworks. Guan Wei is also a descendant of Chinese nobility. The concept
the background and
of passing on of tradition is important in Chinese culture and Wei has achieved this through influences upon the
the narrative style of his images. artist?
As Guan Wei grew up under the Cultural Revolution in China, when there were
restrictions on artistic expression, his original art training was in realistic drawing.
Hence, his art shows strong compositional work and drafting. However, after the end
of the Cultural Revolution in the early 1980s, he began to undertake a more radical
approach to his work and he studied the works of Western art movements. He has been
particularly influenced by German Expressionism and Surrealism, through his expression
of life’s ambiguities. In many of his works, the figures do not have eyes or mouths. Wei is
commenting on the restrictions that the government in China can pose on the individual. 0ERSONAL
‘The government does not like you seeing or talking too much’. – Guan Wei
It appears as though Wei’s works have been influenced by the writing of George Orwell,
particularly Orwell’s novel 1984.

ACTIVITY 8.14
Research the German Expressionist and Surrealist art movements. Select an
artist from each art movement and compare the symbols these artists have
used with the techniques and subject matter that Guan Wei depicts. Artists
to compare include:
• German Expressionism – Edvard Munch, Ernst Kirchner, Franz Marc
• Surrealism – Dorethea Tanning, Salvador Dalí, Rene Magritte, Joan Miro.
The work is a personal expression perhaps of Guan Wei’s own voyage to Australia and
his escape from the restrictions the government imposes in his native country. In 1989, Wei
returned to Beijing and encountered the student uprising in Tiananmen Square. He became
disillusioned with his homeland. As he migrated to Tasmania, many of Wei’s works reflect
the closeness of the island to water. Other works by Wei, such as A Distant Land have
iconography: symbolism iconography that is uniquely Australian, such as floral motifs and images of the tall ships that
that represents our first immigrants arrived upon. All these are depicted in Guan Wei’s stylised flat shapes and
religious or spiritual
repetitive patterns. The blue in much of his work refers to the exotic blue skies of Australia.
concepts
ACTIVITY 8.15
Research an Australian
artist such as Tom
Roberts, Fredrick
McCubbin, Charles
Conder, Sidney Nolan,
Arthur Boyd or Albert
Tucker. Compare and
contrast the expression
of subject matter and
use of techniques and
symbolism of one of
these artists, with
Guan Wei.
Figure 8.8
Guan Wei, A Distant
Land, 2006, 3 acrylic
panel boards presented
as screens, 208 x 160cm,
Sherman Galleries, Sydney
Cultural Framework
As Guan Wei has experienced both Chinese and Western cultures his work reflects those
traditions. Dow: Island is a fable, a story told to the viewer. He offers no solution to the
problem but offers the work up for quiet contemplation. This is typical of many works in the
#ULTURAL Chinese tradition. The myth or story told in the work is also part of that tradition. Guan Wei
is using a visual language that is bringing together the East and the West.

8
Guan Wei also expresses concerns about history, science and the environment in the
symbolism in his work. Dow: Island is presented as a map, which is an important document
in any culture. He is expressing his interest in the reading of old maps that the early ACTIVITY 8.16
explorers used. Wei states, ‘When people are thinking about global things Create a mind map
they draw a map. The map is very important to human thinking’. In using thumbnail
this respect, Wei is expressing the ideals of both Western and Asian cultures. The figures images similar to those
in the work represent the plight of people of his culture and demonstrate Wei’s concern for images used by Guan
Wei. The map may be
social responsibility.
of a particular journey
or voyage you may
have taken or it may
be a collection of ideas
related to a theme.
Figure 8.9
Guan Wei, Dow:
Island, 2002 (detail of
people)
Guan Wei has brought together the styles and beliefs of two different cultures in his work.
Using a contemporary style of imagery that appears ‘cartoon like’ he has expressed
the beliefs and traditions of his Asian heritage. He has appropriated some of the style
of Asian artworks in his work by using stylised brushstrokes and similar compositional #ONTEMPORARY
arrangements.
In his work, Guan Wei has presented a range of global issues: immigration being the
foremost. The manner in which he explores this issue and the symbolism that is used
allows the viewer to draw on their own experiences when viewing the work and evoke their
own interpretation. Although the issue is one that is to be contemplated seriously, Guan Wei
has presented it in a somewhat humorous and whimsical manner.
Web resources
www.guanwei.com.au
A comparison of Utagawa
www.shermangalleries.com.au/ Hiroshige and Guan Wei
artists_exhib/artists/wei.html can be found on the Student
Weblinks CD-ROM.
Student CD-ROM

THREE-DIMENSIONAL WORKS,
SCULPTURES AND INSTALLATIONS
The following artists are presented as a part of a group that create three-dimensional works,
sculptures or installations. One artist worked prior to 1970 and one artist worked after
1970. The artists have been selected as similarities can be drawn between their works. The
similarities may occur in the materials and processes the artists use and the ideas behind
their works. For more artists working in three dimensions, see the Student CD-ROM.
Barbara Hepworth
Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975) is one of the most prominent female artists in the
development of Abstract sculpture in Britain. Hepworth trained at the Leeds School of Art
where she became close friends with Henry Moore. She married her second husband,
sculptor Ben Nicholson in 1938. Together with Moore, they developed the first school of
British Abstract sculpture based on influences from the development of contemporary art in
Europe at the time.
Figure 8.10
Barbara Hepworth, Pelagos, 1946
painted wood and string, 43 x 46
x 38.5cm, 15.2kg, Tate, London.
© Bowness Hepworth Estate.
Photograph © Tate, London 2009
Formal Framework
Hepworth mainly worked in wood and stone and enjoyed carving. She worked with these
materials because she felt they held an affinity with nature. The artwork shows Hepworth’s
concentration on achieving perfect form in the sculpture. Pelagos is based on natural forms
&ORMAL such as shells, the rock formations and caves around Hepworth’s home in St Ives, on the
coast of Cornwall. Hepworth was inspired by the view of St Ives Bay from her home. The
viewer can see how the delicate carving of the interior of the circular form resembles the fine
delicate material of the inner spiral of a shell. The grain of the wood on the exterior of the
form resembles rock formations. Hepworth has painted the interior of the sculpture white to

8
provide contrast and highlight the different surfaces of the form. Hepworth has used the fine
lines of the strings to link the inner space of the hole with the exterior of the form.
Her husband Nicholson, Henry Moore and Naum Gabo, also influenced Hepworth’s
use of materials and the simple forms of her work. The artists all worked in a group and
modernist: an art style
were influenced by each other’s ideas and techniques. The group of artists was inspired
that uses the simple
by pure colour and form and the use of materials to create artworks that were deemed elements of art to
as modernist. At the time, Nicholson was developing many works using relief carving, represent ideas
which also influenced the carving style of Hepworth. Hepworth began to use colour in her
works as she was inspired by the colour theories of Adrian Stokes who wrote in his book relief carving: a process
Colour and Form in 1937 that ‘colour is the ideal medium for the carving in sculpture where
a block of stone or
conception’ and that colour in the interior form of a sculpture gave the work ‘its inner wood is carved; relief
life’. The contrast in colour with white in Hepworth’s works from the 1930s also influenced carvings are usually
the contrasting colours in the works of Piet Mondrian. created on the sides of
Essentially, Hepworth’s works were strongly related to the balance of the elements. buildings, particularly
in ancient and classical
Hepworth was developing the relationship between mass and space in sculpture. ‘I
cultures
believe that the understanding of the material and the form must be
in perfect equilibrium.’ Therefore, she considered the use of the materials and the
manner in which she carved or painted them in order to achieve perfect balance.
http://www.barbarahepworth.org.uk/sculptures
Weblink
ACTIVITY 8.17
Using the Formal Framework and the information that you have read above, 0ERSONAL
analyse Sculpture with Colour (Red & Deep Blue) 1940, available at the
website listed above. Compare this with the analysis of Pelagos and draw
similarities between the two artworks.
Personal Framework
Hepworth’s abstract forms were closely related to her emotions and the events in her
personal life. She deliberately chose certain materials to reflect her inner spirit and the
forms replicated that relationship between the inner and outer being. ‘Stone forms and
the love of them and emotion can only be expressed in abstract form.’
As she spent most of her life on the Cornish coast, Hepworth’s sculptures are reflective
of her life spent in this environment. The sculptures reflect the natural environment of the
area and often involve sweeping curves such as waves. Pelagos (meaning ‘sea’ in Greek)
was inspired by a view of the bay at St Ives in Cornwall, where the two arms of land enfold
the sea on either side. The hollowed-out form evokes a shell, a wave or the roll of a hill.
Hepworth wanted the taut strings to express ‘the tension I felt between myself
and the sea, the wind or the hills’. Hepworth’s married life in Cornwall was often
filled with frustrations and the works can also reflect this tension. She wanted to work as an
artist but her life was often filled with domestic duties as a wife and mother.

The processes Hepworth used in making works, such as Sculpture with Colour (Deep
Blue and Red), was reflective of her life in St Ives. She was living in the area during World
#ULTURAL War II when materials and equipment were hard to obtain. Hence, this was another reason
Hepworth made so many smaller maquettes of the larger work. She may have used plaster
because of its economy and availability.
View Sculpture
with Colour (Deep Cultural Framework
Weblink
Blue and red) at Barbara Hepworth’s work is representative of British Sculpture at the time. There were
http://www. strong historical influences in her work. She had travelled and was interested in the
barbarahepworth.org. representation of Greek mythology in her work. Many of her works are given titles in Greek.
uk/sculptures. She was inspired by the natural forces of wind, water and earth, which are often symbolised
in Greek myths. Hepworth had also seen Anglo-Norman villages unearthed by the bombings
maquettes: in wartime Britain. She was impressed with the strong red colour of the terracotta reliefs
a small-scale model
that had been unearthed and tried to replicate the red interior of these sculptures in her
made as a preliminary
study for a larger work own work.
Hepworth had an interest in the links between science and art. She tried to replicate
terracotta reliefs: natural forms in her work and used ideas that were based on mathematical theory and
terracotta is a red clay physics when she was carving her sculptures.
that is soft and easy to
carve; many medieval
villages in Britain
ACTIVITY 8.18
carved decorations, Compare an artwork such as Pelagos or Sculpture with Colour (Deep Blue
known as reliefs, on & Red) with other sculptures created at the time by Henry Moore, Ben
the outside of their Nicholson and Naum Gabo. Focus on the Personal Framework in your
buildings out of analysis.
terracotta
Although Barbara Hepworth’s works are fine examples of modernism, they can be
interpreted from a postmodern perspective. Hepworth was a woman who was one of the
most significant sculptors in Britain during the nineteenth century. She stands alone in a
group of predominantly male artists. Although her techniques were inspired by her male
#ONTEMPORARY
contemporaries, Hepworth’s expression of emotion in her work and her use of natural
materials were feminine. The contrasts of surfaces of her sculptures and the delicate
circular forms were representative of her intuitive treatment of materials.
ACTIVITY 8.19
Investigate the
References
Forster A. 2004, Tate Women Artists, Tate Publishing, London.
symbolism behind
Hepworth’s work. What
aspects of the work Web resources
express her femininity? www.barbarahepworth.org.uk/
Consider the subject www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961
matter of the work, &artistid=1274
the techniques that Weblinks
Hepworth has used and
her use of the design
elements and principles.

8
installations: artworks
Roni Horn designed for gallery
Roni Horn, an American artist, was born in 1955. Horn’s body of work is incredibly varied. spaces or other
Not only does she work with materials and three-dimensional works but she also works environments for a
specific period of time;
with drawings and photography to create installations.
these artworks are
designed to be walked
Formal Framework through or around, so
The most striking aspect of Roni Horn’s sculptural works is the simple aesthetic of the the viewer becomes
pieces. Gold Field is a square of pure gold that lies on the floor of the gallery space. The immersed in the
striking texture and colour of the work draws the attention of the viewer to the simplicity of experience of the work
the piece. The weight of the material gives the impression that the work could blow away
in a gentle breeze. The quality of the material of the artwork and its colour contrasts with
the rough texture of the gallery floor. ‘I am moved by the physical reality of
the stuff’ says Horn. Therefore, she is trying to present the material in its purest form, as
an expression of her emotions.
Untitled (Aretha) is a glass block made of highly refined optical glass that has been Weblink
made by a German lens maker. The slightly recessed surfaces of the block leave an Find Gold Field at www.
impression of the mould. The colour and texture of the work again draws the attention of guggenheim.org/
the viewer to contemplate the simplistic form. In this work, the translucent quality of the new-york
colour and surface of the glass contrast. In turn, they also contrast with the colour and light
of the gallery space.
Light is an important aspect of Horn’s work. Horn intends her works to be lit by pure
daylight and the play of light on the surface of the artwork heightens the aesthetic qualities
of the pieces. Both these artworks have been created by Horn for the context of the gallery highly refined: highly
polished, highly
space. The aesthetic interpretations of the works are dependent on the gallery site in developed
which they are located. Hence, space is an important consideration for Horn. She carefully
considers the placement of the work within the gallery environment.
The works are minimalist in style. Horn would carefully consider the scale of the work
in respect to the space in which it is placed. The size of the work would make an impact on
the surface qualities and the colour of the work. Horn designed the sculptures so that the &ORMAL
viewer can walk around and look at the work from all aspects. Horn also believes that this
movement by the viewer contributes to the meaning of the work. translucent: a material
Horn uses metals and glass that are molten and slowly solidify to create a paradox that allows limited
in her work. The sculptures appear if they are liquid but, in fact, are strong and sturdy, light to pass through it;
translucent sculptures
although they give the impression of delicacy and translucency.
appear to shine

ACTIVITY 8.20
Horn’s works
are described as
minimalist. Compare
her work to other
minimalist artists
through Formal
Framework. Artists to
study include Donald
Judd, Richard Sera and
Carl Andre.
aesthetic: the perception

or nature of beauty with
respect to the visual
aspects of art
minimalist: an artwork
that uses the smallest
range of art elements
and materials possible
paradox: a contrast
created in artwork
by using materials to
convey opposing ideas
ACTIVITY 8.21
How do you feel
viewing Horn’s works? Figure 8.11 Roni
What atmosphere does Horn, Untitled
the work create in the (Aretha), 2002–04,
gallery space? optical glass,
33 x 76 x 76cm. The
Museum of Modern
Art of New York
modernist: an art style Personal Framework

that uses simple Horn grew up in the suburbs of New York. Her father was a pawnbroker and therefore a link
elements of art to
represent ideas
can be identified with the use of precious metals and glass in her work. Horn has created
artworks that are based around the aesthetic qualities of the materials. The works are
modernist in style as Horn has created them to be appreciated for their pure form.
Horn’s works are to be interpreted by an individual from their personal point of view.
Horn hopes that her works will move the viewer to a ‘higher plane’. It is as though she
0ERSONAL
has created these works to escape the conditions that she grew up in, in Harlem, New York.
‘She is waiting for the right viewer willing and needing to be moved to a place of imagination’.
– Felix Gonzales Torres

8
Cultural Framework
Horn has deliberately created her works to strip all cultural understanding away from the
viewing of an artwork and for the viewer to view the object as it is. She appears to be
#ULTURAL
weighed down by the social and economic atmosphere of the world and the purity of colour
and form of her work removes the viewer from these burdens.
#ONTEMPORARY
As Roni Horn’s artworks are installations, they immediately fall into the postmodern
perspective. The conceptual nature of the artworks; where the viewer is left to interpret the
meaning of the work, is also a postmodern concept. Horn bases her works on the reaction tangible form: providing
a visual symbol of an
of the viewer and the relationship of the individual viewpoint to her work; hence, the nature idea, words or lyrics;
of individual interpretation is increased. the artist creates this
As minimalist artworks, Gold Field and Untitled (Aretha) have been created as artforms form by using materials
as their own reality. They are not representative of anything else. Horn’s use of industrial and techniques that
they feel represents the
materials allows her to explore the properties of those materials. Horn states that her works
idea
are aesthetically a high form of beauty showing truth, order, simplicity and harmony.
In Untitled (Aretha) Horn has named the sculpture after the African American soul singer
Aretha Franklin. The colour of the sculpture alludes to the rich quality of Franklin’s voice.
Horn feels that the light and rich colour gives tangible form of the words of Franklin’s lyrics.
This work is similar to Horn’s earlier works in the 1980s, which were based on poetry. Horn
used materials to give visual form to the words.
ACTIVITY 8.22
Horn’s earlier works that relate to language and text are also a form of Postmodernism.
She is attempting to relate the visual form of art with the structure of poetry. Visit the
website below and have a look at her collection. In Thicket No.2 Horn uses a pair of polished
aluminium rectangles and bright yellow plastic to represent the words of William Blake’s Weblink
poem ‘Tyger, tyger burning bright’. Compare the use of materials in Horn’s later works
with these earlier works. What is the difference between the use of materials and formal
elements to express ideas in both works? These works can be found at www.tate.org.uk.
References
Horn, R. 1990, Roni Horn, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Horn, R. 2002, This is Me This is You, Edition 7L, University of Michigan, Detroit.
Neri, L. 2000, Roni Horn, Phaidon, London.
Web resources
www.xavierhufkens.com/artists/?artist_intro=Roni_Horn
www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/ronihorn
Weblinks
A comparison of Barbara An exploration of the

Hepworth, Roni Horn, work of the artists Marcel
Marcel Duchamp and Rachel Duchamp and Rachel
Whiteread can be found on Whiteread can be found on
Student CD-ROM the Student CD-ROM. Student CD-ROM the Student CD-ROM.

PHOTOGRAPHIC MEDIA
Man Ray
‘I do not photograph nature, I photograph my fantasy’
Man Ray (1890–1976), American Surrealist and Dada artist
Man Ray (1890–1976) is known

as one of the main members of
both the Surrealist and Dada art
movements. He considered himself
primarily a painter but is best known
for his avant-garde photography
and his invention of the ‘Rayograph’
a photographic process that did
not require the use of a camera.
Man Ray was born in Philadelphia
in the US but spent most of his life
living in Paris where he built up his
reputation as a fashion and portrait
photographer.
Formal Framework
Man Ray discovered the
photogram process, that he named
Rayograph, after himself, when he
placed objects on a piece of wet
photographic paper and accidentally
exposed it to light. The objects
left an imprint on the paper and
the shadowy forms emerged.
This product is known as a
photogram and many contemporary
photographic artists have continued
to use this process in their work.
Man Ray liked the effects created
by his Rayographs. He dismissed
the use of the camera in his work
Figure 8.12
Man Ray, Untitled as this dismissed the traditional relationships that had been established in photography
Rayograph, 1922 between the viewer, the sitter and the photographer. The effect of placing objects on the
photographic paper was random and Man Ray felt that the process fitted well with the
Surrealist notion of chance. For example in ‘Spiral’ Man Ray dropped a cut spiral from
a piece of paper onto the photographic paper and then exposed the image, leaving an
impression where the paper fell.
&ORMAL

8
‘A throw of the dice can never do away with chance.’ He also liked the Dada: an early
notion that the photographer could not determine the end result of the image and its effect. twentieth century
international
Man Ray was influenced by the early artist Henry Fox Talbot who used dark
movement that
backgrounds, hazy mid tones and silhouetted forms in his works, which were an earlier exploited accidental
version of the photogram. and incongruous
In Man Ray’s Rayographs, the objects in the image take on anamorphic qualities. They effects in their works
become like living bodies that overlap and interact on the photographic paper. Man Ray and that challenged
established canons
created the images coming out of the black velvety tones of the background of the paper. of art
The forms overlap, creating grey tones in the work, thus giving depth to the images.
Man Ray was perceived as a modernist. He was interested in the aesthetic qualities that avant-garde: art that
his prints created and experimented with form and light. You can see in the image that Man is ahead of its time;
Ray has frozen the movement by suspending his own hands and the spinning gyroscope on innovative and art
that explores new
the photographic paper. Man Ray compared his freezing of movement in his images to that
ideas and techniques
of the Cubists: Braque and Picasso. They were all trying to break down movement into block-
like forms and mechanical parts. His images had a mysterious and disturbing atmosphere, Rayograph: placing
as the viewer could not quite discern what the images were. The objects became isolated of objects on
and remote. photographic paper
and then exposing
ACTIVITY 8.23 the paper to light;
this process was
1 Through his Rayographs, Man Ray created images with strong formal discovered by Man
elements. Analyse one of the Rayographs using the Formal Framework. Ray
Discuss why Man Ray used formal elements to express his ideas.
2 Compare Man Ray’s Rayographs to artworks by Picasso and Braque.
Can you see the similarities in the works of the artists? anamorphic: animal
like
Man Ray was also known for his
solarisation: a process
portraiture work. He favoured natural light introduced by
in his images and informal poses. The Man Ray whereby
images had clear contrasts due to the photographic
process of solarisation. Man Ray used in paper is exposed
to light during the
his work. The mid tones of the images were
developing process;
obliterated and the contrasts of light and as a result the image
dark were increased in the image. In this on the paper often
self-portrait, the viewer sees a cropped has a silver ‘halo’ or
image of the photographer with his camera. ring of light
The solarisation process has increased the
contrast of tones in the image and given a
Figure 8.13
black hazy outline to the profile Man Ray, Self-Portrait
of the artist. with Camera, 1932
A collection of Man Ray’s work is available at http://www.manray-

photo.com. Many of Man Ray’s portraits can be viewed here.
Weblink

Personal and Cultural Frameworks
Man Ray’s images were a personal exploration of his life. Many of his portraits included
close friends and the artistic world of the Surrealists in Paris during the 1920s. Man Ray
0ERSONAL
gave visual form to many poems of the Surrealists and, therefore, his images were based
on imagination and dreams. The techniques of the Rayograph and solarisation gave
the images a dreamlike quality through the use of hazy light and soft tones. However,
simultaneously, Man Ray had an interest in science and many of his images included
#ULTURAL objects that were considered new technologies. Man Ray explored the compositional
elements of photography and attempted to show a ‘moment arrested in time’.
ACTIVITY 8.24 ACTIVITY 8.25

What atmosphere did 1 Research the ideas that the Surrealists were expressing in their
Man Ray create with works. Using an example of Man Ray’s work, discuss how the image
his solarised prints? demonstrates those concepts.
Discuss how he used 2 Compare the work of Surrealists such as Salvador Dali, Joan Miro,
the design elements Max Ernst and Georgio De Chirico with Man Ray’s images. How do
and principles to the artists convey similar ideas in their works through symbolism and
convey his ideas by subject matter?
analysing one print.
Man Ray’s experimentation with new photographic processes in the 1920s was perceived
as contemporary. The fact that he was using objects such as light globes, or items that
measure time such as a gyroscope, demonstrates that he was exploring the use of new
#ONTEMPORARY technologies in his works. They reflected the events that were happening at that time.
These were combined into an artistic process that was following the directions of the
Surrealist movement. Man Ray had embraced the experimentation with his new artform
to break from the influences that society could have over artists. He immersed himself
in studies of the formal elements of art. He was challenging the traditional notions of art,
particularly those expressed in photography and painting.
References
Man Ray 1979, Man Ray (Aperture Masters of Photography), Aperture, New York.
Web resources
www.manraytrust.com
Weblink

8
Anne Ferran
Anne Ferran (born 1949) is an artist, academic and writer. She has been
exhibiting in Australian since the mid 1980s. Ferran is best known for
her installation work and research into the lives of women and children
of Australia’s colonial past.
Formal Framework
Anne Ferran uses contemporary photomedia to document and recall
the lost past of many Australian women. She is best known for her
photograms. She commenced working with photograms in 1997
during a residency at Rouse Hill near Windsor, NSW. The one family
had continuously used the home, constructed in 1813 and now owned
by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. Ferran documented
the history of the family by using items of clothing in the collection of
the house. She placed each of the items on the photographic paper, Figure 8.14 Anne Ferran, Untitled
exposed it to light and then rolled up the paper to take to a darkroom (Christening Robe), 2001 silver gelatin
photogram 127 x 90cm, © Anne Ferran,
to process.
2001/Licensed by VISCOPY 2009
‘I wanted to use the resources of photography to probe some of the more obscure aspects of
the house and to penetrate the air of self containment that always surrounds it’
Anne Ferran
The series was entitled ‘Longer than Life’ and consisted of a range of photograms and
C Type photographs. Untitled (Christening Gown)’ is an image from this series. The gown
appears to float on the black surface of the photogram. The gown appears as an x-ray
image as the tones merge to create the form of the dress. The overlapping lines and &ORMAL
shapes of the gown create the impression that movement has been frozen and also give
depth to the image. The patterns of the lace of the gown have also left an impression
that contributes to the composition of the image. The background and foreground of the
image merge and create a powerfully physical image so it appears that the gown is a three
dimensional object placed on the Photographic paper. photomedia: the use of
photography rather than
ACTIVITY 8.26 traditional tools of art to
create images
1 Analyse Christening Robe using the Formal Framework. Discuss Ferran’s
use of the design elements and principles to create atmosphere in her
work. How does the use of the design elements and principles contribute photogram: an image similar
to that created by Man Ray,
to the meaning of the work? Use specific examples from Christening Robe
where objects are placed
on photographic paper and
2 Compare Ferran’s work to that of Man Ray. What are the similarities in
exposed to light, leaving the
both artists’ use of design elements and principles? What are the different
silhouettes of the forms on the
ideas that both artists convey? Use examples from the work of both artists surface of the paper

Ferran developed her artistic practice at Rouse Hill from her original work in the series
‘Secure the Shadow’ (1995). She worked at Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney. This area
had been used as an immigration depot in 1817–1846 and then as an asylum for
insane, destitute, aged and infirm females from 1846–1896. She took an interest in the
archaeological material that she had researched in the official records and archaeological
collection in the barracks. Ferran created a series of photographs of the soft caps that
the women wore. In the images, the sculptural form of the cap hovers over the receding
space of the background. In ‘Soft Caps’ the image is a form of portrait, however, there is no
discernable subject, only a black void where the woman’s face should be. Using the most
delicate and minimal means Soft Caps evokes a physical presence, which brings these
women to the viewer’s attention. These images were further explored in the ‘Longer than
Life’ series at Rouse Hill in 1997. In these images, the soft caps are photographed in situ
and hence the physical presence of the women that wore them is further enhanced.
Web resources
Soft Caps, 1995, Silver Gelatin Photograph
www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/art_at_the_properties/
photographs_and_photograms/anne_ferran3
Weblinks Rydalmere Vertical, 1997, from the Series ‘Longer than Life’, Type C Print
www.stillsgallery.com.au/artists/ferran/img/life_04.jpg
‘I might start with a museum collection or an archive or a site, but it’s less the history I’m
interested in than the historical record and how it comes down to us. Especially I’m drawn to
the gaps, for what else they reveal.’
Anne Ferran
Personal Framework
Ferran expresses her thoughts on these images as artist who is also a woman. Her
process of documenting objects such as undergarments, clothing and christening gowns
demonstrates her affinity with her subject matter. The process of photograms is very
intimate and conducted in an enclosed space. Therefore, Ferran has created an indirect
0ERSONAL
relationship with her subjects. The subjects are never seen in the photograms but their
presence haunts them.
Ferran trained at Sydney College of the Arts in the early 1980s. This was a period of
ACTIVITY 8.27
time in Australian Arts culture where photography began to be accepted more widely as
How do the design
a form of fine arts. Ferran has approached the documentation of history from an artistic
elements and principles
in one of Ferran’s perspective and has used her personal insight to create these works. The use of touch in
works convey the the photogram process is also intensely personal.
following ideas?
• femininity
• intimacy Cultural Framework
• absence. Through her images, Ferran puts a collective focus on the Women’s Movement of the
1970s. However, the form of her work follows contemporary practices. She explores
the lives of female immigrants and residents of Australia over the last 150 years. This
#ULTURAL exploration highlights issues of self-awareness and identification. Ferran is indirectly

8
documenting the progression of women’s identity throughout Australian history by exhibiting ACTIVITY 8.28
items of clothing and personal objects from different areas and cultural times. Yet a Find examples of
common thread links all the images: the treatment of women on the fringes of society; the symbols in Ferran’s
unmarried mothers, the infirm, the old and the psychologically unstable. The influence of the work that represent
visual code of film is shown in Ferran’s work. They appear as though they are telling a story, a psychological
a narrative, of the lives of these women, but we are unable to form a coherent story as we viewpoint. How is
this abstract concept
can only grasp fragments of their lives.
represented?
Ferran’s work explores the concept of women’s identity; a social issue. Through installation
work, the viewer is able to experience the conditions that many of these women may
#ONTEMPORARY
have felt. This is particularly evident in works such as ‘Soft Caps’ where the images of
the clothing that the inmates of Hyde Park Barracks wore are exhibited in a room of the
barracks. Ferran’s use of the clothing and personal items of the women and children she conceptual: concerned
with ideas
has researched highlights the interest that the artist has in what little is left of the lives of
these people and how difficult it is to establish a sense of their personalities and lives.
site specific: an artwork
Ferran’s photographs challenge the traditional notions of photography and the artist’s created for a specific
relationship with their subject. Her method of creating the images ‘in-situ’ takes the site; the artwork
photographic process to a new level where the image has not been created in a dark room will relate to various
or studio but constructed on the site where these women lived. The notion of conceptual and aesthetic qualities
of the site or the
site-specific work is explored by Ferran in her images. The importance of the area where
environment in/for
these works are created and exhibited becomes increasingly important in the interpretation which it is created
of the images.
Other works ACTIVITY 8.29

Anne Ferran: No Words for this, 1991, Canberra Contemporary Art Space Compare Ferran’s work
with other site-specific
works such as those
References by Jean Claude Christo
Brennan, A. and Ferran, A. 1995, Secure the Shadow, Anne Ferran, published by Historic and Robert Smithson.
Houses Trust of NSW, Glebe. What are the physical
Ferran, A. 2002, ‘Seeing Through Appearances’, Art & Australia, Vol. 39, No.3, Paddington. differences in the works?
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 2008, ‘Anne Ferran: The ground, the air’, Tasmanian Compare how the works
convey the artists’ ideas
Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
about the site where the
artwork has been located
Web resources and the ideas the artist is
www.stillsgallery.com.au/artists/ferran expressing using the site.
www.suttongallery.com.au/artists/artistprofile.php?id=23
www.abc.net.au/arts/visual/stories/s586494.htm
Weblinks
www.usyd.edu.au/sca/profiles/Anne_Ferran.shtml
www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/art_at_the_properties/
photographs_and_photograms/anne_ferran3
Student CD-ROM
www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/higlights/art_at_the_
properties/photographs_and_photograms/anne_ferran A comparison of Man
Ray and Anne Ferran can
www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/higlights/art_at_the_ be found on the Student
properties/photographs_and_photograms/anne_ferran4 CD-ROM.

[9]
Chapter overview
ASSESSMENT This chapter will prepare you to do the following for an
FOR UNIT 3
example task for assessment of coursework:
• introduce you to a range of ways of approaching the
task
• demonstrate how to write interpretations and
Unit 3 – Outcome 1 analysis of the meanings and messages of
artworks using the Formal, Personal, Cultural and
• demonstrate how to use evidence from artworks to
substantiate your interpretations
• demonstrate how to use the resources you have
collected regarding the artists you will write about
in your assessment task
• demonstrate how to use art language when
analysing, interpreting, comparing and contrasting
artworks.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is designed to show you how to prepare yourself for
the assessment of coursework for Unit 3, Outcome 1 of the VCE
Art Study Design. You will be able to use the skills that you have
developed in Units 1 and 2 and apply them to your knowledge
of a range of artworks that you have selected to study. As this is
Coursework Assessment, there are a number of ways of completing
it. In the previous chapter, we discussed a range of artists grouped
in pairs, that you may like to use for the assessment task. The
Refer to Chapter 4 and Chapter 7 for artists have been linked by subject matter, artforms, techniques
information on assessment for Units 1 and 2. and ideas.
As outlined in the previous chapter, there are certain parameters
Refer to Chapter 8 for information on artists set by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority regarding
that you could use for your assessment task
for Unit 3.
the artworks and artists that you must study for the Unit 3, Outcome
1 assessment of coursework. These have been set so that you

9
provide an in-depth analysis and interpretation of your selected artists. Throughout Unit 3,
you must:
• Study at least one artist who produced work before 1970 and at least one artist
who has produced work since 1970.
• Compare and contrast at least two artworks by each artist.
• Apply relevant aspects of all the Analytical Frameworks: Formal, Personal, Cultural
and Contemporary, across each of the selected artworks to interpret the meanings
and messages.
ASSESSMENT TASKS
There is a range of ways you can be assessed on your research and a list is published in
the VCE Art Study Design. Some of these have been covered in Chapter 4 and Chapter 7 of
this book. This is the list for Unit 3, Outcome 1.
A written report
You will be required to write on your two artists and their selected artworks. You will be
given a list of points that you are required to cover in your report. Usually you would include
visual examples of the four artworks. A report can be carried out after you visit a gallery and
view the artworks.
An extended response
You will write about your two artists and four artworks in response to a question given to
you by your teacher.
Short responses
Your teacher may give you a series of questions that cover the assessment criteria for the
task. You will use your selected artworks to respond to the questions.
Structured questions
You will be given four examples of artworks to respond to using a series of questions based
on the artworks you see on the question paper. The questions are designed for you to
analyse the artworks, interpret them and compare and contrast them.
An annotated visual report
To complete this type of task you will provide a copy of the artwork and then indicate on
the artwork, evidence of your analysis and interpretation. You may have to produce several
copies of the artwork as they must be included in the report when you compare and
contrast the artworks.
A multimedia presentation
You could present your information in a PowerPoint presentation, or using Microsoft Photo
Story or Movie Maker. Instead of providing the information as a hard copy, you could
analyse, interpret, compare and contrast your artworks on separate slides or frames with
the information included as hyperlinks, overlays or using voice over.
Often the assessment tasks are structured in the same format as the questions that
you will be asked in your examination at the end of Unit 4. Over the year, it is a good idea to
have a look at past examination papers and see how you can organise your information to
adequately answer those questions.

TIPS FOR COMPLETING ASSESSMENT
Here are some tips that will help you prepare for any of the assessment tasks listed.
• Research your two artists and a range of artworks by each artist. You are only
required to write on two artworks by each artist but you are looking for variety and
similarities between the two artists’ works. You can look for similarities between
both artists under the following topics:
• subject matter
• techniques
• ideas
• style.
Draw up a table with these topics headings and put the information under them.
• Apply the Formal Framework to each artwork. Analyse the design elements and
principles, techniques, style, metaphor and symbolism to each artwork you are
discussing. You will be able to summarise this information in your assessment task.
Ask yourself, ‘How have the design elements and principles, techniques, style,
metaphors and symbols contributed to the meanings and messages of the work?’
• Look for one or more aspects of the Cultural, Personal and Contemporary
Frameworks in the artwork. These may be the main points of comparison you
can use between your two artists. Refer to the Analytical Framework questions in
Chapter 1 to help you find some points.
• Refer to the similarities and differences between the works of the two artists. Again
it is a good idea to draw up a table with the following headings to help you:
• subject matter
• techniques
• style
• symbols
• Analytical Frameworks.
• You must refer to the artworks so next to each point put a reference to what you can
see in the artwork to support your point.
• Check to see if you are using art language. Refer to Chapter 1 for references to art
language. Look up the glossary to see if you can use some of those words in your
discussion.
• Keep a list of all the resources you have used including books, magazine and
newspaper articles, DVDs, exhibition catalogues and websites. These are handy to
source any quotes by the artist or about the artist and their artworks.

9
RECOMMENDED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: OUTCOME 1
The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority has a series of criteria that they provide for Assessment. These
are drawn from the Key knowledge and skills in each Outcome. When you are completing your Assessment of
Coursework task, you must cover the following key knowledge and skill areas, which are outlined in Outcome 1 of
Unit 3 of the VCE Art Study Design.
Key knowledge
• the context of artworks produced before 1970 and artworks produced since 1970
• artworks selected from those produced before 1970 and since 1970.
• the Formal Framework, the Personal Framework, the Cultural Framework and the Contemporary Framework.
• a range of relevant resources available to support research of selected artists and artworks
• art language appropriate to the analysis, interpretation and comparison of artworks.
Name: ____________________________________
The extent to which the

work demonstrates:
Criterion 1
Interpretation of meanings and
messages produced before and
/5
after 1970.
Criterion 2
Application of analytical
frameworks (Formal, Personal,
/5
Cultural, Contemporary)
Criterion 3
Comparison of the similarities
and differences in artworks made /5
before and after 1970 using the
analytical frameworks.
Criterion 4
Substantiate interpretations of
artworks with evidence taken from
/5
the artworks
Criterion 5
Clear references to a range of
/5
resources.
Criterion 6
Use of appropriate art language
and vocabulary pertinent to the
/5
selected artists and artworks.
This criteria sheet is also available on the Student CD-ROM.
Student CD-ROM CHAPTER 9 Assessment for Unit 3 177

STUDENT SAMPLE RESPONSE
Task: ‘Compare and contrast, through analysis and interpretation, the
work of one artist who has produced work before 1970 with the work
of one artist who has produced work since 1970. In your response you
must refer to at least two artworks by each artist and aspects of the
Analytical Frameworks: Formal, Cultural, Personal and Contemporary.’
Zoe Paule used the criteria sheet on page 177.
Assessment comment: The Australian Expressionist artist Albert Tucker was

The student has introduced the
born in Australia in 1914 at the start of World War I.
His father was a railway worker and Tucker was forced
two artists, Peter Booth and Albert
to trade school for more urban industrial surrounds at
Tucker, which she will discuss
14 to help support his family. These harsh experiences,
in the essay. She has highlighted
and particularly the anger and depression of war, were
themes the artists express through
significant factors that inspired his figures and landscapes.
symbolism in their works and she
A second artist who draws on war and hardship for
have provided some contextual inspiration, is the Australian artist, Peter Booth. Born in
information about the inspiration Sheffield, England in 1940 at the start of World War II,
and influences the artists gained Booth, like Tucker, experienced childhood in an industrial
to create their artworks. The setting as his father was a steelworker. At the age of 18,
student has linked the two artists Booth immigrated to Australia to work as a labourer and
by referring to similar background this, combined with his childhood surroundings, is reflected
circumstances in their work. in his artworks. Both artists have used personal and
historical symbolism in their works to express their ideas.
Tucker is described as an Expressionist artist but also
a social realist, which suggests that while his artworks
are very expressive or exaggerated he chooses to depict
society or social aspects of humanity in his work. His work
can therefore be interpreted from a cultural perspective.
Tucker’s artworks can be described as very perceptive of
society, culture, history and humanity. However, they also
exhibit a pessimistic attitude, which shows his critique and
disgust of the environment around him. Tucker chooses
males and females as his subject matter and blends
them together to suggest sexual confusion. Booth, on the
other hand, is a Surrealist painter, meaning his works are
based on dreams or are drawn to appear as an alteration
in humanity. He depicts mutilated or altered scenes
like Tucker, which often incorporate horrifying figures.
Figure 9.1 Peter Booth, Painting Painting 1978 epicts an industrial wasteland reflecting the
1978 1978 oil on canvas, 198.2 x impact of war. It resembles an Australian landscape with
274.5cm, National Gallery Australia, stereotypical sharp peaked mountains and a vast flowing
Canberra, © Peter Booth, Licensed
by VISCOPY, Sydney 2009

9
river. This could also be interpreted as a combination Assessment comment:
of his childhood surroundings in Sheffield and his life
Zoe has referred to the Cultural and
in Australia. Unlike Booth, Tucker’s backgrounds and
Personal Frameworks when referring to
settings are not as distinctive as in Paris Street but the
the symbolism in the work of Peter Booth
presence of mutilated and morphed characters are.
& Albert Tucker by discussing to the
Tucker’s desire to show social realism and post- influence of personal experiences in their
war loss is evident in his artworks. In Paris Street,
work. Zoe also highlights that both artists
Tucker depicts what appears to be a man in a suit on
are figurative painters, which is a point of
the left hand side of the artwork. His face has a content
comparison. Zoe also highlights the different
expression but is very angular. It appears to be made up
styles of the artists suggesting that Tucker’s
of blocks with only one eye visible and a patch of blue
work is an expression of social constructs
on one side of the figure’s head. This well suited man is
whilst Booth is more of a Surrealist painter.
contrasted with a single face to the right of the image,
which is a lighter colour than the other, and it has a Assessment comment:
hungry and fierce look in its eyes. Both figures share the
Zoe has used the Formal Framework to
same dark surroundings and there are what appear to
interpret the artworks and refers to the
be yellow lights in the background symbolising the Paris
symbolic use of techniques and formal
Street. These figures link back to Tucker’s war and post-
war depression experiences. Perhaps they are meant elements. Zoe uses art language, referring
to reflect the inequality felt by society as well as the to the symbolism for example; ‘the colour
devastation felt by war. red is also prominent and is shown at the
base of the mountain symbolising anger,
While Tucker perhaps shows the impact war has
frustration or determination’
on humanity, Booth also chooses to focus on the
environmental impact on post-war destruction. In his Zoe also compares and contrasts the
artwork, Painting 1978 Booth shows a landscape formal elements and techniques that both
and figures heavily devastated by war. The colours artists uses when they discuss how Tucker
are charcoal and grey, which are a reflection of the and Booth depict ‘the impact war has on
industrial surroundings of his early life. The background humanity’.
texture is shown in the sharp mountain range, which
appears to be an explosion of light. The colour and light Zoe has used the Contemporary Framework
may be an example of what one experiences in nuclear discussing the issues in the artworks such
or atomic war. It may represent the sound as the waves as globalisation, environmental issues and
move along the ground towards the figure that is facing the impact of war.
it. The colour red is also prominent and it is shown at It is also important that Zoe has referred to
the base of the mountain perhaps symbolising anger, examples from the artworks to support their
frustration or determination. The mutilated figure to interpretation.
the left of the foreground is partially encapsulated by
something resembling defeat, in contrast with the figure
on the right who is closest to the river but also seems
unaffected.
Both artists rely on colour and composition in their
artworks; however, Tucker chooses to use shape and line
more, while Booth uses texture and balance. In Tucker’s

Assessment comment: work Figures, painted in 1954, he uses oil on composition
board to express angular forms. The figures are painted
The student continues to use
over a dark background that changes from deep red to dark
the Formal Framework to draw
purple. This is broken up with a dark yellow shape towards
comparisons between the artworks.
the bottom. The faces of the figures are similar in style to
They refer to both artists ‘relying
the figures in Paris Street but their expressions appear more
on colour and composition in their concerned or horrified. Their bodies are two-dimensional
artworks’. However, they then shapes and draw the attention to the focal point of their faces.
contrast the works by referring to The shapes represent street signs with arrows, oblongs and
the varied used of design elements squares drawn on them to suggest that their environment is
that the artists use. Booth uses ‘under construction’. The spiral of yellow in the background
‘texture and balance’ and Tucker creates movement as though they are being ‘moved along’.
uses ‘shape and line’. Like Tucker, Booth uses colour and line in Painting 1977
but there is a heavier focus on texture. Booth has used
Assessment comment: texture and colour in the artwork to create an industrial
The student discusses how the environment with war connotations. The use of colour in
artists draw attention to symbolic the black sky, is a bright orange sun, that links to the urban
aspects of their works. The student environment, which appears to be on fire, on the left-hand
discusses how Tucker draws side of the work. Texture is also important as it helps to
attention to the features of the
highlight and focus on the characters and other symbols.
This can be shown on the right-hand side of the work where
figures in his work and Booth
there is a plant whose stalk uses a variety of colours and
uses texture to highlight symbols
textures to contrast with the bold orange of the sun. The use
in his work.
of these elements highlights the industrial scene in the work
and linking to Booth’s childhood. The sun and plant in colour
offer hope, as does the bright light in the background.
Although Tucker and Booth lived at different times, they
suffered the effects of war personally and saw the significant
impact it can have on society and the environment. Both
artists used similar materials and techniques but their
subject matter was different; Tucker’s works were more
figurative whereas Booth’s were based more on the
landscape. However, they both expressed personal, cultural
and historical features in their works.
Zoe Paule
Figure 9.2 Albert Tucker, Paris

Assessment comment:
Street, 1950, gouache, watercolour,
brush and ink, 41.7 x 50cm, Heide The conclusion draws together both artists as
Museum of Modern Art, Gift of
a comparison discussing influences, techniques
Barbara Tucker 2005, © Barbara
Tucker and materials. However, the contrast highlights
the difference in styles and subject matter of both
artists. The student also highlights the interpretative
frameworks used by both artists.

[10]
Chapter overview
By the end of Unit 4, you will have gained experience in
the interpretation and analysis of artworks using all four DISCUSSING
Analytical Frameworks. In this chapter, you will explore
ways in which you can: AND DEBATING
• identify and discuss different art ideas and issues
• identify, discuss and debate different points of view
ART
relating to art issues and artworks
Unit 4 – Area of Study 1
• develop a personal point of view regarding issues
about art and support it with evidence from a range
of artworks and reference your point of view to the
opinions of others
• refer to a range of artworks and commentaries to
support your points of view
• interpret a range of artworks using the four
Analytical Frameworks
• use appropriate art language and vocabulary in your
discussion.
‘I don’t think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates the soul, provokes
the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of
manipulating it.’ Keith Haring (1958–1990), American artist
INTRODUCTION
In Units 1, 2 and 3, you were introduced to using the Analytical
Frameworks as tools for interpreting and analysing the meanings
and messages of artworks. The Analytical Frameworks help you
understand the diverse interpretations that can be applied to an
artwork. The Analytical Frameworks also help you to explore the
ways in which ideas and issues can influence the making and
interpretation of art.
In Unit 4, you will be investigating more about the issues and
themes relating to art. In Chapter 8, you were introduced to a range
of artists and their works and, through the Analytical Frameworks,
you were able to investigate the various themes that artists express

ART ISSUES AND IDEAS
Artists often present issues and themes through their artworks, which affects the way people
think. You have seen how various artworks throughout history have been created for particular
purposes. Artworks are created for different social, historical, political and cultural purposes.
These include commemorating events; expressing a viewpoint on a society, traditions or
beliefs; providing a political viewpoint or representing people or individuals in society. On
the other hand, artworks can also express ideas relating to the individual and their identity.
Through portraits and artworks based on emotion and ideas, artists express their viewpoints
on a range of issues and events throughout history and from different cultures. Many artists
often choose to express their ideas using the formal elements and aesthetic qualities of
artworks. These include artworks that are Modernist, Abstract or Conceptual.
The artwork below by New Zealand artist Colin McCahon, explores the issue of religion
and faith. The artist created the work based on a chapter from the bible, but as native New
Figure 10.1 Zealand Maori, the image also explores political issues. The painting was given to Australia
Colin McCahon, Victory over by New Zealand at the time of the Bicentenary of white settlement in Australia.
Death 2, 1970, synthetic As you are studying art and exploring artworks by contemporary artists, you will look,
polymer paint on unstretched
in particular, at artists and artworks that explore ideas and issues from current societies
canvas, 207.5 x 597.7cm,
National Gallery of Australia and cultures. You will be able to compare these with artworks from earlier periods and
Canberra, gift of the New different cultures to investigate the ideas that the artists you choose are exploring. To start
Zealand Government 1978. your investigation, you may want to highlight a series of issues that affect the world today
Reproduced courtesy of the including those that arise out of the following themes.
Colin McCahon Research and
Publication Trust

10
site specific: an artwork
Globalisation and the environment created for a particular
Artists often use their artworks to comment on the plight of the environment or to environment or site.
highlight man’s misuse of it. They will often use the environment itself to create a site The aesthetic features
and meanings of the
specific work or take natural objects to make their artwork.
artwork relate to the
environment for/in
Political dissent and uprising which it was created
Throughout history, artists have expressed their point of view about their society and
culture through their art. They often create a political discourse through their art. Artists
Refer to pages 88–99
are often censored for the political statements they express through their art. for a range of images
of War and Conflict
War and conflict

Artists often expose issues arising from war and conflict through their art. Their artworks
can comment on the plight of refugees and the people from a war-torn country. Artists Figure 10.2
are often assigned to produce artworks or images that document battles and war Barbara Kruger, Untitled
(Your Body is a
scenes. The images can be controversial and provoke discourse. The images can be
Battleground), 1989,
censored in exhibition because of the subject matter and emotions that the artwork can photographic silk screen/
evoke. vinyl, 284.5 x 284.5cm,
George Gittoes is known for his controversial works on the wars in Somalia, Iraq The Broad Art Foundation,
and Afghanistan. The artist attempts to provoke reactions through subject matter and Santa Monica, California
© Barbara Kruger. Photo
symbolism. Investigate Gittoes’ works on his website: www.gittoes.com. Weblink courtesy Mary Boone
Gallery, NSW
ACTIVITY 10.1
Investigate the artworks of photographers
Damien Parer, Eddie Adams, Lyndal
Brown and Charles Green. What issues
have these photographers explored in
their works? Discuss the controversial
nature of their images through any
commentaries on their works.
Gender
The role of women in art can provoke much
discussion. Traditionally art was often a male-
dominated field. With the rise of feminism in the
1970s, women began to express their rights through
their art. The issue of feminism and women’s rights
can be explored by comparing the work of artists from
the 1970s to works from earlier periods of time and
contemporary female artists.
This artwork by Barbara Kruger discusses the way
in which women try to conform to the conventions of
society and beauty.

ACTIVITY 10.2 Censorship
Investigate the works
Artworks often provoke controversy through their subject matter or the materials an artist
of some 1970s artists,
including the Guerrilla may use in expressing their ideas. This can often depend on the values or morals of the
Girls, Jenny Watson, society in which the artwork was created. Artworks can often be censored on the grounds
Vivienne Binns, of religious and political beliefs.
Julie Rrap and Vicki
Varvaressos. What are
some of the issues of The body
feminism the works of Artists have often used the body to challenge the values of society. The body has often been
these artists provoke?
used to express ideas on beauty, race, gender, sexuality, censorship, morality and ethics
through its representation. Over time and in different cultures, the nude has been expressed
Refer to pages 112– in various forms to explore many issues. Nudity in art is often controversial and the issue of
117 for a range of morality arises from the display of the human form.
images of The Nude
ACTIVITY 10.3
View a range of works
from different cultures and
periods of time and discuss
the artist’s presentation of
the body. What is the artist’s
intention in symbolising the
body in their work? How
is the nude form exposed
differently to the viewer in
each artwork? Artworks to
explore could be those by
the Renaissance artists such
as Botticelli and Rubens and
contemporary examples by
Bill Henson, Jenny Saville
and Lucien Freud.
Figure 10.3
Julie Rrap, Persona &
Shadow, 1984, cibachrome
print approximately 194 x
105cm. Courtesy of the artist
and Roslyn9 Gallery, Sydney

10
Moral rights, copyright and
appropriation
Every artist has the right to own their creative ideas and the techniques or artforms that they
produce. Often an artwork is so successful it may be reproduced in several forms or by other
artists. An example of this is the values that some Asian cultures place on the skill of the
artist who can copy the work of a great painter such as van Gogh. Often artists, particularly
photographers, will use an existing image or artwork and claim it as their own. The issues of appropriation: the taking
copyright and appropriation come into play in this area of art. Pop artists, such as Andy Warhol, of objects from other
works of art, or from
were among the first artists to use imagery from popular culture in their works as a form of
life. The aim of the
appropriation. There are laws protecting the copyright and moral rights of artists in Australia. artist is to create a new
meaning for the object.
Appropriation belongs
ACTIVITY 10.4 to the modernist
1 Investigate the work of artists such as Immants Tillers and Gordon tradition of questioning
Bennett. Both these artists have used the works of other artists to express the nature of or
their own ideas in their work. definition of art itself
2 Investigate the work of Pop artists Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Roy
Lichtenstein and Claus Oldenberg. What are some of the images or
subjects from popular culture that they used in their works? What were
the ideas these artists were expressing with these images?
Collaboration ACTIVITY 10.5

Artists often use the skills of others to create their artworks. This can often lead to issues Find a conceptual or
of ownership of artworks. Who has created the artwork? Is the artwork valued for its ideas installation piece by
or the skill that has been used to create the work? Conceptual art falls into this category as one of the following
this artform is valued for its ideas and the choice of materials and forms used to express artists: Cornelia Parker,
those ideas. Tacita Dean, Daniel
Von Strummer or Nam
June Paik. Discuss the
Animal rights artwork, the materials
Animals have been a prominent subject matter in artworks throughout history. However, used and the ideas the
artist has expressed.
many contemporary artists use the rights of animals as a vehicle of expression. They
Evaluate the work of
will use animal parts such as skins, bones and feathers in their works to express their the artist in terms of
ideas. Viewing the ‘real thing’ can often lead to a rise in emotion in the viewer and lead to ownership.
controversy. Is it right to use animal parts as a material in artworks?
The art market – sale and resale of

artworks
The art market is an area of art that is integral to the art industry. Artists make a living
through commissions and through the sale of their work at exhibitions. Most contemporary
artists are now represented by a commercial gallery who will take a percentage of the sale
of each artwork by the artist. The values of artworks can vary enormously depending on the
age of the artist or the interest in their work.

Art auction houses resell artworks from art collectors to other art collectors. With the
sale of these artworks, a percentage of the sale goes to the artist who originally created the
work, a percentage to the auction house and a percentage to the owner of the work.
Therefore, the auction houses and commercial galleries can be integral in fixing the
values of the work of an artist. This often affects the production of an artist’s work and
their livelihood. Indigenous artworks are an example of how the art market has affected the
production of artworks by Indigenous artists and the monetary value that is passed on to
the artist.
ACTIVITY 10.6
1 Visit a commercial gallery and a public art gallery. What are the different
purposes of these galleries? How do the different galleries affect the value
of artworks? Consider artforms, techniques and materials used by the
artists. Select an exhibition from a public art gallery and a commercial
gallery. What are the different purposes of these exhibitions?
2 View the website of an auction house such as Sotheby’s, Christie’s or
Deutscher-Menzies. What artworks does the auction house sell? Analyse
the work of several artists on the site and discuss the values that could be
placed on the works. What would justify the value placed on the work.
Validity of artforms
Contemporary art appears in many different forms and is not only displayed in an art gallery.
Over the last 15 years, street art has become a valid artform. Many cities across the world
have public art programs, which provide artists the opportunity to display their work in a
Figure 10.4 public space such as a city square or laneway. Often this art may not be as highly valued
Ghost Patrol, Turtle
Wolves Mural,
as artworks that are in a gallery. However, often the artist has been commissioned by a city
c. 2006, Fitzroy, council or municipality to create an artwork for a specific space. The artwork often provokes
Melbourne discussion and will draw the attention of the public to an area that was previously ignored.

10
ACTIVITY 10.7
Research an area of public art or street art such as the City lights project in
Degraves St, Melbourne. If you cannot find any Street or public art in your
local area, find an example on www.flickr.com. Analyse the artworks and
Weblink
write an essay justifying the purpose of Street Art, using specific examples
and any commentaries you can find from the artworks that you see.
RESEARCH AND STUDY FOR UNIT 4

The focus of this unit of study is the discussion and debate of art issues. To commence your
study you will have to pick an art issue and then find a series of artworks that relate to that
issue to research, analyse and interpret.
In your discussion, you must refer to a range of resources and commentaries to
examine and debate opinions and arguments about the issue and the artworks that you commentaries:
statements by artists,
are researching. Commentaries are explained in detail in Chapter 1. In your study for this critics, historians or the
outcome you should be investigating commentaries that discuss or debate the following: public about an artwork
• How this issue has been explored in art.
• Commentaries on the life of the artist/s you have selected.
• Commentaries about the art movement to which the artist/s belonged.
• Commentaries about the artworks of the artist/s – these can be related to the ideas
the artists expresses in individual works, the techniques they use or the subjects they
depict.
• Commentaries about the art processes the artist/s uses in making their work.
These commentaries can come from a range of sources: from exhibition catalogues
through to lectures and curatorial notes about the artist/s and their work/s. It is a good idea
to explore a range of resources that will support your argument and not just stick to the one
source. A list of commentary sources is outlined in Chapter 1.
To begin your study you must do the following:
• select one art issue
• select at least one artist that you can use to support your discussion of the art issue
• select two artworks by the artist to support your discussion
• select a range of diverse viewpoints on the art issue as seen in commentaries.
You will then be able to discuss, debate and compare the viewpoints regarding the issue
and develop a personal point of view. Your personal point of view will be established by
referring to the opinions of others you have read about and the range of artworks you have
studied. Tied in with all of this is your use of the Analytical Frameworks when you interpret
the artworks you have selected. You must apply relevant aspects of each of the analytical
frameworks to support your discussions. In this chapter, a range of art issues will be
presented with examples of commentaries, artworks and interpretations that you can use to
develop your own opinion about the issue.
ACTIVITY 10.8
Select one of the topics outlined previously in this chapter. Select two
artworks that are related to each topic. Find at least three commentaries on
the artworks. The commentaries can include any discussion about the ideas
behind the artwork, the materials and techniques the artist has used or
anything by a critic or curator about the artwork. How do the commentaries
you have selected relate to the issue?

ENVIRONMENTAL ART
Issues
How do artists explore issues concerning the environment in their works?
How do conceptual and contemporary artists address the issue of the environment in
their work? These works are often termed as ‘ephemeral’. What does this mean and how
does it relate to environmental art?
What are ‘site specific’ artworks and how do they relate to the environment?
Artists often explore themes connected with the environment in their art. These themes
are often related to social, psychological and political ideas expressed by the artists. The
materials that the artist uses in the work often come directly from the environment and are
used in the place of, or often combined with, traditional materials.
As environmental issues are often contemporary and are concerned with the
relationship between human beings and nature, these works are often installations. They
land or earth art: an are often conceptual and express the artist’s personal thoughts on the environment.
art movement that Environmental artworks have often been traditionally defined as land art or earth art,
emerged in the US which is defined as the ‘artist working directly into the landscape’. This term was
in the late 1960s and given to the practice of such artists such as Robert Smithson and Richard Long who began
early 1970s, in which
landscape and the work
working with natural materials in the 1960s.
of art are inextricably There is a range of artists presented here that work primarily within the environment
linked. and express their views on issues concerned with it.
‘As I looked at the site, it reverberated out to the horizons only to suggest an immobile
cyclone while flickering light made the entire landscape appear to quake. A dormant
earthquake spread into the fluttering stillness, into a spinning sensation without movement.
The site was a rotary that enclosed itself in an immense roundness. From that gyrating space
emerged the possibility of the Spiral Jetty.’ Robert Smithson (1938–1973), American artist
Robert Smithson
Robert Smithson (1938–1973) created the first of what was termed as his ‘Earthworks’ in
1970. Smithson attempted to create a sculpture from materials found at the location of the
work. At the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Smithson deposited mud and rocks with the aid of a
bulldozer. He then created a salt crust on the spiral out of salt crystals. The work is viewed
aerial perspective: viewpoint
of an artwork from directly most effectively from an aerial perspective; however, Smithson designed the work so the
overhead; usually works viewer could walk on the piece as though they were walking above the surface of the water.
created in aerial perspective The red oxide of the lake contrasts with the white crust created by the salt crystals. Over
appear flat and two
time, the level of the water rose over the work but, due to extended periods of drought, the
dimensional
work was revealed again in 1990.
In creating this site-specific work, Smithson was attempting to freeze a moment
in time. He has captured, through naturally solid materials, the notion of a cyclone or
movement through the air. Smithson was also interested in scientific theory, which has been
represented in this work.

10
Figure 10.5
Points of discussion
Robert Smithson,
• What is art? Spiral Jetty, 1970
If this artwork has been made out of rocks and mud, how is it deemed as art? precipitated salt
Discuss the processes Smithson used to create the work. crystals, rocks, water,
Site-specific artwork – what is the relevance of the site to the work? Why coil, 45.72 x 4.58m,
does the work have to remain at the site where it has been created? Why did Rozel Point, Great Salt
Smithson select that particular site and what is its significance to the work? Lake, Utah, United
Environmental art – what environmental issues is Smithson exploring in this States. Photograph
work? courtesy DIA Center
Artistic integrity – Smithson would have used a team of people to assist him
for the Arts, New York
to construct Spiral Jetty. Who, therefore, is responsible for creating the work,
the artist or the workers?
‘Spiral Jetty is an inaccessible artwork only viewed from the air.’

Eugenie Tsai, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Catalogue
Smithson deliberately attempted to create his works away from the traditional space of
the gallery. He developed ‘the site’ of his works as the artwork. In doing this, he was making
a statement about how the formal construct of the gallery can place value on an artwork.
‘Smithson’s work can only be appreciated in documentation and photos but
it makes it no less remote than the Parthenon in Athens or the Great Wall of
China.’ Eugenie Tsai, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Catalogue

Smithson was also interested in archaeological sites and spiritualism. He attempted to
create a structure that was similar to the ancient man-made structures related to religion,
art and literature. Some of these ancient structures were constructed in remote areas and
they have an importance in the timeline of art and history.
‘The trip to see the artwork brings people to a place they would not normally
experience. The ‘Jetty’ is a vortex that draws in everything in the landscape
around it.’ Nancy Holt, wife of Robert Smithson
Smithson intended the viewer to go to the site to view the work. He felt that by placing
it in a particular site the viewer would be drawn to the environmental conditions of that
site and, therefore, they would become more aware of the plight of the land and drought
conditions. Smithson also believed in the spiritual qualities of the land and that the spiral
was like a cosmic force or a metaphor for a cyclone that would draw people in.
‘Instead of putting a work of art on some land, some land is put into the work
of art. Smithson moved beyond the notion of sculpture and beyond the idea of
the discrete consolidated object.’ Anne Rorimor, Dia Foundation
Smithson began working with natural materials in the 1950s. His work progressed from
Minimalist sculptures to creating simple geometric forms in the gallery space using earth
and glass. These works were entitled ‘Nonsites’, meaning that Smithson had removed the
earth or debris from a particular site and created a sense of that site in the gallery space.
The works were based on crystalline and geological structures.
• Exhibition and display of artworks – by removing his artworks from the
gallery space, Smithson was exploring the values exhibiting art in a gallery
places on the work. How does Smithson’s selection of an outdoor site place a
different value on the work?
• What was Smithson stating about the importance of cultural values when
viewing an artwork? Refer to the commentary by Nancy Holt and examples of
Smithson’s works to support your point of view.
Often Smithson would present the works with maps indicating the original location of
the materials. As Smithson was interested in language he would also provide a typed text
offering a commentary on the work with suggestions on how to view it. Hence, the Map
of Broken Glass (www.diabeacon.org/exhibitions/main/97) is a work of
broken glass shards from a demolished building site. The reflective nature of the glass
Weblink presented in piles gives the work a shimmering effect and enhances the formal qualities of
the work.
Smithson would present his ‘Nonsites’ with mirrors so that the sculptures would reflect the
emotion that the viewer was expressing. Smithson deliberately chose his subject matter to be
non-emotive so all personal interpretation or expression in the work was divulged by the viewer.
Smithson’s works reflect the natural forces that exist in the world. By creating works
such as Spiral Jetty and his Nonsites, he was suggesting that all cosmic systems are
governed by geological time and natural energy.

10
• Conceptual art – discuss Smithson’s processes and use of materials to create
his ‘Nonsites’. What constitutes them to be works of art? &ORMAL
• Environmental issues – what was Smithson stating about the environment in
his choice of materials for a work such as Map of Broken Glass?
ACTIVITY 10.9 0ERSONAL

1 Analyse Smithson’s works using the Formal Framework. How does he use
materials and the design elements and principles to express his views on
environmental issues?
2 Compare the construction of a work such as Spiral Jetty with Christo’s
Wrapped Coastline (see Student CD-ROM). Consider the scale of the
works in relation to the ideas both artists were exploring. Compare the
processes both artists use to construct their work.
3 Analyse Smithson’s work using the Personal Framework. What personal
involvement and ideas did Smithson have in relationship to the work?
References
Tsai, E. 2004, Robert Smithson, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Web resources
www.robertsmithson.com
www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/arts/design/24kimm.html
www.diabeacon.org/exhibitions/main/97
Weblinks
www.spiraljetty.org
www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/
www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2007/mar/11/art.features3
www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3663966/He%27s-got-the-
whole-world-in-his-hands.html
www.metmuseum.org/special/Goldsworthy/roof2004_more.
htm#works
www.sculpture.org.uk/artists/AndyGoldsworthy
An exploration of the works of the following environmental

artists can be found on the Student CD-ROM:
• Christo and Jean Claude
• Andy Goldsworthy
Student CD-ROM • Gerada Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger.

PERFORMANCE ART
Issues
Is performance art a valid artform?
Performance Artists use their body in their artworks to ‘perform’ often complex issues
surrounding society, culture, beliefs, values and politics. How are these ideas expressed
using the body?
Performance art is often performed outside the gallery space. What is the symbolism of
the gallery or environment in a performance?
What is the role of the viewer in Performance Art?
Performance art is often termed as temporary or ephemeral. What is left of the artwork
once it is performed and what is the value of the documentation of the performance as
the artwork?
Performance artists express their ideas through body expression or ‘performance’. The
action painting: a painting work usually takes place in a gallery, installation or environment with sound, light, video
style developed by projections and audience participation. This artform began in the 1950s as events called
Jackson Pollock where ‘Happenings’. One of the most influential artists of Performance Art was Jackson Pollock
the artist would move
or ‘dance’ to apply the
with his action paintings. The artform also had its origins in the works of the Dada and
paint to the canvas Surrealist artists. Performance artists powerfully express political and social issues and
the human condition. Because the artist is directly involved, the work is often an intensely
personal expression of their ideas. Hence, there are many issues that arise from the works
of such artists; the main issue is that Performance Art is accepted as a valid artform.
Although Performance Art developed in Europe and America in the 1950s and 1960s,
such artworks were not in existence in Australia until the 1970s.
Jill Orr
‘Jill Orr is a fiery artist and her work expresses the beauty, power and spiritual depth that is her
trade mark.’
Helen Vivian
Jill Orr is one of Australia’s most well known performance artists. She has been producing
events centred on the use of her own body since the mid 1970s. Her works are often set in
the landscape and explore environmental and ecological issues. Orr’s work also addresses
gender issues and the position of the female subject in art and gender identity. Orr believes
her performances are inspired by her childhood and the Australian connection with the land.
‘Ritual practices were evoked in all of Jill Orr’s works. The use of fire, earth
and water juxtaposed with images of sacrifice and endurance, permeated the
performances’
Helen Vivian

10
Figure 10.6 Jill Orr, Bleeding
Trees, Performance Biennale
of Sydney, 1979 © Jill Orr,
photograph courtesy Elizabeth
Campbell
metaphor: one thing

used to represent or
similar qualities
Her strong identification with nature was conveyed in the 1979 performance ‘Bleeding
Trees’. Orr carried out a series of performances that showed her body strung-up, crucifixion
style, as a metaphor for the devastation of the natural environment. She also appears naked &ORMAL
flung backwards with her head buried in the soil. The strong physicality of Orr’s body used
in these images has a strong psychological effect on the viewer. It is as though Orr’s body ACTIVITY 10.10
has become as one with the earth in which it was created. Evaluate Orr’s
performance of bleeding
trees using the Formal
Points of discussion Framework. How does
her use of the design
• Discuss Orr’s work as a performance artist. How does she use her body to elements and principles
show the environment? contribute to the
• Photographic works are the only documentary evidence of Orr’s performances.
symbolism in the work?
How can these be evaluated as artworks? What is their significance in the
interpretation of the work?
• In what aspects of her work does Orr explore her gender? How is her body
used a symbol of gender?

‘Orr uses her body as a psycho-social boundary line between the
body and the audience’ Anne Marsh
Orr comments on the mythologies of women, sometimes reinscribing
them and at other times terrorizing them’ Helen Vivian
This work also saw Orr using her body to reinscribe the purpose of the naked female
form in art. The woman is seen as a victim with her body contorted and tortured. The final
image of her head buried with her mouth open to the viewer appears as though she is
offering herself up for sacrifice.
‘My performances elicit a new, more raw and sensuous approach to the condition and
experience of the environment’
Jill Orr
Orr believes that she should have a direct relationship with

the site she uses and that the site becomes an integral part of the
performance. In her 2002 performance Ash, Orr’s body becomes a
metaphor for the land. ‘Both land and the body are a canvas
on which our lives are written, marks made and experience
inscribed.’ In the performance, Orr’s body lies on a coffin-like slab
of hewn wood. The floor is strewn with dried forest litter from the
bush around the house Orr occupied during her residency with Parks
Victoria. There is a soundtrack of bush sounds playing. Orr’s body is
chalked with ashes and is covered with writing in charcoal describing
wars, devastation, personal emotions and stories surrounding the
plight of refugees seeking asylum on Australian shores. Accompanying
the performance is a series of paintings that Orr created from
pigments mixed from the ash of native timbers burnt in an open fire.
They are loose gestural marks on thick textured surfaces.
The work grapples with harmony and balance, and the discord
between human spirit, art and nature. The performance draws the
audience into a meditation on the human and environmental tragedies
we are experiencing in this land. Orr has created hope out of what
seems to be despair: that through suffering we can achieve our finest
moments. She uses the symbolism of fire as cleansing and ash as
rebirth.
Using the stories of refugees and media references to suicide
bombings and civilian losses through the Iraq war, Orr is performing
Figure 10.7 Jill Orr, Ash,
Performance, © Jill Orr, Photograph
two separate realities that are occurring at the same time in different
by Joanne Haslam and Bruce places. One is her idyllic experience of living in peaceful bushland, while the other is the
Parker impact of the Iraq war on both the refugees escaping the war and the media reports of
suicide bombings. Orr’s work chronicles the devastation caused through war on both the
people and the land.

10
• What is the significance of the site in a performance work such as Ash? How
does this contribute to the symbolism of the work?
• Orr’s work is associated with myth and ritual in the Australian environment. 0ERSONAL
Discuss how this is symbolised in Orr’s work.
‘When an audience receives those images it is felt in many different ways ACTIVITY 10.11
depending on what they are dealing with’ Jill Orr Investigate Orr’s work
Ash using the Personal
Orr draws on the experience of the audience in her latest work The Crossing. Performed Framework. Compare
on Lock Island in Mildura, the work draws on local stories about the island. The island is the message Orr is trying
to convey with your
the traditional homeland of the Latche Latche and the Barkindji tribes, among others. In the
personal interpretation
work, Jill Orr collaborated with the Victorian College of Koori Education, the NSW TAFE Koori of the work.
unit, and six Melbourne-based dancers and a musician and didgeridoo player. Orr wrote and
directed the live event and it is now viewed as a six screen video installation and on DVD.
The stories are told by the dancers; who designed and told them from their own
perspectives. For example, the Lachte Lachte danceman invented his
character that he called ‘the black shadow’ as a counterpart to the
white character of the missionary. The missionary was a character
that did have contact with the Indigenous population in the area, but
this relationship was often fraught with difficulties.
Orr has directed the characters in the work to combine many
ideas, including the experience of women in Australian colonial
history through her characters. They have taken the concept of
Aboriginal myths and legends and tied it in with rituals concerning
the land, such as earth, fire and water. The dancers have formed
a spiritual connection with the site, which is also important in
Indigenous culture. At the same time, they are mourning the
impoverishment of our current political and social ethos. The work is
Figure 10.8
also about the overlapping and co-existing relationships with the land and with each other. Jill Orr, Ash, Melbourne, 2002 ©
It discusses the impact of history on the present and on cross cultural and environmental Jill Orr, photograph by Joanne
interactions. It is a work of reconciliation that enables respect of differences and of place as Haslam and Bruce Parker
a possible and necessary way forward. Orr outlines this in discussing the work.
‘My work is taken from the standpoint of the individual: an organism of
emotion.’ Jill Orr
‘Performance, at its most powerful – although frightening and confronting
– is articulating those things which are denied’ Jill Orr
As each performer has developed their individual style they have worked collaboratively
with Orr to produce the performance. Each performer has their own dance style and
traditions and therefore the method of working with difference in a singular work is
exemplified. Each dancer is an individual with different emotions that are combined to
express a singular emotion.

• What is the involvement of the viewer in Orr’s performance The Crossing? As
a performance work, how does the interaction of the viewer contribute to the
work? Compare this work to others by Orr.
• The Crossing features many of the myths and stories of Australian Indigenous
culture. How has Orr incorporated Indigenous culture into the work? List the
Indigenous symbolism you can find and relate it the meanings that Orr is
trying to convey. Does the work re-tell only indigenous myths or does it also
represent non-Indigenous history? How are the voices of indigenous people
presented within the other stories to make a complete work?
• Comments have been made that Orr’s work is postmodern. What aspects
of Postmodernism do you see in her work? How is the meaning of the work
interpreted using postmodernism?
ACTIVITY 10.12
1 Compare the various aspects of Orr’s works. How are the three artworks
presented linked? Consider the ideas that Orr is expressing and the
symbolism that she has used.
2 How does Orr’s work differ to that of Robert Smithson? Both artists work
with site-specific works in the environment but present different issues
concerning its devastation. Discuss their processes and use of materials in
their works.
Figure 10.9 Jill Orr, The Crossing 2007; Cleansing (left), White Tree Spirit (centre), Lost Malaysian
(right), performances featuring Peter Paterson, Latche Latche Dance Man, Emma Straps, Tony Yap © Jill
Orr. Photograph by Naomi Herzog and Malcolm Cross
References
Kirby, S. 1992, Sightlines: Women’s Art and Feminist Perspectives in Australia, Craftsman House,
Sydney.
Vivian, H. 2002, Ash Catalogue, Mass Gallery, Melbourne.
Web resources
www.jillorr.com.au
Weblink

10
VALUE IN ART: INSTALLATIONS
Issues
How are artworks valued by society?
What value does the art market place on the artwork?
How does the value an artist places on a work differ to that of the viewer or the art
dealer?
What rights do artists have in using animals in their artworks?
How does the presentation of ideas in an installation work involve the viewer and thus
heighten their sense of interpretation of the artwork?
How does an artist gather together a random collection of objects and deem it an
‘installation’?
‘Hirst’s works are brutally honest and confrontational; he draws attention to the paranoiac denial of
death that permeates our culture.’
Virginia Button
Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst’s wide-ranging practice,
which moves between painting, sculpture
and installations, aims to challenge the
boundaries between art, life and science.
In 1991, art collector Charles Saatchi put
together a collection of artwork by young
British artists, including Hirst. Hirst had come
to the attention of Saatchi when he presented
In and Out of Love, an installation where he
filled a gallery with hundreds of live tropical
butterflies, of which some were spawned
from monochromatic canvases on the walls.
Saatchi paid Hirst approximately $75 000 to
create his work The Physical Impossibility
of Death in the Mind of Someone Living in which Hirst suspended a vitrine: Figure 10.10
tiger shark in a glass vitrine filled with formaldehyde. Hirst paid an glass cabinet or Damien Hirst, The Physical
Australian fisherman approximately $10 000 to kill the shark. showcase Impossibility of Death in the
Mind of Something Living,
This work, like many of Hirst’s, involves the viewer contemplating
1991, tiger shark, glass, steel,
the processes of life and death, and the ironies, falsehoods and formaldehyde solution, 21 x
desires that we negotiate through to end up with our own mortality 518cm, Metropolitan Museum of
and alienation. In The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Art, New York, © Damien Hirst/
DACS, Licensed by VISCOPY 2009
Someone Living, Hirst plays on the idea that sharks need to move
ahead in the water constantly or they die. The irony in the work is that

despite the shark being a killer it has been killed itself and preserved in formaldehyde. It has
beaten death to become immortalised.
Hirst has gone on to create other works using animals in vitrines. He believes that the
geometry of the glass of the vitrine provides a barrier for the viewer, yet seduces them at
the same time. The geometry of the glass case also acts as a frame, thus creating an ‘art
object’ or ‘museum piece’ to be viewed.
Hirst circumnavigated the primary pitfall of much British art – its guilt-ridden
distrust of the visual – with superbly finessed aesthetic objects.’
Martin Maloney, artist
Refer to pages
110–11 for a Through his imagery, Hirst is making a comment on the values viewers were placing on
discussion of artworks in Britain in the 1990s. Hirst felt that the art world had become so obsessed with
Hirst’s Mother
making artworks that were obtuse in their meaning that the public did not understand what art
and Child
Divided was about. Therefore, he used animals in his art to make a statement about the hierarchy that
had been established by critics and gallery owners. It was a form of ‘Anti-Art’ that provoked
much controversy surrounding what art should be and what artists should be expressing.
• What is Hirst stating about art in his work? What symbolism does he use? Research what
was happening in the British art industry at that time. Investigate the Saatchi website
Weblink
(www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk) to view some of the artists that Saatchi represents.
Discuss these artworks in relation to the question ‘What is art?’
ACTIVITY 10.13
1 Compare the works of Damien Hirst with Marcel Duchamp. What are the
similarities in the works of both artists? How do they create symbolism
using common objects or animals?
2 Analyse The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone
&ORMAL Living using the Formal Framework including the use of techniques, the
style of the work and the use of design elements and principles.
• Hirst has presented a range of decaying or preserved animals in his works. As the animals
are purchased for the artwork this has created controversy with animal rights groups. Discuss
whether Hirst should be killing animals for his artwork. Discuss this issue and compare it with
Nathalia Edenmont’s works.
• Hirst uses installations to express his ideas. Discuss Hirst’s works and the presentation of animals
in formaldehyde. Does this increase the meaning for the viewer?
ACTIVITY 10.14
View other works by Damien Hirst. What is Hirst expressing about death
and immortality in his works? What symbolism does he use? Compare the
practices of Hirst with other contemporary installation artists. How do their
artworks differ in their use of materials?

10
Figure 10.11
Nathalia Edenmont,
Bride Red, 2003,
C-print mounted on
Perspex, 150 x 150cm
© Nathalia Edenmont/
Wetterling Gallery
The photographic works of Nathalia Edenmont have often met with controversy.
Edenmont photographs animals, such as rabbits and mice, in delicate lace collars posed
in glass vases. It is not determined whether the animals are dead or alive. This is the issue
that Edenmont wishes the viewer to contemplate in her work. Her presentation of the
animals and the artistic processes transgresses and challenges social viewpoints.
The art market

Hirst’s work continues to be marred with controversy. The work was put in the Sensation
exhibition of young British artists that was due to tour Australia. The exhibition was
subsequently cancelled because of the content of many of the artworks in the show. The
Sensation exhibition did tour in New York.
‘When Mayor Giuliani tried to ban the Sensation Show in New York, Damien
was reported to have said that if “New York wasn’t such an important market
he’d refuse to show there ever again”.’ This declaration is very revealing and
confirms that Damien’s work is not about integrity but markets, which is in
stark opposition to art, the heart and soul of which is integrity.’
Billy Childish, British artist
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living – better
known as the stuffed shark – for mockery. The string of brush marks in the lace
collar in a Velasquez painting could be more radical. I don’t think there is any
doubt that the present commercialisation of the art, at its top end, is a cultural
obscenity.’
Robert Hughes

• What are these commentaries saying about the art market valuing Hirst’s
work?
• What are the commentaries stating about artistic freedom?
• Who has the authority to establish the value of artworks? The artist? The art
dealer? Or the art critic? Use examples of Hirst’s work to illustrate your point
of view.
• Censorship – discuss the banning of the Sensation exhibition as an issue of
censorship. Should the exhibition have been banned from the National Gallery
of Australia? The issue of censorship is explored in greater detail in the next
section of this chapter.
Saatchi invested a lot of money in the work of Damien Hirst. The artist became so
successful that he went on to be represented by galleries in New York and London and his
work sold for millions. Saatchi was often questioned as to why he invested so much money
in Damien Hirst and gave him subsequent artistic freedom.
In 2008, after many years of financial success with galleries, Hirst decided to sell 223
of his works directly through Sotheby’s Auction House in New York. This action was seen
as Hirst taking a risk with flooding the market with many of his works and thus decreasing
their value. This action by Hirst was demonstrating how influential an artist can be in the
sale and value of their work. He was also making a statement about the value of art in the
art market.
‘When I got into the art world, I consciously wanted to change it. I found it
really annoying because it seemed like a kind of club where people would sell
cheaply to investors and they’d make the money. Collectors would take the
art off the artists and, because they came in early and they gave the artists a
little bit of money, later, when the artwork got resold, it would be the collector
who made the big money in the secondary market. I always thought that was
wrong. I’m the artist, the primary market. And I want the money to be in the
primary market.’
Damien Hirst
• What is Hirst stating about the art market in his commentary? How does his
individual sale of artworks in 2008 support his statements?
• How do Hirst’s artworks express the ideas in the commentary above? Refer
to the subject matter of the works and the materials used.
ACTIVITY 10.15
1 What is a work such as The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of
Someone Living stating about the value of art?
2 Investigate what some of Hirst’s other works, such as For the Love of
God, express about the value of art. Analyse the materials and subject
matter of the work to support your point of view.

10
Figure 10.12
Damien Hirst, For the
Love of God 2007,
diamond, platinum,
human teeth,
White Cube Gallery,
London,© Damien
Hirst/DACS, Licensed
by VISCOPY 2009
References
‘Sensation’ 1997, Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Catalogue Royal
Academy of the Arts, London.
Hirst, D. 2001, Damien Hirst: Pictures from the Saatchi Collection, Saatchi Gallery, London.
Web resources
Search for Hirst at www.whitecube.com
www.gagosian.com/artists/damien-hirst
Weblinks

CENSORSHIP IN ART
Issues
‘Books won’t stay banned. They won’t burn. Ideas won’t go to jail. In the long run of history, the
censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.’
Alfred Whitney Griswold
Why are certain artworks censored?

What is deemed ‘moral’ or correct by contemporary society?
Who has the authority to censor artworks?
Is censorship only limited to artworks that are on public display or does it extend to
those in galleries?
What role does the media play in the issue of censorship?
Different cultures have censored artwork throughout history. Artworks are often censored
due to the subject matter or content of the artwork. Some are censored because of the
materials the artist has used. The values that society places on art can vary from culture
to culture and at different periods of time. Therefore, something that one culture deems
acceptable may not be acceptable to another. Artworks have been censored due to
public outrage, which has often been fueled by the media. Artworks are often censored
by governing bodies in galleries or governments, as the ideas expressed in the artwork
may be against the viewpoint of the controlling body. An example is that of the removal of
photographs of, and the closure of an exhibition by, the Australian photographer Bill Henson
in 2008.
The Henson case

Refer to pages 116–17 for
‘Bill Henson’s work dwells on what is difficult and mysterious in the drama
a discussion of Henson’s of each individual’s experience. We know nothing of those he photographs:
Untitled #8, 2007–8 indeed; their anonymity is an important aspect of his work.’
Isobel Crombie, Senior Curator of Photography, National Gallery of Victoria
Bill Henson is a well-respected photographer both nationally and internationally.

His work spans over 20 years and he has had several retrospectives at major galleries
throughout Australia including the National Gallery of Victoria and the Museum of
Contemporary Art in Sydney. Henson has always displayed an unconventional approach to
his art. His photographs exist in the twilight region, between real and imagined landscapes,
evoking an emotive response from the viewer. Barren landscapes, isolation and dislocation
have been common themes throughout the development of his work.
In May 2008, an exhibition of Henson’s work at the commercial Roslyn Oxley Gallery in

10
Sydney, displaying a range of female nudes, was closed by the New South Wales police and Figure 10.13
Bill Henson, Untitled
several images were seized on the grounds of ‘pornography’. This closure of the exhibition No. 39, 2007–08, C-
led to a public debate that raged nationally for many weeks. Subsequently directors and type photograph, 127
curators removed many of Henson’s works from public exhibition in galleries. x 180cm, Courtesy of
The central focus of the debate was on the image of a young pubescent girl, with the artist and Roslyn
Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
her eyes downcast, her face in darkness with budding breasts of puberty and her hands
casually covering her naked crotch. The image had been chosen by Henson as the main
image on the invitation for the exhibition opening. It was this image which caught the eye
of a talkback radio announcer who sparked the whole controversy. This controversy centred
around whether Henson’s photography was art or pornography.
‘I don’t think I’ve seen anything more disgusting. How people think this
somehow comes under the category of art defies logic. It is disgraceful. It is
disgusting. It is pornographic. It is woeful.’
Chris Smith, radio journalist
‘Art can be defined as having certain characteristics and qualities. Art, to

use Keats’ words, tells us that: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty”, it is said that
beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but most viewers, I think, would agree that
images of naked, under-age girls, silhouetted and standing provocatively are
unacceptable.’

ACTIVITY 10.16
Discuss the symbolism of ‘beauty’ in Henson’s works. Analyse Henson’s use
of aesthetic qualities, techniques and subject matter to express the concept
of beauty.
• Discuss the two commentaries above with reference to Henson’s images. In
your discussion, view a range of Henson’s works from different series and
periods of time. This will give you an understanding of the range of images
in his work.
• What right do journalists have to pass evaluative judgements on art? What
controversies would comments such as these provoke?
Kevin Donnelly, journalist

The initial case opened to other issues of a broader nature including the consent of
children to be used in artworks and the sexual exploitation of young teenagers in artworks.
Henson has traditionally used young adolescents in his images. In an untitled series
of works in the 1980s, Henson photographed teenage models in decaying wastelands
and epic landscapes. The images were high art compositions that were reminiscent of
the Old Masters. In 1992–93, another untitled series featured young people in Arcadian
forest settings. These works were on a large scale and were collaged together using torn
photographs. In 2000, Henson continued the inherent tension and discord in his works by
photographing another series of young models in an ‘elusive no man’s land’ of dumped cars
and lit fires. Henson explains his representation of adolescents, stating:
‘The reason I use adolescents is because to me, they symbolise that
transitional no man’s land. They’re still unformed, one foot in childhood,
one foot in the adult world, a floating time of exciting, confusing, vulnerable
uncertainty.’
Bill Henson
‘Like all great art they’re profoundly mysterious, almost Shakespearean, in the
way they touch on the range and depth of human emotions.’
Gerard Vaughan, NGV Director
Henson’s choice of subject is connected with his fascination with the ‘twilight zone’. The
subjects are no longer children, they are approaching adulthood, but not yet an adult and
they are caught in an intensely private transition. The subjects are detached from the viewer,
their gaze remains averted or they stare blankly, oblivious to their own personal drama. This
lack of emotional engagement, offers a deep level of empathy, a sense of familiarity and
knowing. Henson’s images exhibit young people, face on to the camera, often in a devastated
landscape. However, his use of lighting encourages the viewer to see hope. The romantic
composition of the images leads to a link with the compositions of great artists.
Henson uses formal elements to create psychological tension in his work. He has
studied the great artists for their use of composition and light. Henson manipulates his
compositions to give an abstract character to the picture. The ‘warm tones’ come forward
and the ‘cool tones’ recede.

10
‘It’s as though the pictures make themselves’, says Henson. He believes that the
relationship of viewers to the model leads to their own interpretation of the image.
‘Each person experiences a different journey when viewing an artwork. It
takes the viewer to a different place’
Bill Henson
• Discuss Henson’s portrayal of young adolescents in his works. What ideas do
the images convey about adolescence?
• Nudity in art – what defines an artistic nude? Why is the exhibition of
teenage nudes as art an issue? Investigate Henson’s presentation of nudes
from a range of his images.
• Gender – what ideas about gender do Henson’s images convey? Refer
to a range of Henson’s images that demonstrate both male and female
adolescents. What do the images express about relationships?
ACTIVITY 10.17
1 Analyse the formal elements, techniques and style of two images by Bill
Henson. Use your interpretation to support your points of view in the
discussions above.
2 Compare images by Henson to works of the Romantic artists such as
Turner, Delacroix and David. What are the similarities between the
images, their style and the formal elements used by the artists?
In Untitled No. 20, 2000–2003 the figure of the girl floats above a distant landscape. She is
in another world, oblivious to the viewer watching her in her dreamlike state.
Henson aims to have a spontaneous approach when creating his images. He leaves it
up to the viewer to draw on their own experiences to interpret what messages the image is
conveying. The lack of emotional engagement of his subjects offers a deep level of intimacy.
The viewer does not make a connection with the subject, but obtains a profound level of
empathy; a sense of familiarity and knowing. Henson has created many settings where his
subjects appear detached from the viewer.
Henson’s works appeal to any viewer psychologically. The composition and lighting
of the images appeal to the aesthetic sentiments of the viewer and once they attempt to
interpret the images, they begin to understand the meaning and messages Henson is trying
to convey. Although the subjects are detached, this is not the overall interpretation that
Henson is aiming for – he is looking for the drama in which the works attempt to interact
with the viewer. The large scale of the images draws the viewer into the work. The viewer
becomes conscious they are watching a scene but they are unable to participate.
ACTIVITY 10.18
Visit http://roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/18/bill_henson and analyse
Henson’s images using the Personal Framework. In the artwork, what
symbolism has a psychological impact on the viewer? How can you relate
to these images? What appeals to you about them? How does the viewer’s Weblink
personal background influence their interpretation of the work? Consider the
techniques and the formal elements and principles that Henson uses.

Figure 10.14 In Untitled No. 10 (2002–03), the subject looks out at the viewer with an expression of
Bill Henson, Untitled
nonchalance on her face. The pose of the sitter dominates the landscape and confronts the
No. 20, 2000–03
C-type photograph, viewer with its large scale and size. This image can be found at http://roslynoxley9.
127 x 180cm. com.au/artists/18/bill_henson.
Courtesy of the artist As the debate over the images continued to rage, it widened to discuss the appropriate
and Roslyn Oxley9 use of imagery on the internet. As the initial invitation had appeared via email, many saw
Gallery, Sydney
that by taking the images out of the more private space of the gallery and putting them into
the ‘public’ domain on the internet it made them more accessible to those who would not
interpret the image as artworks. Below are several quotes here about the works, including
commentaries on the exploitation of children, drawing comparisons between this imagery
and Henson’s images.
‘Presenting young girls in such a vulnerable and voyeuristic way is especially
Weblink
wrong given the way children’s sexuality is being commodified and exploited in
advertising, marketing and popular culture.’
‘Henson’s work is art, and as such, it falls into a different category to the ads for
kids’ clothes and the tween magazines that have been the central focus of this
debate. But these distinctions are irrelevant to people who believe that visual
representations of children and adolescents are the real source of child abuse.’
Catharine Lumby, Journalist

10
Commentaries regarding the viewing of images in other contexts and the viewing of
images in a gallery:
‘Normal rules do not apply and admiring a young naked girl when it is in an
art gallery, as opposed to men’s magazine or adult internet site, is acceptable.’
‘Take the photographs that were to be exhibited last week at the Sydney
gallery and put them on the internet or somebody’s laptop and those
responsible would be charged with child pornography.’
Kevin Donnelly, The Age
The issue surrounding Henson’s work circulated for several months with many public
debates in galleries, on television programs and in the written press. The author David Marr
even wrote a book on the issue. One of the final outcomes was that the Australia Council, the
Arts organisation responsible for giving grants for the arts issued a series of protocols that
were a condition of funding for projects they supported. These included four critical issues:
‘The rights of children to be protected throughout the artistic process, ensuring

that viewers of the work had an appropriate understanding of the nature and
artistic content of the material, protecting the images from being exploited and
acknowledgement of the Australia Council’s role in upholding and promoting
the right of people to freedom in the practice of the Arts.’
The Australia Council
‘How can you ensure that everyone viewing an artwork has an appropriate
understanding of it and how, in the digital age, can you guarantee that images
of children are not exploited or moved beyond their original context?’
Gabriella Coslovich and Geoff Strong in The Age
‘After all, if art is whatever you wish it to be then it is impossible to draw the
line between what is and what is not’.
Kevin Donelly
• What role does the internet play in the exhibition of images? What is
appropriate to be placed on the internet and what should be censored?
• What is the importance of a gallery in the display of images? What role
should the gallery take in an exhibition such as this?
• What is the difference between the use of young adolescents in advertising
images and the use of the young adolescents in Henson’s images? Find some
examples of persuasive advertising and compare the use of the imagery with
Henson’s images.
• Consider the protocols that the Australia Council has introduced for the
funding of their projects. Are these protocols appropriate for the production
of artworks or are they limiting creativity and artistic expression. Use some
examples of artworks to support your points of view.

References
Marr, D. 2008, The Henson Case, Text Publishing, Melbourne.
Web resources
www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/18/Bill_Henson/
www.billhenson.net.au
www.tolarnogalleries.com/bill-henson
Weblinks
www.theage.com.au/news/national/the-controversial-
career-of-bill-henson/2008/05/24/1211183189567.html
www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/artblog/2008/may/27/
thesephotographsarentsexual
STREET ART
Issues
What is the difference between graffiti and street art?
Why should street art be valued as an artform?
Should outdoor galleries be created for street art?
Censorship – are there some street art images that should be banned? Why should
they be banned?
What forms of appropriation are used in street art?
What are the differences between street art and planned public artworks?
Street art has always belonged to public spaces. The artwork is created to be viewed by
the public. Street art has developed from graffiti and has become a valid artform, as the
imagery that is used is often sophisticated and demonstrates technical skill in its execution.
Street artists aim to reach a wider public audience and their work often conveys messages
that are political and cite a form of activism and subversion. Street artists often use imagery
from popular culture to convey their messages.
Street art comes in several forms. The most common is stencil art, where a design is cut
from cardboard or plastic as a template and the image is transferred onto the wall surface
using spray paint. Sticker art is imagery displayed using stickers; this type of art sometimes
has a political agenda. Paste-ups, or artwork in poster form, are applied to the wall using
the type of paste used for wall-papering. All these forms of street art have the ability to be
reproduced repeatedly so they can appear in numerous areas around the city. Another form
of Street art is known as woodblock graffiti, where the image painted onto wood and then
attached to street signs with bolts.

10
Figure 10.15
Examples of street art
found in Melbourne
Street art is often created illegally and is seen by some as a form of vandalism.
However, most street artists have used the public domain to get their message across to
as wide an audience as possible. Street artists are often rejecting the traditional gallery
space to exhibit their art and they are often making a statement about the hierarchy of the
selection of art for gallery exhibitions.

Keith Haring
‘The thing I responded to most was Christo’s belief that art could reach all kinds of people, as
opposed to the traditional view, which has art as this elitist thing.’
Keith Haring
Perhaps the most well known and first formalised acceptance of street art was the work
of Keith Haring (1958–1990). Haring was an art student in New York City when he became
inspired by the public artworks of Christo and Andy Warhol. He began to chalk drawings in
rhythmic lines on the empty black advertising boards on the subway. He would produce up
to 40 drawings a day and often people would stop and discuss the work with him. As he
rose to fame, Haring became known for creating public works. These often held a strong
social message and Haring was committed to many children’s charities and orphanages.
He aimed to allow his art to reach as wide an audience as possible. Haring was diagnosed
with AIDS in 1986 and he spent the last years of his life dedicating his work to raise public
awareness of the illness.
Figure 10.16
Keith Haring drawing on a subway
platform in New York city, 1983

10
‘I was learning, watching people’s reactions and interactions with the
drawings and with me and looking at it as a phenomenon. Having this
incredible feedback from people, which is one of the main things that kept me
going so long, was the participation of the people that were watching me and
the kinds of comments and questions and observations that were coming from
every range of person you could imagine.’
Keith Haring
Haring visited Melbourne in 1984 and was offered the wall at the Collingwood Technical Figure 10.17
Keith Haring, Mural
College to create a project with the art students from the college. The wall features a millipede
at Collingwood
with a head in the form of a computer. Underneath it are repetitions of people jumping, Technical College,
dancing and performing acrobatics. At the time it was created, the mural sparked controversy 1984 © Keith
over its use of imagery that was viewed as a misappropriation of Aboriginal symbols. The Haring Foundation.
debate continues over the preservation of the mural. The mural has now faded and is Photograph by Kylie
Gussett
peeling. However, it has been placed on the Arts Victoria register for preservation. Haring,
who understood the transitory nature of his work, never intended his chalk drawings on the
subway to last. He once said ‘I like the idea of things lasting longer than you last,
being somewhere lots of people can see them. Sometimes they’re temporary,
sometimes they last forever’.

However, art consultant John Buckley who managed the project said the following:
‘I asked Keith a few times, in later years, what he wanted to do with it
and he said, ‘Get some sign writers in, freshen it up’. There was absolutely no
preciousness to it; that would have been counter to the spirit of everything.’
• Discuss the value of Haring’s work as an artform. Compare his earlier
subway works with his later commissioned public projects and commercial
sale of T-shirts, mugs and paintings.
• Haring intended his work to reach as wide an audience as possible.
However, by working in subways he was, in fact, working illegally. Compare
some of Haring’s later public projects which were commissioned with his
earlier work.
• Discuss how Haring’s art appealed to a wide range of people. Why do you
think people related to the symbolism of his imagery?
• How is Haring’s work different from the street art that we view today?
Discuss his use of techniques and the manner in which he approached his art
production.
• Censorship – do you think Haring’s work is appropriate for certain venues? Is
his imagery appropriate? Discuss the symbolism of examples of his work.
• Ownership and collaboration – if Haring uses others to create his public
works, who owns the artwork? If the work is in a public space, is it Haring or
the owners of the building who own it?
ACTIVITY 10.19
1 What imagery has Haring appropriated? Discuss Haring’s use of imagery
and his techniques as a form of appropriation using specific examples of
his work.
2 Preservation – discuss Haring’s work and the temporary nature of it.
Should the works be preserved and how should this process occur? Look
at a range of Haring’s public works from various periods of time in your
discussion.
3 Compare Haring’s public projects with the work of Christo and Jean
Claude. What are the similarities between the two artists’ works? Discuss
their use of the environment and the public statement they are making
about their works. Refer to Christo’s material on the Student CD-ROM.
References
Kolossa, A. 2004, Keith Haring: A life 1958–1990, Taschen, Cologne.
Web resources
www.haring.com
www.theage.com.au/news/film/bfilmb-
artist-keith-harings-legacy-fades-but-is-not-
Weblinks
forgotten/2008/06/11/1212863732691.html

10
Banksy
‘Despite what they say, graffiti is not the lowest form of art … there is no elitism or hype, it
exhibits the best walls a town has to offer and nobody is put off by the price of admission.’
Banksy
ACTIVITY 10.20 Figure 10.18

Banksy, Rat
Compare some of Banksy’s works using animals with the work of Damien
Photographer, c. 2006
Hirst. What are the similarities in the messages both artists are expressing?
Banksy (born 1974) is one of the most well-known contemporary street artists. He is best
known for his stencil work and his placement of graffiti slogans in public places. Banksy’s
works use symbolism that comment on the political and social aspects of our society.
Banksy’s identity is anonymous – adding to the mystery and power of his work. He often
uses the classic yellow smiley face as his personal symbol. Banksy has a keen interest in
animal welfare and animal rights – his images often use animals such as monkeys or rats;
the monkey seen as being ‘stupid’ and the rat as ‘dirty’. These animals are linked with the
sense of humour that Banksy conveys in his work. Banksy has also painted slogans in the
zoo pens at Bristol and London Zoos, speaking out against the abuse of animals.

Figure 10.19
Banksy, Flower
Chucker, c. 2006
Much of Banksy’s work involves the concept of anarchy and the rise of revolutionary
forces against the dominant power. Other stencil works have included images that are
against the police force in London and dictators of countries such as Romania. For example,
in August 2005, Banksy created a series of stencils on the West Bank barrier between
Israel and Gaza, as a political statement. Banksy’s works also comment on the abolishment
of graffiti as an artform by many councils and governments. His artworks can often be
whimsical and show children playing with balloons or his famous image of a rebel throwing
a bunch of flowers entitled ‘Flower Chucker’. This artwork makes a statement about the
nature of rebels and what their intentions can be. Banksy has used the famous image of a
masked rebel throwing a bunch of flowers instead of a hand grenade.
‘They exist without permission.They are haunted, hunted and persecuted.
They live in quiet desperation amongst the filthy. And yet they are capable of
bringing entire civilisations to their knees.’
Banksy

10
‘We are concerned that Banksy’s street art glorifies what is essentially
vandalism.’
Dianne Shakespeare, Keep Britain Tidy
• Ownership – if Banksy’s identity is not known, how is it he can prove his
works are his? How does this cover the issue of artist’s moral rights and
copyright? Weblink
• Banksy’s works have been sold by auctioneers on site and the image
has been removed by the owner. If Banksy’s works are created as public
artworks, what would Banksy say about the sale of his work into a private
collection?
• Appropriation – view some of Banksy’s drawings on his website www.
banksy.org.uk. How has he appropriated the images of some famous
artworks or images? What has Banksy done to the image to re-create it in his
own style? What meaning is he conveying with the artwork?
• Censorship – Banksy’s stencils are often removed because of their
controversial nature. What does this say about censorship in art?
• The art market – should Banksy’s work be sold and valued as art? Discuss
the sale of his work by auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
In recent years, Banksy has been also questioning the notion of the value of art by
subverting artworks in famous art galleries such as The Louvre in Paris and the Museum of
Modern Art in New York. In all cases, Banksy has crept into the gallery during public hours
and installed the work, which can be seen on Banksy’s website. In the Tate gallery, he hung
an artwork with this label: ‘Crimewatch UK has ruined the countryside for all of us 2003, oil
on canvas’.
This new acquisition is a beautiful example of the neo post-idiotic style. The
Artist has found an unsigned oil painting in a London street market and then
stencilled Police incident tape over the top. It can be argued that defacing such
an idyllic scene reflects the way our nation has been vandalized by its obsession
with crime and paedophilia, where any visit to a secluded beauty spot now feels
like it may result in being molested or finding discarded body parts.
Presented by the artist personally, 2003
The fact that Banksy was able to install the work without anyone noticing is incredible
in itself. He is not only making a statement about the nature of ‘High Art’ but also about
security in galleries.
• Visit news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3201344.stm and discuss
what Banksy is stating about the values placed by galleries and curators on
artworks using some examples of Banksy’s ‘subversive artworks’. Weblink
• How has Banksy appropriated the imagery in these works and for what
purposes? Use examples of the images to support your point of view.
• How has Banksy linked social issues such as crime and vandalism with art?
Explore several of Banksy’s images in galleries and the messages the artist is
attempting to convey.

Melbourne has also had its own Banksy controversy. A 1-metre high image of a figure
with a diving bell helmet and wearing a grey duffel coat was stenciled on a wall off Flinders
Lane in 2003. It was believed to be the work of Banksy, who stenciled the image when
he was in the city on a visit. When the value of Banksy’s work began to increase, the City
of Melbourne decided that the image needed to be preserved. There was controversy
surrounding this action, as it is known that street artists do not necessarily create their
works to last but to deteriorate over time.
Figure 10.20
‘It’s strange because graffiti isn’t meant to last, it’s ephemeral, so trying to
Banksy, The Little
Diver, after being save it is a pretty funny thing to do. I’m sure that irony’s not lost on Banksy.
painted over, c. 2008 And there’s a fair bit of irony in somebody selling a wall.’
Nicholas Building, Andrew McDonald, Street Art Site Manager
Melbourne
The council covered the work with a

Perspex screen. However, in December 2008,
grey paint was poured over the image and
the tag ‘Banksy woz ere’ was tagged on the
Perspex.
‘Rumours say that the destruction of

The Little Diver is an act of retaliation
from a New Orleans figure touted by
locals as the ‘Grey Ghost’. He was
mocked by Banksy in some artworks
earlier this year during a visit to the
city.’
www.pedestrian.tv
After Cyclone Katrina devastated New

Orleans in 2007, there was much criticism
of the way the Bush government supported
the cyclone victims. Banksy was one artist
who traveled to New Orleans and used his
stencil art to make a comment on the issue.
As a result, many of his stencils were painted
over by an official known as ‘the Grey Ghost’.
Banksy has an image of this person in one of
his own stencils, mocking the Grey Ghost and
his actions. In street art culture, the use of
grey or silver paint is symbolic of blood.

10
Figure 10.21
Banksy, The Little
Diver, c. 2003
Nicholas Building,
Melbourne

ACTIVITY 10.21
View the Banksy website
and the Keith Haring
website. Compare the
work of the two artists
including their work
as street art and the
commercial value of
their work. What are the
similarities?
Figure 10.22
Banksy, Grey Ghost,
c. 2008
• Should Banksy’s work have been preserved as an artwork? Discuss the commentary by Andy Mac
concerning this issue. Investigate other forms of street art, their value and whether they should be
preserved.
• Discuss the actions of the ‘unknown vandal’ who has ‘vandalised’ a street artwork. What does this
action say about street art? Is it linked with the attempts by the council to preserve the artwork
because of its value or because of Banksy’s actions in New Orleans?
References
Banksy, 2006, Wall & Piece, Century Publishing, London.
Web resources
www.banksy.co.uk
www.theage.com.au/national/the-painter-painted-
melbourne-loses-its- treasured-banksy-20081213-6xzy.html
Weblinks
www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/01/15/1200159449775.
html
This website has images, issues and videos on Banksy: www.bbc.
co.uk:80/london/content/image_galleries/banksy_gallery.
shtml?
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3201344.stm
An exploration of the works of the following Australian street

artists can be found on the Student CD-ROM:
• Rone
• Reagan ‘Ha Ha’ Taganui
Student CD-ROM • Ghost Patrol and Miso

[11]
Chapter overview
This chapter will prepare you to do the following for an
example task for assessment of coursework:
ASSESSMENT
• select an art issue to debate and discuss
• demonstrate how to use a range of resources,
including commentaries, to examine, debate and
evaluate different interpretations of an art issue
• demonstrate how to discuss, debate and compare
FOR UNIT 4
two or more viewpoints regarding issues about art
using the Analytical Frameworks Unit 4 – Outcome 1
• demonstrate how to express a personal point of
view regarding issues about art and support it with
evidence and reference to the opinions of others
• demonstrate how to refer to a range of artworks and
commentaries to support your point of view
• demonstrate how to use appropriate art language
and vocabulary in your assessment task
• demonstrate how to use selected Analytical
Frameworks in your analysis and interpretation of
artworks.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is designed to show you how to prepare yourself for the
assessment of coursework for Unit 4, Outcome 1 of the VCE Art Study
Design. The previous chapter introduced you to a range of art issues
and the different interpretations of the role of art in society. You explored
resources and commentaries about a range of artists and art issues.
You also investigated how artworks were used as examples in these
various art issues and how the artworks could be interpreted using the
Analytical Frameworks; Formal, Personal, Cultural and Contemporary. In
this chapter, you will be shown how to use the Analytical Frameworks to
structure your analysis of art issues and what aspects you need to cover
to complete the assessment of coursework for Unit 4.
Refer to Chapters 4 and Chapter 7 for information on

Assessment for Units 1 and 2.
219
Refer to Chapter 10 for
information on artists
CONTENT OF THE ASSESSMENT OF
that you could use for
your assessment task for
COURSEWORK
Unit 4. As outlined in the previous chapter, there are certain parameters set by the Victorian
Curriculum and Assessment Authority regarding the artworks and artists that you must
study for the Unit 4, Outcome 1 assessment of coursework. These have been set so that you
provide an in-depth analysis and interpretation of your selected issue, artists and artworks.
Throughout Unit 4, you must undertake the study of:
• a minimum of one selected art issue
• at least one artist not studied in Unit 3 and a minimum of two artworks by that artist
• a range of diverse viewpoints as seen in commentaries relating to artworks and
issues. This means that you will need more than one point of view about your
selected issue and artworks.
ASSESSMENT TASKS
The recommended assessment tasks for Unit 4 coursework are listed in the VCE Art Study
Design and are the same as those recommended for Unit 3. These tasks are also listed
in earlier assessment chapters in this book. When you consider which assessment tasks
to do to complete the course, you may want to consider which ones will best prepare you
to answer the questions on the examination paper at the end of the year. The questions
in the assessment task may be similar to those on the examination paper, so it is a good
idea to look at past examination papers to help prepare you for the exam. Here is a list of
You can find information the recommended assessment tasks and how you can complete them using the content,
on the Analytical knowledge and skills you have learnt in Unit 4.
Frameworks, art A written report
language and
commentaries in
You may present a report on a relevant art issue, describing what the issue is and then
Chapter 1. providing examples of artworks that are relevant to the issue. You could then include various
points of view about the art issue and the artworks and provide your own viewpoint. Using
the examples of artworks, you can provide an analysis and interpretation of two artworks
using the Analytical Frameworks. Two of the artworks must be by the one artist.
An extended response
You may be provided with a commentary or question about a particular art issue and you
are required to respond to the question using examples of artworks and your own personal
point of view. You will need to analyse the artworks using the Analytical Frameworks.
Short responses
You may be provided with a series of artworks and an art issue with questions directly
relating to the content of the artworks and the art issue. You may also be given some
commentaries regarding the art issue and you may be required to respond to questions
about them. You will also have to provide your personal point of view.
Structured questions
These questions will relate directly to the set criteria provided by VCAA. The questions may
ask you to analyse and interpret some given artworks, commentaries on an art issue and
provide your own personal point of view. Usually the art issue, commentaries and artworks
are given to you.

11
Annotated visual report
You need to provide examples of two artworks relating to a specific art issue. Using the artworks,
you will analyse and interpret them in relation to the art issue and the Analytical Frameworks. You
may refer to all aspects of the Formal, Personal, Cultural and Contemporary frameworks. You will
also have to demonstrate how examples of or from the artworks relate to the art issue.
You will also provide your personal point of view using examples from the artworks.
A multimedia presentation
Using a program such as PowerPoint, Photo Story, or Movie Maker you will create a presentation
on an art issue. You will provide information about the art issue and use a series of visual
examples and artworks in your presentation. You need to analyse and interpret the artworks using
the Analytical Frameworks and provide visual examples.
Commentaries and your personal point of view about the art issue could be provided as
overlaid text, hyperlinks or voiceovers. This presentation could be conducted as a series of
interviews about an issue and these could be recorded.
TIPS FOR COMPLETING ASSESSMENT TASKS

Here are some tips to help you prepare for any of the assessment tasks listed.
1 Select your art issue. Look through the list of issues in the last chapter and find examples
of artworks that illustrate it. Remember you will need two examples of artworks from at
least one artist that relate to the art issue.
2 Find a list of commentaries about the art issue. The commentaries could include any
statements about the subject of the artworks, the techniques and materials that the artist
uses, references to symbols or metaphors that the artist has expressed in their work or
information about the ideas that the artist is expressing. Remember to write down who said
the commentary, what their role or job description is, where you found the commentary
and when it was stated.
Analyse what the commentary is stating and write some points down about it that will
help you.
3 Analyse and interpret your artworks. Using two examples of artworks you have found
analyse the artworks using the Formal Framework. Write a series of headings that you can
put points under relating to design elements and principles, techniques, style and symbols &ORMAL
and metaphors.
Then provide examples of these referring to your artworks. Consider how any of these may
apply to the art issue you have selected, what the artwork is about or why the artist may
have used these to convey their ideas.
4 Use any of the other Analytical Frameworks to interpret your artworks relevant to the
art issue. You should refer to the questions used for the Analytical Framework section
in Chapter 1. Apply the interpretations to the art issue you are exploring. For example:
Banksy’s use of stenciling in his work can be interpreted from a cultural perspective as this
type of technique is often used in street art.
5 Develop your point of view regarding the art issue. Investigate the artworks, the
commentaries and your interpretation of the artworks to support your point of view.
Find some examples from the artworks to support your points, for example, the symbols
and metaphors, the techniques the artist has used, or their use of design elements and
principles. Link your points to those expressed in the commentaries.

RECOMMENDED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: OUTCOME 1
The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority has a series of criteria that they provide for Assessment. These
are drawn from the key knowledge and skills in each Outcome. When you are completing your Assessment of
Coursework task you must cover the following key knowledge and skill areas which are outlined in Outcome 1 of
Unit 4 of the VCE Art Study Design.
Key knowledge • opinions and viewpoints expressed in
• ideas, issues and/or arguments expressed in commentaries on an idea and issue about art
commentaries on art about the meanings and • art language appropriate to discussion and debate
message of artworks. • relevant aspects of each of the Analytical
• a range of relevant resources to support research Frameworks.
Name: ____________________________________

work demonstrates:
Criterion 1
Critical discussion of an art
issue supported by well selected
/5
commentaries
Criterion 2
Application of relevant aspects of the
Analytical Frameworks in the analysis
/5
of at least two artworks
Criterion 3
Comparison of the differing viewpoints
based on the chosen art issue as
/5
expressed in commentaries
Criterion 4
Development and expression of a
personal point of view about the art
issue, supported with evidence and
/5
with reference to the opinions of
others.
Criterion 5
Reference to a range of artworks and
commentaries to support a point of
/5
view
Criterion 6
Use of appropriate art langugage and
vocabulary when referring to artworks
/5
and issues
These criteria have developed from the VCE Art Study Design. Teachers may choose to adjust
them to suit the set task. This criteria sheet is also available on the Student CD-ROM.
Student CD-ROM

11
STUDENT SAMPLE RESPONSE
Task: Street art has developed its own style and is now recognised as
an artform. However, street art is often considered a form of vandalism
and many street artworks are removed by council officials. Discuss
the validity of street art as an artform with references to artists
and artworks. In your response, you must provide your own point
of view, interpret the meanings behind street artworks and refer to
commentaries on the artworks.’
Assessment comment:
Street art has become a popular way for artists to express
For this response, the student their ideas about society through their public display of art.
selected street art as their issue The artists aim for maximum exposure with their works and
and, primarily, the work of the often place the works on walls or in spaces such as freeway
British artist Banksy. The student walls, buildings or lanes where many people pass by. In
has commenced their essay with this sense, they are rejecting the idea of displaying art in a
an introduction stating the issue. traditional gallery space. Street artists work quickly and
Throughout the essay, the student often under the ‘cover of darkness’ to protect their identity
has used a range of commentaries from exposure. Street art is a developed form of graffiti and
that provide differing points of therefore it is often associated with vandalism. Hence, many
view about the validity of Banksy’s councils and the owners of buildings try to have the images
work as an artform, including removed.
commentaries by the artist himself. ‘Despite what they say graffiti is not the lowest form of
art … there is no elitism or hype, it exhibits the best walls
a town has to offer and nobody is put off by the price of
admission.’
Banksy, Wall & Piece
Assessment comment: Banksy is perhaps the most well known street artist.
He is best known for his stencil work , which began in
As the essay progresses the
the city of Bristol, the town where he was born, and has
student clearly states their point
appeared worldwide. Banksy’s images are created using
of view in the support of street art.
stencils, which are sprayed through in layered templates.
The commentary about is defined
Therefore, the images he creates appear quite photographic.
and analysed by the student.
The commentary by Banksy justifies why he stencils on
The student has used a work of
walls as he can exhibit his artwork publicly. He is making a
Banksy’s as an example to support
comment about how often people have to pay to see art and
the commentary. The student has
to see artworks such as his you do not have to pay. A perfect
focused on the artist’s comment
example is the work of nine stencils that Banksy put on the
that there is ‘no elitism or hype’
wall that divides Israel from Gaza. The images were of people
surrounding street art.
climbing over ladders to get to the other side. Banksy was

making a statement about improving relations between the
two countries. If he can come at night and spray the stencils
without anyone knowing, he is therefore also making a comment
on the security that surrounds areas such as this. Banksy’s
works are deliberately provocative to spark comment.
‘They exist without permission. They are hated, hunted and
persecuted. They live in quite desperation among the filthy.
And yet they are capable of bringing entire civilizations to
their knees.’
Banksy
Figure 11.1 Banksy, Rat

Photographer, c. 2006

11
Assessment comment: Banksy is best known for his image of a rat. The rat
symbolises for him that many consider street artists to be as
Throughout the essay, the student
the lowest form of life. Banksy’s rat has appeared in many
has used a wide range of artworks
forms around cities of the world. The rat often has symbols
by Banksy to support their point of
from popular culture with him such as the camera of a press
view (key skills). They have also
photographer, the tools of a road worker or is dressed as a
cited where the commentaries have
burglar or criminal. These symbols represent the idea that the
come from and who stated them.
street artist is part of the culture of life on the streets or is part
The student has also used a range
of the ‘underworld’ of the city. However, to have him displayed
of relevant resources to support
in a large scale on city walls brings some of the issues Banksy is
their research (key knowledge).
trying to communicate to as wide an audience as possible.
His comment ‘bringing civilizations to their knees’ could
refer to the humour Banksy uses in his imagery. Another
famous work of Banksy’s was that of a naked man hanging
out a window by one arm, while his lover and her husband
look out the window, presumably for the man who has
escaped. The artwork was removed by the Hackney council,
the city where the image appeared, because the council felt
the image was insulting, yet a council official referred to it as
‘provocative but humorous’. Banksy is aiming for the viewer
to comment on the work and by using humour and scale, he
draws our attention to it.
However, the director of Keep Britain Tidy, Dianne
Shakespeare, has referred to Banksy’s art: ‘We are concerned
that Banksy’s street art glorifies what is essentially vandalism’.
It is unusual that Shakespeare has referred to Banksy’s work as
street art and vandalism in the one sentence. She sees street art
as a form of vandalism because the artist is defacing property
not because of the content of the imagery.
Figure 11.2
Banksy, The
Lovers, c. 2007

Figure 11.3
Banksy, Rat
Girl, c. 2008
Figure 11.4
Banksy, Grey Ghost,
c. 2008

11
Assessment comment: In 2008, Banksy travelled to New Orleans where
By discussing a wide range of Hurricane Katrina had devastated the area. There was much
examples of Banksy’s work in media controversy over the way in which President Bush
different locations the student is, had given aid to the area. Banksy created a series of stencils
therefore, using a range of resources around the city that commented on what the government
including commentaries to examine, was doing to help the city of New Orleans. One image was
debate and evaluate diverse entitled ‘Rat Girl’ and depicts a young girl standing on a
interpretations of an art issue. stool screaming at the appearance of a small rat. Banksy has
used the exposure of bricks in the wall where the rendering
The student has also used the has fallen off to stencil his famous rat. On a much larger
Analytical Frameworks by citing scale, the girl stands with her hand up to her mouth in horror.
these different examples. Banksy’s The image sprayed in black and white conveys a lot of power
work is cultural due to the as the contrast of tone highlights the expression on the girl’s
comments on various political and face and makes the scene look dramatic. Many of Banksy’s
cultural issues that it provides, it is stencils appear much more dramatic because they have been
personal as Banksy is often using rendered in black and white. Banksy has taken advantage
his personal point of view in his of the texture of the wall and shape to create the rat. The
work and it is contemporary as the tension in the image is also increased by the space between
street art form is a contemporary the rat and the girl and their size. It has been said that the
issue in art. Street art also reflects girl does not look confident or strong and it could be that
contemporary culture and social Banksy is commenting on the suffering of children in the area.
issues. The girl is also dressed like a conservative black American
child who has been conformed by the ruling white class. Her
expression could be symbolic for what many of the people in
the area were feeling.
Some of Banksy’s stencils in New Orleans were removed
by officials because of their anti-government sentiments. As
a result, Banksy created another stencil entitled ‘The Grey
Ghost’ that depicts a man removing stencils. The image he
is removing is a simple stick figure. In this work , Banksy
is referring to graffiti tagging and the simple stick figures
drawn by children. This could relate to a comment made by a
resident in Hackney when another of Banksy’s stencils was
removed from a public wall in the city. ‘We’ve been given a
work of art, it’s a shame the council defaced it’. This member
of the public, like many others, appreciates the subject and
the style of Banksy’s artwork.

Banksy’s creation of this stencil has lead to a connection
Assessment comment: in Australia. In Melbourne, a 1-metre high figure of a diver
The student also uses the Formal was stencilled on the wall of a city laneway. Attributed to
Framework throughout their Banksy, who visited Melbourne in 2003, the image had a
discussion. In the student’s analysis question mark in the diver’s helmet. The symbol of the diver
of the image Rat Girl the student is again referring to the underworld of the city and the street
refers to formal elements such as art community that is active in Melbourne. The question
colour, composition and shape in the mark refers to the fact that the identity of the creator of the
work to discuss symbolism. In the work was unknown. As Banksy’s work became more famous
discussion of the Little Diver, the and was sold the Melbourne City council decided to cover
student refers to the symbolism in the work with Perspex to preserve it. This caused controversy,
the image and the use of grey paint. as many street artists do not aim to have their work preserved
and part of the culture is the temporary nature and gradual
The student, in their analysis, also
disintegration of the image as part of the city fabric. In
uses art language to analyse the
December 2008, the image was damaged by the pouring of
formal aspects of Banksy’s work and
silver paint and the ‘tag’ ‘ Banksy woz ere’ was marked on
clearly describes the images they
it. The relationship of this incident to New Orleans is that it
are referring to.
was seen as retaliation for the damaging of Banksy’s images
by council authorities. It was also making a statement that
vandalism can destroy even street art that is often seen as
vandalism itself.
I do not believe that street art is a form of vandalism.
Assessment comment: If you analyse the works and the symbolism of the imagery
Banksy uses, you can see that he is trying to convey a message
In the conclusion, the student using humour. His use of stencilling is a valid technique as he
expresses their point of view. The focuses on elements such as form, shape, balance and contrast
writer finishes with a commentary in his work to create tension and atmosphere, which relate to
by Banksy to support their point of the ideas that he is trying to express.
view. The commentary also sums up
I agree with Banksy’s statement: ‘They say graffiti
what the student believes are the
frightens people and is symbolic of the decline in society, but
ideas Banksy is expressing in his
graffiti is only dangerous in the mind of three types of people;
artwork.
politicians, advertising executives and graffiti writers.’
The first two groups in this list are the people who
Banksy is rebelling against through his imagery.
Jethro Dundon

11
Figure 11.5
Banksy, The Little Diver,
vandalised images c. 2003
Nicholas Building, Melbourne

[12]
INVESTIGATION,
Chapter overview
INTERPRETATION, By the end of Units 3 and 4, you will have progressively
REALISATION
developed a body of work to explore personal ideas or
concepts. In this chapter, you will explore ways in which
AND you can:

• create a body of work
RESOLUTION • prepare for Unit 3 – Summer holiday homework

• meet the expectations of Units 3 and 4
• be inspired by other artists while developing your
own interpretation
Unit 3 – Area of Study 2 • resolve and refine your ideas
Unit 4 – Area of Study 2 • document your thinking and working practices
• structure and present a folio of work
• present your final artworks.
‘Where the hand goes, the eye follows; where the eye goes the mind follows; where the mind
goes, the heart follows, and thus is born expression.’
Sanskrit proverb
INTRODUCTION
Creating a body of work
body of work: a For Units 3 and 4 you are required to develop a body of work on
collection of visual which you must work progressively throughout the year to explore
and written material
personal ideas or concepts. How you approach the body of work
communicating
thinking and working is up to you, but this is an opportunity to apply the knowledge
practices, which may
include art journals in
addition to exploring
and resolving artworks

12
and skills you developed during Units 1 and 2. You must apply appropriate technical skills conceptual: concerned
to produce at least two finished artworks as you develop a body of work that will be with ideas
completed at the end of Unit 4.
The Study Design states that you should undertake a conceptual and practical conceptual art: art in
which the creative
investigation that explores personal ideas and concepts. thought and the
At first, it may appear prescriptive expecting all students to develop a conceptual folio. concept and the
What if you are not interested in conceptual art and prefer to develop aesthetically pleasing process are considered
works of art, for their beauty and the pleasure they bring to the viewer? It is important to to be more important
than the product
realise that conceptual does not refer to conceptual art, but rather art that is concerned
with concepts or develops from concepts and ideas. Your folio therefore could explore
aesthetic: the perception
the concept of aesthetic beauty or you could look at what makes something aesthetically or nature of beauty
pleasing. Whereas conceptual art may see the concept as being more important than with respect to the
the skill of the artist or what the resolved artwork looks like, a conceptual and practical visual aspects of art
investigation that explores personal ideas and concepts can show evidence of your
aesthetic awareness and developing skill.
In this Area of Study, you are required to develop your own art responses inspired by
ideas, concepts and observations. You are expected to apply imagination and creativity
to your exploration. You should develop your visual language as you investigate and
experiment with materials, techniques, processes and artform/s. You may work in any
medium or artform or a range of media but, whatever you choose, make artwork that best
reflects your skills and abilities – work to your strengths and interests. Having said that,
don’t only take the safe route in your folio. Challenge yourself and push the boundaries of
your artmaking.
Working outside of class time

As with your other subjects, a comprehensive art folio requires additional work outside of
class time. It is vital that you record ideas as they occur, wherever you are and then discuss
these with your teacher. Your teacher can advise you on how you could approach your ideas
and what artforms would be appropriate and can also help you to develop the required
techniques and skills.
Beginning your body of work early is very important, as it will allow you the time to
develop your ideas and concepts fully. Starting to work during the Summer holidays is
essential. In Activity 12.1 you will find a suggested list of things you must do so that you
can hit the ground running when the school year begins and a list of some other activities
you could attempt.

Using the following table as a guide, complete the tasks listed in preparation for Unit 3.
ACTIVITY 12.1
Table 12.1 December/January holiday work
MUST COULD
You must complete the You would also benefit from

following work. completing the following work.
• You must decide on the central idea or • Visit three or more exhibitions and make
concept that you wish to explore in your annotations of your observations.
body of work. • Begin creating a visual brainstorm through
• Do a mind map/brainstorm to explore your drawing, painting, collage, and so on to
selected idea or concept. create visual interpretations of your ideas/
• You must take a large number of concepts.
photographs that will act as stimulus for • Research artworks and images that relate
further exploration, reference from which to your ideas, concepts, interests, media,
to work, or as possible final photographs. approaches and so on.
You must sort these out into each of these • Start exploring your ideas in a range of
three categories and create contact prints media or approaches of your choice.
to place in your folio. If you are working • Do lots of drawing.
with digital photographs, ensure you take • Take part in life drawing or art classes.
photos at a high resolution in case you • Attend a summer school.
want to use these as final artworks. • Read up on art issues in the newspaper,
• You must visit at least one exhibition and magazines or other resources.
annotate things of interest in regards to
imagery, style, techniques, approaches or
media.
• Begin a visual diary or treasure box (or
both) in which you collect a range of
visual stimuli. This can be images (found
or created by hand or by photography),
textures, objects, surfaces to work on
or from – anything of interest for future
exploration or inclusion in your folio.
N.B. Avoid plagiarism – you can include other

people’s art as inspiration but DO NOT COPY.
Note: It is essential that you read Chapters 1, 3 and 6. Much of this chapter has been
written in a way that takes your knowledge of Units 1 and 2 for granted. If you have
not completed Units 1 and 2 you will need to read through the work so that you can
apply the knowledge gained to the requirements and expectations of Units 3 and 4.

12
UNIT 3: INVESTIGATION AND
INTERPRETATION THROUGH ARTMAKING
Unit 3, Outcome 2 is not to be viewed in isolation. It is connected to Unit 4 Outcome 2 and
is assessed as a body of work at the conclusion of Unit 4. It is the starting point to your
exploration and provides you with the opportunity to investigate and interpret your idea/s,
techniques, materials and processes. Before you begin, think broadly about ideas and
concepts that you may want to explore and consider what you would like to achieve in your
folio. Compile a range of thoughts, ideas and concepts that you can refer to over the year,
using mind maps or lists. Establish the focus and direction you would like to take in your body
of work. By the conclusion of this unit, you should have produced at least one finished artwork.
ACTIVITY 12.2
Decide what you would like to achieve in your folio. Are you aiming to:
• develop a folio of aesthetic exploration?
• develop a folio that visually interprets ideas, concepts or issues?
• explore the elements and principles of art?
• explore a particular subject matter that appeals to you?
• work in a style or approach to making art?
• work in a specific medium or artform?
UNIT 4: REALISATION AND RESOLUTION

In Unit 4, you will continue to develop the body of work begun in Unit 3, while you
progressively realise and resolve a body of work that communicates ideas, directions and/or
personal concepts, using Analytical Frameworks as tools to support and guide reflection resolution: an idea that
and documentation. A resolution is not necessarily a finished work of art, but could be the that you have explored
and refined to the point
resolution of an area of exploration. As you work through an idea, you may get to a point
that it is considered
where you feel you cannot take it any further. You may not be happy with what you have complete.
achieved or where this line of exploration is taking you. This could be considered the
completion of that avenue of thought and, therefore, a resolution. By the conclusion of this
unit, however, you are also required to have produced at least one finished artwork other
than the work that was completed for Unit 3. You are able to explore ideas and concepts in
a number of artforms or use a range of approaches to a single artform or medium.
Application of the language of Analytical Frameworks

to support reflection
You are required to apply the language of the analytical frameworks to
support your reflection during artmaking. This can be achieved in a number
of different ways through discussion and in writing. You are not required to
apply all Analytical Frameworks to your artmaking but, more importantly, you
are required to select the appropriate Analytical Frameworks that are relevant
to your work.

The process of making art
There is no one way of creating a body of work (see Chapter 6 for two possible approaches),
but, however you choose to approach your creative process, certain activities, such as
brainstorming, researching, trialling and refining, should be included. It is also important that
you engage in critical analysis and evaluation throughout your creative process. As part of
your assessment, you are expected to select appropriate Analytical Frameworks to provide
you with the tools with which to reflect on your artworks throughout your body of work. You
should reflect on the ideas, techniques, materials and processes that you have explored
ACTIVITY 12.3 and the way you have applied and manipulated the formal qualities. As part of your body
of work you are required to reflect, analyse and evaluate the progressive development and
Choose a concept or
idea you feel that you refinement of your ideas.
could explore for the When choosing the concept/s or idea/s you plan to explore, focus on things you are
year. It may help to passionate about; events, issues or experiences that are important to you. You are not
focus on something limited to one idea but can explore various concepts, issues, ideas or aspects of these. You
you are passionate should revisit these ideas or concepts over the duration of your body of work to assist in
about or issues that
the development of your artmaking. Ideas and concepts can be both broad and definitive,
are important to you.
List different aspects developed by you through personal research and thinking.
of your idea that you
could explore or revisit
during the process of
Inspired to create?
creating your body of Before beginning your exploration, it may help to collect images that relate to the ideas
work. and concepts that you have chosen to explore. Collect images of artworks related to your
concept or idea from a range of sources such as books, magazines, exhibitions or the
internet. You can photograph, scan, photocopy or draw objects that represent the concept or
idea. You may also choose to read the work of writers and critics that have explored similar
concepts or ideas.
It is very useful to research artists and artworks from the past that present what you
consider to be relevant to the concepts and ideas you have chosen to explore. Document
examples of these and annotate with information about specific details regarding subject
matter, techniques, materials, art elements and principles. Study how artists have
approached and presented similar concepts or ideas, how they have manipulated the
elements and principles of art in their work. Look at the subject matter they selected and
the techniques they applied to achieve the resolved works they presented.
ACTIVITY 12.4
1 Research 10 artists who inspire you with their subject matter, style, use of
a particular medium, technique or approach to creating art.
2 If you have decided to explore a specific artform, the artists do not have
to use the same artform. If you want to paint, you may be inspired by the
emotion achieved by a sculptor with the body language and expression
they used. You may be inspired by the techniques employed by Dalì to
produce his surreal paintings and you want to recreate these using digital
photography and Photoshop.
3 Annotate what interests you about the works you have selected and
what ideas they have generated for your folio. Have they used symbolism
that you think you may be able to use to communicate your ideas to the
viewers? Have you been inspired to attempt something new?

12
A study of other artists’ work can be an effective way to clarify your thoughts about a Figure 12.1 Diana Mejia
– Correa, Photoshop image
concept or inspire you to use a particular medium or subject matter. It is important however,
in six parts
to ensure that you do not copy the artist who inspires you, but rather you reinterpret their
approach in a personal way. (See page 25–26 in Chapter 1 for information on plagiarism).
VCE student Diana Mejia-Correa was inspired by the surrealists when she created a
personal interpretation on aspects of seeing, using digital photography and Photoshop.
Nicky Purser, another VCE student, was inspired by the watercolour figure studies of
Charles Reid and chose to use this medium and style to rework life drawings that she had
Weblink
completed in class during the year. Visit Charles
‘I copied a charcoal sketch I did in life drawing … working quickly; the contour line sketch Reid’s website at www.
took about 30 seconds and the watercolour about 2 minutes. The skin tone is much too charlesreidart.com
yellow … I like the red on the knee, it reminds me of the spots of colour Reid uses … I need to see a collection of his
more colour variation.’ work
Figure 12.2 Nicky

Purser, Charcoal 1
Figure 12.3
Nicky Purser,
Watercolour 1

Nicky decided to use tubes of watercolour rather than the pallette she had been using to
see if she could achieve the colours and effects she was looking for.
‘I like the tube paints better because the colour is more intense … I took a little longer on
the contour line sketch and painting, but again tried to work quickly. I used a spray bottle
with water to keep the paint from drying … I like the speckled effect and the way it softens
the mid tones and makes the shadows stand out.’

Nicky Purser, Charcoal Nicky Purser, Watercolour
of Reclining Figure of Reclining Figure
ACTIVITY 12.5
Choose an artwork that appeals to you. Reinterpret this artwork in a
personal way. You may reference the original but you may not copy it.
Create something personal that is inspired by the artwork you have
selected, or that challenges the original in concept or approach. You do not
have to work in the same artform.

12
Nicky achieved a resolved artwork based on a 10-minute gestural contour line drawing of a model
that she reinterpreted using a watercolour technique inspired by Charles Reid, but which she had
explored in a personal way and had made very much her own.

Nicky Purser, Charcoal Nicky Purser, Watercolour of
of Standing Nude Standing Nude (Final)
Investigating, trialling and applying

materials, techniques and processes
to concepts and ideas
Your folio can take many different directions and explore a range of artforms and
approaches. Experiment with, explore and apply a range of materials, techniques and
processes relevant to your ideas or concepts. Paul Rand said, ‘Without play, there would
be no Picasso. Without play, there is no experimentation. Experimentation is the quest
for answers’. Document the development of investigation and application of materials,
techniques and processes in written and visual form (see Chapters 3 and 6).

Resolving and refining your
ideas
Your artwork should display technical skill and the most appropriate
materials. It is important to progressively refine, improve and resolve ideas
and skills as you produce your final artworks. In order to do this, you will
need to explore solutions to demonstrate different interpretations of the
ideas or concepts. You will need to progressively resolve ideas, concepts,
direction, materials, techniques, processes and formal elements. You
should produce solutions that demonstrate considered and well-developed
responses to the stages of artmaking.
Jess Maguire, a VCE student, explored abstract painting through the
use of line, colour and texture. In one exploration (See Figure 12.8), she cut
one of her acrylic trials into strips and arranged them in different ways.
‘I liked the result of separating the abstract work. The strips are placed in
their original order but force the viewer to look closer at the colours and
patterns created’.
‘I cut in the direction of the lines created by the paint, but it is not easy to
distinguish that the pieces were once connected.’
Figure 12.8
Jess Maguire, ‘I then cut across the direction in which the lines of the painting were going. This contrast
Experimentation with between horizontal and vertical lines makes it easier to recognise that the pieces were once
strips from acrylic trial connected’.
Figure 12.9 ‘I placed harmonious colours behind the strips, which work okay. The complementary colours are
Jess Maguire, jarring. It is busy and the colours compete for the viewer’s attention … I could try to lay different
Compositional drawings abstract pieces under the strips instead of flat colour’.
Following on from the idea of cutting up her splatter painting, Jess wanted
to achieve this on a larger scale.
‘I wanted to paint on canvas and break up the splatter with defined lines. I
also want to physically break up the canvas by painting onto more than one
stretched canvas’.
She used drawing to experiment with different compositions.

‘I based the placement of my lines on the rule of thirds and experimented with
the idea of adding patches of canvas to the paintings for added interest’.
She experimented with separating the canvases in contrast with the

direction of her lines and in the same direction. She also trialled the idea of two
and four canvases in various horizontal combinations.
Once Jess had decided how she would approach the painting and
had settled on the use of four canvases, she applied all the skills she had
developed through trialling her medium and techniques to start her final
painting. She made use of digital photographs to document her thinking and
working process.

12
Even though Jess had resolved many
of the issues she was exploring her final
painting was still fluid and Jess continued
to trial ideas as she worked.
Paul Gardener said ‘A painting
is never finished, it just stops in
interesting places’. This willingness
to be sensitive to the aesthetics of your
work and your materials is very important
in being able to successfully resolve your
work.
‘I used masking tape to retain the white of my
primed canvas … I worked quickly blending
colours and creating new tones of blue … I
used the fabric paint bottle to add more line
work … Before removing the masking tape I
splattered white pearl paint to create a sparkle
and to further link the four canvases. The
lines are more fluid than the paint from the
bottle and give the painting more life … After
removing the masking tape you can see how
the splatter lines and the white lines connect
the canvases’. (See Figure 12.10)
‘By using different tones of orange it gives

more interest to the work. I chose orange as
it is the complementary of blue. The use of
complementary colours accentuates each
of the colours and intensifies the work … I
think the largest orange line is too dark and
I may change the tone’. (See Figure 12.11)
‘After playing around with patches of canvas

I decided against their inclusion because it
was becoming busy, making it difficult to
look at’. (See Figure 12.12) Figure 12.10
Jess Maguire, Process
‘I love the outcome of this work. It is vibrant and has an interesting composition. It documented with
incorporates my research on complementary colours, the splatterwork and my ideas of photographs 1
cutting up the image. (See Figure 12.12)

Jess Maguire, Process documented with Jess Maguire, Process documented with
photographs 2 photographs 3
Documenting your thinking and

working practices
Self-reflection should occur regularly throughout the creative process. Ask yourself the
following questions:
• What is the focus of my work?
• How can I best express that?
• What methods, media and techniques could I use?
ACTIVITY 12.6 • What do I need to do to resolve my work?
Use a digital camera Answering these questions in your folio will help you to develop an effective body of
to record your working work and assist the viewer to gain greater insight into your thinking and working process.
process and use Visual and written annotation can explain:
written annotation to • how you are interpreting your ideas
record your thinking • how you are making use of the techniques, materials and processes to create a
practice.
visual language
• how you are manipulating the formal qualities to emphasise the messages and
meaning in your artwork/s
• the reason for making decisions and choices in your folio
• symbolism you have made use of.

12
Annotation also provides you with the means to evaluate your exploration and finished
works. Remember that you will not be around to explain your ideas and decisions when
your folio is assessed, so you need to provide the viewer with all the information they
require to navigate your body of work.
There are a number of ways to do this. The study requires you to document the
development of investigation and application of materials, techniques and processes in
written and visual form.
To document does not only mean to write, but to record. Recording can be visual and/or
maquettes:
written. a small-scale model
As a visual subject, the most important means of conveying information is through the made as a preliminary
presentation of images. These could be drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, screen study for a larger work
dumps or maquettes.
Images on their own are, however, open to interpretation by the viewer. In order to
clearly communicate your thinking and working process, it is important to combine written
annotation with your visual documentation.
Elisa Bongetti included an oil paint on paper study of her cat (Figure 12.13), as evidence
of having explored the medium. Her accompanying annotation, however, communicates her
thoughts while doing so and evaluates the result.
Annotate each image with information that includes details about how the ideas can Figure 12.13
be treated and further developed and include information that reflects the language of Elisa Bongetti, Cat
the Analytical Frameworks. Your annotation must make
use of the art language that you have been developing
during theory. Ensure that the terminology is appropriate
to this study.
When annotating your body of work it is important
to keep it relevant and to use ‘real-time’ annotation.
Keeping it relevant to you and the viewer is important. Do
not annotate purely because it is one of the assessment
criteria. Annotation serves many purposes. It can provide
you with a means of working through a problem. Many
students find that it helps to talk through an idea or
to discuss something challenging. Annotation is an
opportunity for you to have a conversation with yourself,
without someone thinking you are crazy, especially when
you answer back with a solution to the problem. This
annotation will also provide the viewer with an idea of
what you are thinking and why you made the decisions
you did. It will also guide them through your process of
creating a body of work.
‘This is an oil painting sketch of my cat. I don’t really
like it because it is out of proportion in the shape of
her face and the distance between her eyes. I like the
monochromatic colouring and the intense mood. I think the
cropped composition creates an intimate connection with
the viewer’.

All your trials – whether they are small sketches, large trials with oil on canvas or a
contact sheet of digital prints – present to the viewer a picture of what you are trying to
achieve in your body of work. Screen dumps are important to guide the viewer through
your process when working on the computer. It is essential that you record all major steps
in the development and refinement of your ideas. Without these images, which show your
involvement and the steps you went through to achieve your final image, a computer-
generated work can appear to be a quick resolution. The screen dumps will also remove
any doubt about the authenticity of your work. Computer-generated images can leave doubt
in the viewer’s mind as it is very easy to source images on the internet or by scanning.
Figure 12.14 Figure 12.15 Figure 12.16

Elisa Bongetti, Painting 1 Elisa Bongetti, Painting 2 Elisa Bongetti, Digital final
Figure 12.17
Elisa Bongetti,
Screen dumps 1
Figure 12.18
Elisa Bongetti, Screen
dumps 2

12
By presenting your original image and all
steps in the process, you can show how you
created your final artwork. The student Elisa
Bongetti used screen dumps to demonstrate
how she combined two watercolour
paintings to create a final digital image.
It is not only important for you to record
your process for the viewer’s benefit, but as
a backup for yourself. If you are working on
the computer and have produced a complex
digital image in Photoshop that required
many trials and combinations of images
and effects, subtle variations of colours and
careful manipulations of tone, you must
record each step of the process. When
your folio is assessed, your documentation
will demonstrate how you arrived at the
final solution and show that it was a result
of your own work and not an image you
found. Just as important, however, the
documentation, whether written, typed or
provided by means of screen dumps (Figure
12.19), will provide you with the necessary
information to reproduce the image if the
file is corrupted at any stage of the process,
causing you to lose everything you had done
to that point. It is a lot quicker to reproduce
the same image if you have the steps and
solutions to certain problems annotated,
than it would be if you were trying to work
from memory.
This scenario emphasises the
importance of you annotating as you go. ‘Real-time’ annotation is vital, as you will often Figure 12.19,
Documentation of
forget certain steps in your process and the details that are so important to achieving
VCE Student Bronwyn
your objective. This is equally important when painting, drawing, printing or working in Ward’s process
the darkroom. Imagine that you have spent hours perfecting a gelatin silver print in the
darkroom only to have a classmate spill paint on it. How do you easily reproduce this if you
have not recorded the height and aperture of the enlarger, the filter you have used, or the
amount of time you have exposed your paper for.
Writing down your ideas makes them more visible, more concrete and ensures that you
do not forget them. By writing them down, you can revisit earlier ideas when you need a
new direction in your folio. If you are painting and have explored a range of techniques, you
could revisit some that you had earlier rejected for a particular painting if you thought they
had potential for a new idea. A question many students ask is ‘How much written annotation
do I need?’ No minimum or maximum word count is specified in the study, so you should

rather ask yourself, ‘How much written annotation do I need to record my thinking and
working process to help me to produce the body of work I want and to clearly communicate
with the viewer?’. Some students find it helps them to write a lot. This, however, is not a
requirement. You do not have to write an essay or even paragraphs of text, often a sentence
will be sufficient.
Remember, when annotating your folio the assessor or viewer will not have time to read
everything that you write. If there is something that you believe is important for the viewer
&ORMAL to read, then highlight the key details in the body of work. You can do this with a highlighter,
underlining the text or drawing a coloured box around the relevant text.
Another idea to differentiate between various annotations, is to use one colour for
each of the Analytical Frameworks you have used and a different colour to highlight your
0ERSONAL processes and decisions.
Throughout your folio you are required to apply the language of the Analytical Frameworks
to reflect upon your own artmaking. The Formal Framework allows you to analyse how you
have used the formal elements, style and techniques to contribute to the meanings and
#ULTURAL
messages in your artwork. The Personal Framework should be used to explain how your art
reflects your feelings, thinking, influences, interests and experiences. The Cultural Framework
should be used to identify the impact of your own culture and other cultures, as well as
contemporary culturally linked events that reflect upon your artmaking. The Contemporary
Framework can be used to discuss the impact of contemporary media, processes, ideas and
#ONTEMPORARY issues on your exploration of artforms, media and techniques. You could also deal with a
traditional subject matter in a comtemporary way. Your annotation should communicate your
application of each of these Analytical Frameworks throughout your body of work. Symbolism
Figure 12.20 is a part of all artmaking and may be intentionally included by you or perceived by the viewer.
Elisa Bongetti’s key to Symbolism can be used to strengthen the messages and meaning of your work, associated
exploring her folios with each of the other analytical frameworks.
As you explore your ideas, materials, techniques and processes,
you will use annotation to explain your journey and assist the viewer
in navigating your body of work. At times, this will have a logical
sequence that is easily followed by the viewer, while at other times,
you may revisit earlier ideas or your folio may take a different path.
An important function of the written annotation is to identify links
to earlier ideas and concepts and how these relate to your current
working and thinking practices.
Presenting a folio of work

There is no prescribed method of creating a folio and although
most students may find it easiest working in a sketchbook, you can
organise your exploration in a number of ways. However you choose
to work, it is important that you present your body of work in a way
that will allow your teacher and others viewing your work to easily
navigate through your folio.
Many students choose to work in a sketchbook as a means to
structure their folio and to collect and document their exploration.

12
This method will tend to be presented in chronological order from the point of origin to
the point of submission. Although this provides an accurate record of your journey, if you
explore more than one idea at the same time it can be very confusing for someone trying to
follow your process. To assist with the viewer’s navigation of your folio, you could use colour
tabs or numbers to guide them through the chronological development of one idea or area
of exploration, before they then return to the point the next idea starts.
Some students choose to break the exploration up into multiple sketchbooks. One book
is for general idea generation. When ideas are established, the student then works each
idea through to completion in separate books. New ideas continue to be placed into the first
book as they occur.
Another way that some students work is to use presentation folios. This allows for free
exploration and development of ideas, media experimentation and refinement to occur in
the one sketchbook or outside the sketchbook. Once the work is completed, the pages are
removed and presented in a presentation folder in chronological order for each idea, which
is placed in its own section of the folder. You could use this approach but instead of using a
folder the work can be re-bound in book form. It is important that if you are using either of
these systems, you only work on one side of a page to ensure flexibility in the appropriate
positioning of the individual pages.
Headings for each section of your folio also help the viewer to navigate your body of
work. You should clearly annotate changes in direction and how you have resolved your
exploration. It is important to identify any areas of your body of work where you revisit
and rework earlier ideas. Provide links to these ideas explain how they have added to your
current working practices.
ACTIVITY 12.7 Figure 12.21

1 View the Top Arts exhibition and look through the folios on Elisa Bongetti,
display. Alternatively, visit www.ngv.vic.gov.au/toparts. examples of works
2 Note the different approaches that each student has taken Weblink in the folio with
when putting their body of work together. annotation
3 How do they help you as the viewer navigate their folio?
4 How do they provide you with insight into their thinking and
working practices?
Presenting your final artworks

You should make a layout map of how you would like your work to be presented
for display. This should include the order in which multiple works are to be hung if you
are creating a series. There are no marks allocated in the assessment criteria to the
presentation of your artworks but it is still an important part of your artmaking. You are not
expected to mount final artworks and you are discouraged from framing. This is a costly
exercise and glass in a frame can often hide the details and subtleties in your artworks.
If you do choose to mount a work, you must consider why you are doing so. A mount is
intended to enhance the artwork and separate it from its surroundings. It should never
distract the viewer from the artwork or overpower the work it is placed on. Poorly mounted
work – mounts that are cut skew, are ripped, uneven or an unsuitable colour are far worse
than presenting a work unmounted. Many artists prefer their artworks to interact with the

surroundings and the surfaces they are presented on and therefore leave
them unmounted and unframed.
The way you present your artwork can also add to the meaning of the
work. The presentation of the artwork could suggest symbolic meaning. If
you are representing a series of beautifully detailed and delicate drawings
of everyday objects that you consider to be precious, you could place them
in a bound album or a series of small boxes. This could convey that the
objects (and the drawings) are worth preserving. If you have an engraving
of an insect, pinning the print onto a display board can reference the way
collectors pin butterflies onto a display board. Pinning up a drawing of a
person may have negative connotations, for the same reason. Presenting
multiple copies of an object or image will reference Pop Art and the ideas of
consumerism and mass production.
The twentieth-century sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876–1957)
was the first sculptor to carve his own pedestals on which to present his
Figure 12.22 sculptures. These not only raised the works off the floor, bringing them closer to the viewer
Constantin Brancusi, The and isolating the sculpture from the environment, but they also began to play a conceptual
Beginning of the World, 1920
role. Many of his works were highly polished bronze or marble pieces that he placed on
marble, nickel, silver and stone,
76.2 x 50.8 x 50.8cm, Dallas roughly carved stone or wooden pedestals. This contrast accentuated the finish of the
Museum of Art, © Constantin sculptures, making them appear more mystical on the solid earthbound mass of the base.
Brancusi/ADAGP, Licensed by In other works, such as Figure 12.21 The Beginning of the World (1920), he introduced
VISCOPY 2009 a highly reflective bronze disc on which the marble sculpture was placed. This reflective
surface beneath the sculpture repeated the form of the egg-shaped sculpture as though it
was capable of reproducing, pointing to the renewed cycle of life. The polished surface of
the disc also reflected the surrounding environment, making everything around it, including
the viewer, a part of the work. This disc is placed on a marble cube, which, in turn, is placed
Find Constantin
Weblink on a marble cross. The form of the pedestal could have symbolic relevance, hinting at the
Brancusi’s King
symbol for female (the source of life) and the cross, a symbol of Christ’s physical death and
of Kings (c1938) at www.
the spiritual rebirth of Christians. Brancusi would often repeat the forms of the sculpture
guggenheim.org/
in the pedestal, creating a greater unity between the two parts. In other works, such as
new-york
King of Kings (c. 1938), it is not possible to tell what is sculpture and what is pedestal, if in
fact there is even a pedestal. If you are in any doubt as to the importance of how a work is
displayed, imagine a mobile by the artist Alexander Calder, presented lying ‘lifeless’ on a
Figure 12.23
stone block. Always consider how you want your artwork viewed.
Fiensted Mobiles, Flowing
Rhythm (red) in the style It is important to explore different media and surfaces for your artworks. The surface
of Alexander Calder
ACTIVITY 12.8
1 Find five artworks that have been presented in a way that adds to the
meaning and messages that the artists wish to convey in their work.
Note the differences between how each has been presented. Could the
presentation of one be applied to any of the others to add to its meaning?
2 Select any artwork that you believe explores a concept. Consider how you
could present it in a way that would symbolically enhance the meaning of
the work.
3 Consider how you could present one of your own artworks in a way that
would symbolically enhance the meaning of the work.

12
you work on can also add to the meaning of your art.
Imagine you are interested in Thai culture and are creating
a body of work using photography. You have taken a range
of photographs showing both ruined and functioning Thai
temples, which you present as mounted gelatin silver prints.
One of the things you noticed about the preserved temples
is the presence of gold on many of the surfaces. How could
this fact be introduced into your black and white prints? You
could, for example, scan your negatives and produce inkjet
prints on gold metallic paper. The white in the photographs
would be replaced with gold, introducing this important
aspect of the subject into your final artwork.
The ruined temples that you explored in photography
may work very successfully as mounted gelatin silver prints,
but could you present these in a more creative way that
reflects the quality of these crumbling three-dimensional
architectural structures. One of the things that may have
caught your attention as you explored the ruins were the
blocks of stone that were used to construct the temples.
The textures that you captured in your photographs were
important to you. How could you incorporate the tactile and Figure 12.24 Penny
three-dimensional qualities of the temples into your photographs? A solution could involve Siopis, Patience on a
both the surface you work on and the medium you work with. You could create blocks Monument: A History
of plaster-of-Paris with a textured surface that references the textures of the temples’ Painting, 1988, oil
paint and collage,
stone blocks. Copy your final gelatin silver print onto Lazertran, and apply the Lazertran 200 x 180cm, William
photograph to the surface of the plaster-of-Paris block using purified turpentine. The Humphries Art Gallery,
photograph will adhere to the block, following the rough surface you have created. The light Kimberly, South Africa
areas of the image will be replaced with the colours, tones and textures you have created
in your block. These blocks with photographs imbedded in them could be placed randomly
on the ground like fallen blocks of stone or used to construct a three-dimensional structure.
Presentation of your ideas and concepts can also be enhanced by the media you use.
When you are exploring a medium, try to push the boundaries of the medium as far as
possible. Look at alternative surfaces to work on and various combinations of media. ACTIVITY 12.9
Consider the symbolic value of the artform, medium and surface you are working on. 1 Find artworks that
The painter Penny Siopis made effective use of collage to build up a surface on which have used a medium
to paint for Patience on a Monument: A History Painting (Figure 12.23). She made use of or that have been
photocopies taken from old school history books that she used to construct a heap of created on a surface
debris in a vast landscape. These images show entrenched perceptions, stereotypes, that adds to the
meaning of the
national symbols and a Eurocentric version of South African history. By piling all these,
artwork.
almost sacred, images on top of each other they begin to lose their power and the 2 Consider how you
disorderly manner in which they are piled up lessens their iconic force. Penny states could use a medium
that she is dealing with ‘historical misrepresentations of cultural identity, gender and or surface that would
race. I work within the traditions of Western painting in ways that attempt to show that it symbolically enhance
is not only the representation of politics that is the issue, but the politics of representation the meaning of one of
your artworks.
as well’.

[13]
ASSESSMENT
FOR UNITS
3 AND 4 –
OUTCOME 2
Chapter overview
In this chapter, you will read how your creative responses
will be assessed. Your responses need to:
• demonstrate your exploration of personal ideas or
concepts
• show how you have trialled techniques, materials
and processes to produce a body of work
• include at least two artworks.
INTRODUCTION
The school-assessed task contributes to 50 per cent of your study
score. You will start it in Unit 3 and finish in Unit 4. Your teacher will
use criteria published in the assessment handbook to do an initial
assessment of the school-assessed task, and this will constitute
the assessment for Outcome 2 in Units 3 and 4. Your teacher’s
assessment will then be subject to external review by a panel
appointed by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.
The award of satisfactory completion for this unit is based on
a decision that you have demonstrated achievement of the set of
outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on your
teacher’s assessment of your overall performance on assessment
tasks designated for the unit by the Victorian Curriculum and
Assessment Authority.

13
CONTENT OF THE ASSESSMENT OF
SCHOOL ASSESSED TASK
To successfully complete Outcome 2, you are required to develop a body of work that you
have worked on progressively throughout the year, exploring personal ideas or concepts to
produce at least two finished artworks. Your finished artworks are not assessed individually,
but will be assessed as part of your body of work. It is important that you present evidence
of a broad innovative investigation, the trialling of materials and techniques and show
documentation of your thinking and working practices in your body of work.
Although they should not be seen as a checklist, it is useful for you to evaluate how
effectively you have applied the key knowledge and key skills outlined in the VCE Art Study
Design to your body of work. Use these to determine how effectively you have met the
criteria of the study design.
Key knowledge
• materials, techniques, processes and art forms appropriate to artmaking
• technical applications to demonstrate a visual language and formal qualities
• elements and principles of art in practice
• visual language that reflects imagination and the development of skills
• selected Analytical Frameworks as a guide for reflective annotation
• art language for the purpose of documentation and annotation.
Key skills
These skills include the ability to:
• make creative personal responses to explore, investigate and experiment with
materials, techniques, processes and art forms
• progressively develop and refine ideas and personal concepts
• manipulate formal and technical qualities to produce creative responses
• reflect on personal ideas and concepts
• employ the language of selected Analytical Frameworks as a tool to support
reflective
• annotate
• document the development and refinement of their work using appropriate written
and visual material.
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority publishes an assessment handbook
for this study that includes advice on the assessment tasks and performance descriptors for
assessment. It is important that you have a copy of both the performance descriptors and
the mark sheet while you are developing your folio. Use this to ensure that you are meeting
the requirements of this unit in your body of work.
In addition to your practical exploration of materials and techniques within selected art
forms, your folio will be assessed in terms of how effectively you have used appropriate
Analytical Frameworks as tools to guide and support your art making, self reflection and
analysis. The performance descriptors for assessment and the mark sheet in this chapter
are not produced by the VCAA, but rather provide a possible overview of how your folios
may be assessed. It is important that you work to the official criteria once they are made
available. You can determine the extent to which your folio demonstrates the requirements
of the study by applying the ‘very high’ assessment criteria to your work.
CHAPTER 13 Assessment for Units 3 and 4 249

Criterion 1: Exploration of creative personal art responses, ideas, concepts and
observations
Very high
You have produced a comprehensive and highly informative exploration of creative personal
art responses, ideas, concepts and observations. A focused and imaginative investigation
of your selected art form/s and/or media relevant to your intentions. The folio provides
an insight into the development of your concepts, directions and skills. The range of your
investigation is broad and creative.
Criterion 2: Experimentation and investigation of materials, techniques, processes

and artforms and the development of related technical skills
Very high
Your body of work documents a broad and creative exploration and investigation of selected
materials, techniques, processes and art form/s, relevant to your intentions. Your folio
reveals a very high level of sustained experimentation, competence and control in the
application of materials, techniques and aesthetic qualities. You demonstrated a thoughtful
and appropriate use of the formal elements and made skillful use of materials and
techniques throughout the folio; from initial exploratory work to the finished artworks.
Criterion 3: Evidence of a progressive development and refinement of skills, ideas

and personal concepts
Very high
Your body of work is innovative and imaginative. You have consistently communicated the
development of your ideas, concepts and skills from initial exploratory work, through the
progressive refining of ideas and directions to the resolution of concepts with technical
skills. You have presented a sustained, clear and logically presented body of work which
progressively realises and resolves your responses and which reflects personal concepts,
ideas, direction, aesthetic qualities, art form/s and/or media explorations. Detailed evidence
is provided of your thinking and working practices. The development and refinement of your
ideas and directions is progressive, innovative and highly imaginative. The application and
refinement of techniques and processes demonstrates a very high level of technical skill in
the use of materials and tools.
Criterion 4: Understanding and appropriate manipulation of formal elements and

principles to produce a creative visual language
Very high
Your application of the formal elements to visually communicate ideas and concepts is
insightful, conceptually appropriate and demonstrates excellent aesthetic awareness.
The clear annotation throughout your body of work demonstrated a very high level of
understanding and control of the formal elements and aesthetic qualities.
z
13
Criterion 5: Employing art language and selected Analytical Frameworks as tools
to support reflective annotation and the documentation of thinking and working
practices
Very high
Your written annotation makes effective use of art language and combines with your
visual documentation to clearly communicate your thinking and working processes.
Your annotation effectively communicates your application of the analytical frameworks
throughout your body of work.
Criterion 6: Resolution of ideas, directions and/or personal concepts in a body of

work that includes at least two finished artworks
Very high
Your body of work involves a highly imaginative realisation of innovative thinking and
working practices with sustained and critical reflection and evaluation of the development
of the work. This work is comprehensively and insightfully organised with a highly effective
and articulate visual presentation of the written and visual material. Progressive resolution
of concepts and ideas with innovative, imaginative and extremely competent finished
artworks is evident. Highly effective and clearly defined visual solutions are the culmination
of a broad and innovative investigation. A high level of sustained and well-developed
technical skill and highly effective, insightful and conceptually appropriate application of
formal elements in the resolution of concepts and ideas is evident.
CHAPTER 13 Assessment for Units 3 and 4 251
z
SCHOOL-ASSESSED TASK
Name: ____________________________________
Outcome 1: Analyse and interpret artworks using the

Formal and Personal Frameworks.
Assessment criteria Very High Med Low Very Not Marks
work demonstrates:
Criterion 1
Exploration of creative personal
art responses, ideas, concepts and
/5
observations
Criterion 2
Experimentation and investigation
of materials, techniques,
processes and artforms and the
/5
development of related technical
skills
Criterion 3
Evidence of a progressive
development and refinement of
/5
skills, ideas and personal concepts
Criterion 4
Understanding and appropriate
manipulation of formal elements /5
and principles to produce a
creative visual language
Criterion 5
Employing art language and
selected Analytical Frameworks
as tools to support reflective
/5
annotation and the documentation
of thinking and working practices
Criterion 6
Resolution of ideas, directions and/
or personal concepts in a body of /5
work that includes at least two
finished artworks
These criteria have been developed from the VCE Art Study Design. Teachers may choose to
adjust them to suit the set task. This criteria sheet is also available on the Student CD-ROM.
Student CD-ROM

GLOSSARY
A considerably in their approaches to considering
the forms, content, and contexts of works of art
abstract: not representing outward appearances,
having no recognisable subject; artform: the specific shape, or quality an artistic
expression takes – two-dimensional artforms
abstraction: an artwork that has had elements
include painting, drawing, printmaking, collage
removed by the artist to create a simplified form
and photography; three-dimensional art forms
action painting: a painting style developed by include sculpture, ceramics and construction; four-
Jackson Pollock where the artist would move or dimensional artforms include those making use of
‘dance’ to apply the paint to the canvas and the time, such as; performance, video and installation.
painting reflected the action of the painter
asymmetrical: opposite of symmetrical, the objects
aerial: viewing an artwork from directly overhead; in an image are not balanced; each half of the
a bird’s eye view image does not resemble the other
aerial perspective: the use of atmospheric haze to atmosphere: emotion created in an artwork by the
enhance the illusion of depth; distance appears to techniques or formal elements that an artist uses
be lighter, bluer and less defined
avant garde: art that is ahead of its time; innovative
aesthetic: the perception or nature of beauty with art that explores new ideas and techniques
respect to the visual aspects of art
alla prima: Italian for ‘the first time’ or all at once; B
a method of painting in which the picture is backlighting: light coming from behind the subject
completed in one sitting Baroque: art style or movement of the sixteenth
allegory: a representation of an abstract idea in and seventeenth centuries where artists
concrete form used strong contrasts, emotion, movement,
analysis: a stage in art criticism, following the exaggeration and theatrical effects
description of an artwork, and preceding its batik: a process which involves using wax on
interpretation and judgement, in which one fabric; the fabric is dyed and the wax removed
focuses on the relationships between the elements using heat; a pattern is formed where the wax
of art and principles of design in order to gain an covered the fabric and resisted the dye
understanding of the work’s design qualities, or body of work: a collection of visual and written
how well the work is ordered material communicating thinking and working
anamorphic: a distorted image that appears normal practices, which may include art journals, in
when viewed from a particular point or with a addition to exploring and resolving artworks
suitable mirror or lens.
anime: a Japanese style of animation and film C
annotate: to write brief notes about your calligraphic: lines that are usually flowing like the
brushstrokes used in Asian characters or writing
observations and to communicate your thinking
and working practices chiaroscuro: Italian for ‘light-dark’, refers to the
contrast of light and dark to make forms look three
anthropomorphise: to give human features to an
dimensional
animal or object
antithesis: the opposite of cinematic: having qualities specific to motion-
pictures
appropriation: using an image from another artist,
usually without permission, and placing it in a
classical: related to the art of ancient Greece
and Rome; used to refer to the characteristics of
new context that changes its meaning
beauty, balance and unity associated with these
archetype: an original model that is a universal periods
image of art
art criticism: the description, analysis, evaluation, collaboration: two or more artists working together
interpretation, and judgement of works of art; art to create an artwork
criticism can vary in degrees of positive as well
as negative remarks and critical methods vary
collage: a term used to describe both the technique
and the resulting artwork in which pieces of
Glossary 253
paper, fabric and other materials are arranged and didactic: teaching or giving instructions
stuck down on a surface such as paper or canvas
double exposures: can be used to create a complex
commentaries: statements by artists, critics, image that combines elements from more than
historians or the public about an artwork one negative or repeats aspects from the same
commissions: situations in which an artist is paid or negative in one print
requested by another person to create an artwork;
often the benefactor will state what the subject E
matter of the artwork will be and the techniques earth art: an art movement which emerged in the
that the artist will use United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s,
conceptual: concerned with ideas in which landscape and the work of art are
inextricably linked
conceptual art: art in which the creative thought,
the concept and the process are considered to be ephemeral: an artwork that is temporary and lasts
more important than the product in the site for a short period of time; works such as
installations are ephemeral
constructivist: an art movement formed in Russia;
artists from this period believed that art should etching: a printing process in which a design is
represent the industrial developments in the scratched through an acid resistant ground on a
modern world metal surface before being submerged in acid. Ink
is pressed into the resulting grooves and printed
contrast: when two very different elements are
onto paper
used in the same work specifically to emphasise
the difference between them, for example the use F
of light and shade or such as contrasting colours
figurative: representing objects in a way that they
blue and yellow
can be easily recognised
conventions: accepted rules
firing: the process of hardening clay by putting it in
co-operative: a group of artists working together a kiln at very high temperatures
cropping: to trim parts of an image to remove foreground: space created in the front area of an
unwanted sections artwork, particularly in landscape works
Cubism: early twentieth-century art style in which foreshortening: shortening or distorting objects to
objects were fragmented and rearranged, often create an illusion of depth and make them look like
using multiple viewpoints they are coming towards the viewer
D found object art: artworks created in this style are
usually objects found by the artist and treated
Dada: an art movement started after World War
as artworks; the artist will place the object in a
I that was a reaction to the horrors of war; the
gallery to place value on it or use the object as
artists created artworks that lacked traditional
inspiration for other artworks
artistic value and had little or no aesthetics
fourth dimension: the element of time in a
depict: show, represent or demonstrate
contemporary artwork
depth of field: photographic term to describe the
framing: to isolate and draw attention to the most
distance between the nearest and furthest points
important part of an image by surrounding it with
that are in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph
a visual ‘frame’
design elements: line, shape, colour, tone, texture,
and form; contemporary artworks can also have G
additional elements such as sound, light, time and gekiga: adult-oriented Japanese graphic novels
space
genre: depicts the realistic representation of
design principles: balance, focal point, unity everyday life; genres are also various categories of
(including harmony), variety, rhythm and space subject matter
development works: sketches or small artworks that geometric: mathematical shapes often used in the
assist in the development of techniques and ideas structure and composition of artworks
for an artwork gestural: marks made on paper, board and canvas

that are a direct expression of the artist; usually K
created in broad sweeping lines or directional
strokes
kitsch: refers to ‘vulgar’ art, or art with no artistic
merit such as commercial ornaments, tourist
glaze: a thin translucent layer of oil paint souvenirs; the Cambridge dictionary defines it as
Gothic Revival: a nineteenth-century style inspired works of art or decorative objects that are ugly,
by the Gothic period and known for its sense of silly or worthless
fantasy and whimsy
L
H land art: an art movement which emerged in the
hand coloured gelatin silver prints: black and white United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s,
prints that are coloured using watercolour paints or in which landscape and the work of art are
drawing inks; it is important to hand colour subtly inextricably linked
by patiently layering transparent layers if colour linear: representing shapes and details by using
into the light, areas of the print clearly defined lines or edges
hand colouring: many black and white wood block linear perspective: the illusion of spatial depth
designs are coloured by hand; the artist will paint created by parallel lines that appear to converge as
in the white areas of the print they move towards the horizon
harmony: an artwork has harmony when its low key: using mainly dark tones or tints with few
elements fit well together highlights
high key: composed mainly of light tones
highly refined: highly polished; highly developed M
holistic: the idea that all the properties of a given Madonna: the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus
system (e.g. physical) cannot be determined or manga: Japanese comic books or graphic novels
explained by its component parts alone; painting maquette: small-scale model made as a preliminary
with no particular focal point and no natural study for a larger work
boundaries materials: what an artwork is actually made of, not
Humanist: one who gives priority to human to be confused with technique, which is how the
endeavours and values rather than religions or materials are used
spiritual beliefs medium: the canvas, board or paper that an artwork
I can be painted or drawn upon; most mediums
are prepared with a surface that allows the paint,
iconography: symbolism that represents religious or pencil or charcoal to adhere to the surface
spiritual concepts; or symbols, images and subject
matter used conventionally in an artwork
metaphor: one thing used to represent or symbolise
another with similar qualities
ideal: perfect
minimalist: an artwork that uses the smallest range
idealised: treated as perfect of art elements and materials possible
impasto: Italian word that refers to thick, textured mise-en-scene: the arrangement of performers and
paintwork with visible brush strokes properties on stage or before a camera in a film
Impressionism: a French art movement in which modernist: an art style that uses simple elements of
artists represented everyday scenes in an attempt art to represent ideas
to capture light, surface and atmosphere
monochromatic: consisting of only one colour and its
in the round: freestanding three-dimensional form tints and shades
that can be viewed from all sides
monumental: resembling a monument; grand or
incised: cut into imposing
incubus: demon or evil spirit motifs: signs or symbols that represents a personal
installation: three-dimensional artwork designed for idea for the artist, their beliefs and culture
gallery space or other environment for a specific mythological: relating to myths; imaginary
period of time; these artworks are designed to be
walked through or around so the viewer becomes
immersed in the experience of the work
Glossary 255
N photomedia: the use of photography, rather than
narrative: telling a story traditional tools of art, to create images
narrative qualities: artworks that feature narrative photorealism: style of painting that resembles a
qualities tell a story through the subject matter or photograph in its reproduction of accurate and
symbols created by the artist realistic detail; sometimes called super realism
negative space: the space around, between or pietá: Italian word meaning ‘pity’ or ‘compassion’,
through objects (which occupy positive space); usually applied to an image of the Virgin mourning
a technique used in sculpture where the space over the dead body of Jesus
within the sculpture creates balance in the work Postmodern: art style that challenges traditions
Neoclassical: revival of the ideals of ancient Greece and the idea of originality by using non-traditional
and Rome materials, appropriation or humour; artworks in
the Postmodern style collapse the differences
Neo-expressionism: Expressionist artworks
between what is known as high art and the visual
produced after the Expressionist movement in the
imagery of popular culture; Postmodern artists
early twentieth century
often break the rules of art to provoke a reaction
O from the viewer – the artworks are intended to be
oeuvre: French word describing the collected works interpreted differently by different people
of an artist propaganda: the spreading of a doctrine that reflects
open composition: composition in which the objects the views or interests of a particular group
in the image extend visually beyond the edges of prosthetic: a device that substitutes for or
the frame supplements a body part
overlaid: placed over the top of one another; psyche: Greek translation of the Latin anima, which
overlapping means soul; it refers to the human spirit or mind
P R
painterly: painting with visible brush strokes that Rayograph: placing of objects on photographic
create areas of colour and tone that merge rather paper and then exposing the paper to light; this
than being contained within outlines process was discovered by Man Ray and the
palette: the range of colours used by an artist; images are often called photograms
surface on which paints are mixed readymade: a found object displayed as an artwork;
panning: moving the camera horizontally to follow a see found object art
moving object realism: reality as seen by the eye; naturalism
paradox: a contrast created in artwork by using relief carving: a process in sculpture where a block
materials to convey opposing ideas of stone or wood is carved; relief carvings are
patron: person who supports the arts, especially viewed from the front only and are usually created
financially on the sides of buildings, particularly in ancient
and classical cultures
Performance Art: art events involving time, space,
the performer’s body and a live audience
repetition: where elements of an artwork occur more
than once, often to create unity in a work; can be
persona: a perceived personality or role repeated shapes, colours, arrangements or even
personal meaning: ideas, concepts, images and sounds in multimedia works
issues that are significant to you, or that are of resolution: an idea that the student has explored
personal interest and refined to the point that the artwork is
perspective: see linear and aerial perspective considered complete
photogram: an image, similar to those created by Rococo: an eighteenth century art style noted for
Man Ray, where objects are placed on photographic its delicacy and elegance
paper and exposed to light, leaving the silhouettes
of the forms on the surface of the paper

S techniques: the manner in which the artist applies
materials to the artwork
secular: worldly, materialistic; not having any
connection to a church or religion tempera: paint made by mixing powdered colour
with a water-soluble binder such as egg yolk
selective focusing: photographic term referring to
focusing on a particular part of a composition and terracotta reliefs: terracotta is a red clay that is
throwing other sections out of focus soft and easy to carve; many medieval villages in
Britain carved decorations, known as reliefs, on the
shallow space: limited depth in an image
outside of their buildings out of terracotta
site specific: an artwork created for a specific site;
thumbnail sketches: small rough sketches outlining
the artwork will relate to various aesthetic qualities
the elements in a proposed artwork, useful to
of the site or the environment in/for which it is
explore multiple ideas quickly; thumbnail sketches
created
are a good way to work through an idea, or to try
slip: liquid made by mixing finely ground clay with out different compositions
water, used for decorating or joining clay
translucent: a material that allows limited light to
solarisation: a process introduced by Man Ray pass through it; translucent sculptures appear to
whereby photographic paper is exposed to light shine
during the developing process; as a result the
triptych: an artwork in three panels or parts
image on the paper often has a silver ‘halo’ or ring
of light U
storyboard: series of sketches that depict the unity: when a work has a sense of wholeness;
changes to the scenes and action of a planned film when its elements are balanced and harmonious
or video production
stylise: simplify using a set of rules V
stylised: a simplified style where the artist removes vanitas: Latin for ‘emptiness’; refers to the
all detail so the artwork is reduced to a series of transience of things of the world and the
shapes and lines (e.g. Egyptian art) inevitability of death; in seventeenth century still
life paintings, vanitas was signified by images of
stylised brushstrokes: brushstrokes that are simple
spoiling food, the overturned glass, the burning
lines or shapes
candle, worms and the obvious inclusion of the
subject matter: the content or subject of an artwork skull.
subjective: based on personal feelings rather than variety: variety is created by using a different
external observation element in a repetitive pattern (e.g. a square in a
surreal: having a dreamlike quality pattern of circles)
Surrealism: an art movement launched in Paris in visual elements: formal elements of an artwork such
1924 that was based on dreams and the creation of as line, shape, colour, tone, texture and form
artworks based on irrational thought visual language: the way in which images,
symbols: signs that represent ideas the elements and principles of art, materials,
symmetrical: where one side of an image mirrors techniques, processes and art forms can be used to
the other. A work can have symmetry in the way communicate concepts and ideas
it is arranged without the items in each half of the visual rhythms: arrangement of elements that create
image being identical: rather it is their size and movement or repetition in an artwork
position that creates the symmetry, creating what vitrine: glass cabinet or showcase
is known as ‘formal balance’
voyeur: French term for an obsessive, often
T secretive, watcher
tableau: grouping that forms an image or picture; Z
plural – tableaux
zooming: photographic term: to bring a subject into
tangible form: providing a visual symbol of an close-up without losing focus
idea, words or lyrics; the artist creates this form
by using materials and techniques that they feel
represents the idea
Glossary 257
INDEX
abstract, 149, 253 artmaking Life Drawings, 129 commissions, 154, 254 DNA, use of, 37
Abstract Expressionism, 48, 149 and cultural expression, Oil sketch of a seascape at composition, 8 documentation
abstraction, 253 118–19 sunset, 67, 67 open, 32, 48, 95, 256 language for, 69–71, 133
action painting, 192, 253 and personal meaning, 54–5 Painting 1, 242 planning, 125–6 of thinking and work
Adams, Eddie, 95 artworks Painting 2, 242 refinement, 126 practices, 240–4
General Nguyen Ngoc formal elements and Portrait of Erin, 127, 128 concepts Donnelly, Kevin, 203, 207
Loan Executing a Viet Cong principles of, 65–6, 130–1 Resolved Double Life investigating, 237 double exposures, 64, 64, 254
Prisoner in Saigon, 89, 89, interpretation, 28–9 Drawing, 129 presenting, 63–4, 121–3 dreams, 42–53
95, 95 presenting final, 245–7 Screen dumps 1, 242 what to do with, 56–7 Duchamp, Marcel, LHOOQ,
Adobe Photoshop, contact researching, 1, 3–5 Screen dumps 2, 242 conceptual, 173, 231, 254 26, 26
sheet, 25 sale and resale of, 185–6 Booth, Peter, 48–9 conceptual art, 231, 254 Dundon, Jethro, 228
aerial, 148, 253 selecting for study, 147–8 Painting 1978, 178 conflict, 88–99, 183 Dürer, Albrecht
aerial perspective, 95, 103, 148, Asian art, 153–61 Painting 1981, 43, 43, constructivist, 254 Self-portrait at 13, 30, 30
149, 188, 253 Asian cultures, 12 48–9, 48 contemporary artworks Self-portrait at 28, 76
aesthetic, 165, 166, 231, 253 assessment Bosch, Hieronymus, 44–5 and contemporary Dykstra, Jean, 107
Agesander, Polydorus and criteria, 75, 81, 136, 145, The Temptation of St frameworks, 14–15
Athanadorus, Laocoön, 112 177, 222, 252 Anthony, 42, 44–5, 44 and formal frameworks, 15 earth art, 188, 254
alla prima, 45, 117, 253 school assessed task, Botticelli, 114–15 contemporary frameworks, Edenmont, Nathalia, 199
allegory, 253 248–52 Birth of Venus, 112, 114–15, 14–15, 244 Bride Red, 199
all-over painting, 122 student sample responses, 114 examples of use, 150, 153, elements, 65, 257
analysis, 1–2, 253 76–8, 137–41, 178–80, Boucher, François, Marie- 157, 161, 164, 167, 170, 173 environment, 183
visual, 7–12 223–9 Louise O’Murphy, 113 contemporary life, reflecting and environmental art, 188–91
analytical frameworks, 4, 6–15, tips for completing tasks, Bourgeois, Louise, 38–9 recording, 85 ephemeral, 254
233, 244 73–4, 135, 176, 221 Cell (Glass, Spheres and context, 12 etchings, 97, 105, 254
anamorphic, 169, 253 for Units, 72–5, 79–81, Hands), 31, 38–9, 38 contrasts, 9, 254 experiments, 26–7, 61–2, 237
Angkor Wat, 87, 87 134–6, 142–5, 174–7, brainstorms, 20–1, 56 between light and dark, 32,
animal rights, 185 219–22, 248–52 visual, 21, 21 40, 46, 253 Farsari, Adolfo, hand-coloured
animals, and art, 197–9 asymmetrical, 8, 9, 253 Brancusi, Constantin, 246 conventions, 100, 102, 254 albumen silver print, 64
anime (animation), 34, 253 Atanasovski, Melissa, 23 The Beginning of the World, co-operative of artists, 148, 149 Ferran, Anne, 57, 171–3
annotations, 23, 240–1, 243–4, Exploration of ideas, 23 246 copyright, 25, 26, 185 Longer than Life, 171
253 atmosphere, 152, 253 King of Kings, 246 Coslovich, Gabriella, 207 Secure the Shadow, 172
art language for, 69–71, 133 Attic black figure amphora, 88, The Sleeping Muse, 43, 43 Cossington Smith, Grace, 151–3 Soft Caps, 172, 173
real-time, 241, 243 89, 90 Braque, Georges, 84 The Curve of the Bridge, Untitled Christening Robes,
reflective, 66–9, 132 Australia Council, 207 Brophy, Phillip, 34 151–2, 151 57, 57, 171, 171
anthropomorphise, 34, 35, 253 Australian art, 148–53 Bruegal, Pieter, The Peasant The Lacquer Room, 152 figurative, 48, 114, 254
antithesis, 253 avant-garde, 168, 169, 253 Wedding, 85, 85 Craven, Wes, 50–1 films, 35, 50–1
appropriation, 26, 97, 185, 253 brushstrokes, stylised, 158, 257 Nightmare on Elm Street, 43, firing, 254
Arch of Constantine, 86, 86 backlighting, 51, 117, 253 Buckley, John, 212 43, 50–1, 50 Flack, Audrey, 57
archetype, 42, 253 balance, 8 Burns, Jim, 41 creation Chanel, 57
architectural form, 38 Banksy, 213–18 Button, Virginia, 197 of a body of work, 230–1 Flavin, Dan, Quietly to the
Aristotle, 90 Flower Chucker, 214, 214 Byzantine art, 102 inspired to? 234–7 Memory of Mia Visser, 14
art Grey Ghost, 216, 218, 226 Crombie, Isobel, 202 Flensted Mobiles, Flowing
commentaries, 5 The Little Diver, 216, 217, cabinets cropping, 35, 114, 254 Rhythm (red), 246
and contemporary life, 85 229 refrigerated, 37 Cubism, 99, 254 focal point, 9
criticism, 1–2, 253 The Lovers, 225 vitrines, 97, 111, 198, 257 cultural frameworks, 12–13, focus, selective, 107, 257
and culture, 82–3, 120–1 Rat Girl, 226 Calder, Alexander, 246 172–3 Foley, Matt, 100
environmental, 188–91 Rat Photographer, 213, 224 calligraphic, 253 examples of use, 149, 152, folios, 119–21
found object, 254 Baroque style, 10, 32, 253 cameras, digital, 24, 128 155–6, 160–1, 170 creating, 16–27, 230–1
issues and ideas, 182 Barrett, Terry, 146 Caravaggio, 116–17 and reflective annotations, documenting, 240–4
and meaning, 28–9 batik, 148, 149, 253 Amor Vincit Omnia, 112, 132 exploring artforms, 55–6
and politics, 86, 183 Battle of Hastings, 92 116–17, 116 Cultural Revolution, 106, 159 formal elements of artworks,
principles of, 65 Bayeux Tapestry, 88, 88, 92, 92 Carroll, Lewis, 134 culture, and human body, 120–1 65–6, 130–1
process of making, 234 Beecher, Henry Ward, 16, 17 censorship, 184, 202–8 investigating techniques,
role and purpose of, 84–7 Berger, John, 112, 115 ceramic vases, 90 Dada art movement, 168, 169, 26–7, 237
values in, 86, 87, 197–201 Bergstrom, Danielle, Take Two: Chapman, Jake and Dinos, 96–7 192, 254 language for, 69–71, 133
art markets, 185–6, 199–200 Jack Thompson, 126, 127 Great Deeds Against the Dali, Salvador, The Temptation of mind maps, 20–1
Art Study Design unit blood, use of, 36–7 Dead, 89, 96–7, 96 St Anthony, 43, 43 pathways to making art,
descriptions, 28–9, 54–5, body of work, 230, 253 Hell, 97 David, Jacques Louis, 94 119–21
82–3, 118–19, 146–8, 181, Bongetti, Elisa, 66–7, 126–8, chiaroscuro, 32, 40, 46, 116, Oath of the Horatii, 88, 89, presenting, 244–5
187, 233 241, 243 253 94, 94 qualities of artforms, 63–4,
Art Victoria register, 211 Annotation of photograph, Childish, Billy, 199 death masks, 37 121–3
artforms, 3, 55, 253 67, 67 cinematic, 35, 253 Degas, Edgar, 28, 112 reflecting upon finished
exploring, 55–6 Cat, 241 classical, 90, 108, 253 The Tub, 113 artworks, 27
qualities and characteristics Detail of portrait with colour clay, 90, 91 depiction, 149, 254 reflective annotation, 66–9,
of, 63–4, 121–3 swatches and annotation, collaborations, 50, 53, 185, 253 depth of field, 50, 107, 254 132
trialling, 64–5, 123–9 127 collages, 253–4 design elements, 7–8, 15 researching ideas, 22, 25–6
validity of, 186 Digital final, 242 Collingwood Technical College, design principles, 7, 8–9, 254 resolving and refining ideas,
artists Double Portrait of Nisha, 128 211 development works, 151, 254 238–40
Asian, 153–61 Examples of works in the colour, 8, 61 didactic, 44, 254 stimuli, 19
Australian, 148–53 folio with annotation, 245 colour wheel, 8 digital cameras, 24, 128 treasure boxes, 18
co-operative of, 148, 149 Incomplete trial in oils on oil comics, 26 display, of final artworks, 245–6 trialling artforms, 64–5,
researching, 1 paper, 127 manga, 26, 34–5, 255 display cabinets 123–9
and self-portraits, 30–1 Key to exploring her folios, commentaries, 5, 187, 254 refrigerated, 37 visual brainstorms, 21
women, 32–3, 104, 148–53 244 commissioned artists, 85, 88 vitrines, 97, 111, 198, 257 visual interpretations, 22–4

of visual responses, 55–62 being rescued by rowing 197–201 modernist style, 163, 166, 255
working outside of class boats, 125 For the Love of God, 201 land art, 188, 255 Moffatt, Tracey, 107
time, 231–2 Study for Raft of Medusa, Mother with Child Divided, language, 4–5, 27, 69–71, 133 Up in the Sky #1, 101, 107,
foregrounds, 151, 254 124 101, 110–11, 110 visual, 16–17, 29, 50, 107, 137
foreshortening, 93, 114, 128, gestural marks, 48, 254–5 Natural History, 111 55, 257 Monet, Claude, 58
254 Ghiberti, Lorenzo In and Out of Love, 197 layout maps, 245 Rouen Cathedral, 58
formal frameworks, 7–12, Gates of Paradise, 31 The Physical Impossibility light, 15, 58 Rouen Cathedral. Façade,
15, 244 Self-portrait from the Gates of Death in the Mind of lighting, backlighting, 51, 58
and contemporary artworks, of Paradise, 30, 31 Something Living, 197–8, 117, 253 Rouen Cathedral. Façade
15 Ghost Patrol, Turtle Wolves 197, 199 Lindsay, Robert, 48 and Tour d’Albane, 58
examples of use, 148–9, Mural, 186 Hokusai, Katsusika line, 8 Rouen Cathedral. Façade
151–2, 154–5, 158–9, Gibson, Walter, 44 Hokusai-Manga, 113 linear, 90, 115 (Morning), 58
162–3, 165, 168–9, 171–2 girls, images of, 202–8 Self-portrait at the age of linear perspective, 93, 103, 255 Rouen Cathedral. Façade
formal elements and Gittoer, George, 183 83, 30, 31 Lippiatt, Matt, 41 (Sunset), 58
principles of, 65–6, 130–1 glazes, 45, 71, 103, 255 Hold, Nancy, 190 listening, 59 Water Lily series, 122
and reflective annotations, globalisation, 183 holistic, 122, 255 Louis, Jacques, 94 Waterlily Pond, 157
66–7, 132 glossary, 253–7 Horn, Roni, 165–7 low key tones, 51, 255 monochromatic, 99, 106, 255
forms, 8 Gothic Revival style, 47, 255 Gold Field, 165–7, 165 Lumby, Catharine, 206 monumental, 48, 115, 255
architectural, 38 Goya, Francisco, 96–7 Untitled (Aretha), 165–7, moral rights, 185
tangible, 167, 257 Disasters of War, 96–7 166 McCahon, Colin, 182 Morisot, Berthe, 85, 110–11,
found object art, 254 ‘Fatal Consequences of the hues, 8 Victory over Death 2, 182 118
found stimuli, 19 Bloody War in Spain Against Hughes, Robert, 199 McCoy, Katherine, 17 The Cradle, 85, 100, 100,
four-dimensional artworks, 59 Bonaparte’, 96 human body, 184 McDonald, Andrew, 216 110–11, 110
fourth dimension, 158, 254 Great Deeds Against the and culture, 120–1 Madonna, 100, 255 mother and child, 100–12
frameworks, see analytical Dead, 89, 96–7, 96 nude, 112–17, 184 Maguire, Jess, 61–2, 130, 133, motifs, 150, 255
frameworks; contemporary The Sleep of Reason Humanists, 100, 109, 255 238–40 mounts, 245–6
frameworks; cultural Produces Monsters, 42, Hunt-Macdonald, Teghan, 76–7 Compositional drawings, Mueck, Ron, 108–9, 112
frameworks; formal 43, 84, 84 238 Mother and Child, 101,
frameworks; personal graffiti, woodblock, 208 iconography, 160, 255 Experimentation with strips 108–9, 108
frameworks graphic novels, 34, 254 idealised, 255 from acrylic trial, 238 Munch, Edvard, The Scream,
framing, 35, 50, 107, 254 Greek vases, 88, 89, 90, 90 ideas Exploration in acrylic paint 42, 43
Freud, Sigmund, The Griswold, Alfred Whitney, 202 interpretation, 20–1 to elicit an emotion of music, 59
Interpretation of Dreams, 42 Guan Wei, 158–61 investigating, 237 psychological response, 133 copyright-free, 26
Fruger, Barbara, Untitled (Your A Distant Land, 160, 160 researching, 22 Exploration of blue, 61 mythological, 114, 255
Body is a Battleground), 183 Dow Island, 158–61, 158, resolving and refining, Exploration of red, 61
funeral masks, 36–7 159, 161 238–40 Manipulation of art narratives, 10, 34, 92, 256
Füseli, Henry, 46–7 Guernica, 88, 98 visual interpretations, 22–4, elements and principles to qualities of, 158, 256
The Nightmare, 42, 42, Gunston, Elena, 23 60–2 produce creative responses, National Association for Visual
46–7, 46 thumbnail sketches, 23 images 131 Artists (NAVA), 27
combining, 25–6 Photo of rusted wreck, 61 National Portrait Gallery in
Gardener, Paul, 239 hand coloured, 154, 255 presenting, 63–4, 121–3 Process documentation with London, 37
Garrett, Phoebe, 19, 21, 120, gelatin silver prints, 64, impasto, 48, 255 photographs 1, 239 negative spaces, 256
122 65, 255 Impressionism, 110, 255 Process documentation with Neoclassical style, 94, 256
Drawings, 19 Haring, Keith, 84, 181, 210–12 in the round, 108, 255 photographs 2, 240 Neo-expressionism style,
Folio examples, 123 Drawing on a subway incised, 90, 255 Process documentation with 48–9, 256
Thumbnail sketches, 121 platform in New York, 210 incubus (demon), 46, 255 photographs 3, 240 Nicholson, Ben, 162, 163
Visual brainstorms, 21 Mural at Collingwood Indigenous cultures, 12, 195 Splatter trial - Energy, 131 nightmares, 42–53
Gascoigne, Rosalie, 58 Technical College, 211, 211 art from, 148–50 Splatter trial - Galaxy, 131 Nkisi nkondi (female figure),
Grassfest, 58 harmony, 9, 255 instillations, 38–9, 162–7, Sponge texture, 61 86–7, 87
Gauguin, Paul, Vision After the Hatoum, Mona, 98–9 197–201, 255 Malebranche, Nicole, 16, 20 Nochin, Linda, 112
Sermon (Jacob’s Fight with Nature monte aux grendes, interpretation, 28–9 Maloney, Martin, 198 notebooks, artists, 4
the Angel), 42, 43 88, 89, 89, 98–9, 99 ideas, 20–1 manga (comics), 26, 34–5, 255 nudes, 112–17, 184
gekiga (graphic novels), 34, hearing, 59 issues, art challenging, 87 Mao Zedong, 91
254 Hendricks, Brittany, 77–8 maquettes, 109, 164, 241, 255 oeuvre, 47, 96, 256
gelatin silver prints, 247 Henson, Bill, 116–17, 202–8 Jones, Jonathan, 96 March, Annie, 194 Ohlert, Francesca, 137–41
hand coloured, 64, 65, 255 Untitled #8, 113, 116–17, Jung, Carl Gustav, 42 masks, funeral, 36–7 oil paints, glazes, 45, 71,
gender, 183 117 Material Safety Data Sheets 103, 255
gender roles, 101 Untitled No. 10, 206 Kahlo, Frida, The Two Fidas, (MSDS), 27 open composition, 32, 48,
genre, 36, 50, 85, 100, 254 Untitled No. 20, 205, 206 30, 31 materials, 3, 255 95, 256
Gentileschi, Artemisia, 32–3 Untitled No. 39, 203 Kame Kngwarreye, Emily, investigation, 26–7 Orr, Jill, 192–6
Self-portrait as the Allegory Hepworth, Barbara, 162–4 148–50 qualities and characteristics Ash, 194, 194, 195
of Painting, 30, 32–3, 32 Pelagos, 162–4, 162 Big Yam Dreaming, 148–9, of, 63–4, 121–3 Bleeding Trees, 193, 193
geometry, 151, 254 Sculpture with Colour (Deep 148 trialling, 64–5, 123–9 Cleansing, 196
Géricault, Théodore, 123–6, Blue and Red), 164 Kandinsky, Wassily, 54, 65 Matisse, Henri, 29 The Crossing, 195, 196
128 high key tones, 8, 9, 46, 110, Composition IV, 65 Mayakovsky, Vladimir, 84 Lost Malaysia, 196
Anatomical Pieces, 124 255 Kano painting, 154 media, trialling, 64 White Tree Spirit, 196
Head of Shipwrecked highly refined, 165, 255 key skills medium, 152, 255 overlays, 148, 149, 256
Man, 124 Hiroshige, Utagawa, 153–7 Unit 1 Outcome 2, 55, 63, Mejia-Correa, Diana, 120, 235
Heads of Guillotined Men, The Fifty-three Stations on 64, 65, 66, 69 Photoshop image in six painterly, 48, 115, 256
124 the Tàkaidà, 154, 155 Unit 2 Outcome 2, 119, 121, parts, 235 palette, 110, 256
Ink sketch of the survivors The Kinryuzan Temple at 123, 130, 132, 133 Thumbnail photographs, Panias, Kathryn, 132
calling to a boat as it sails Asakusa, 155, 156 kitsch, 59, 255 121 Abstract Painting Exploring
close by, 125 Odawara - Sakawa River, Klee, Paul, 82 metaphors, 7, 11, 193, 255 Greek Easter, 132
Preparatory work of the raft Travellers Crossing a River, Koestler, Arthur, 84 Michelangelo, 108–9, 112 panning, 35, 256
of Medusa, 125 153–7, 153 Kollwitz, Käthe, 89, 105 David, 112 paradox, 165, 166, 256
Preparatory work of the raft One Hundred Famous Views Women with Dead Child, Pietà, 100, 100, 108–9, 108 Parr, Mike, 52–3
of Medusa in oil paint, 126 in Edo, 154, 155 101, 101, 105, 105 Miller, Lewis, 85 Close the Concentration
The Raft of Medusa, 123, The Sixty-nine Stations of Kongo People, Nkisi nkondi mind maps, 20, 20, 56 Camps, 43, 43, 52–3,
123, 124 the Kisokaidà, 154 (female figure), 86–7, 87 minimalist, 165, 166, 255 87, 87
Sketch of the survivors Hirst, Damien, 110–11, 112, Kruger, Barbara, 183 mise-en-scene, 50, 255 Not the Hilton, 53
Index 259
paste-up, 208 terracotta warriors, 89, sight, 58 three-dimensional works, van Eyck, Jan, 58, 103
patrons, 86, 256 91, 91 Siopis, Penny, 59, 63, 247 162–7 The Arnolfini Portrait, 11,
Paule, Zoe, 178–80 Quinn, Marc, 36–7 Patience on a Monument: thumbnail photographs, 24, 24 11, 58, 58
Performance Art, 52, 192–6, DNA Garden, 37 A History of Painting, thumbnail sketches, 22–3, The Madonna of the
256 A Genomic Portrait: John 247, 247 60, 257 Chancellor Rolin, 86, 86,
persona, 41, 256 Sulston, 37 Still Life with Watermelon time, 15 100, 100, 103, 103, 137
personal frameworks, 12, Self, 31, 36–7, 36 and other Things, 59, 63 timelines van Gogh, Vincent, 56–7
29, 244 site specific, 173, 183, 257 dreams, 42–3 Self-portrait, 30, 30, 56
examples of use, 149, Rand, Paul, 237 sittings, one, 45, 117, 253 nightmares, 42–3 vandalism, 209
152, 155, 159–60, 163–4, Ray, Man, 168–70, 256 sketchbooks, 18, 244–5 self-portraiture, 29–30 vanitas, 59, 257
166–7, 170, 172 Self-portrait with Camera, sketches, thumbnail, 22–3, war and conflict, 88–9 variety, 9, 257
and reflective annotations, 169 60, 257 tombs, 91 Vaughan, Gerard, 116, 204
68–9 Untitled Rayograph, 168 slip, 90, 257 tones, 8 Velásquez, Diego, Las Meninas,
personal meaning, 55, 256 Rayographs, 168–70, 256 Smart, Jeffrey, Central Station high key, 8, 9, 46, 110, 255 10, 10
personal roles, 84 readymades, 38, 256 II, 4 low key, 51, 255 Venus of Willendorf, 112
perspective, 151, 256 realism, 256 smell, 59 Torres, Feliz Gonzales, 166 Vermeer van Delft, Jan, The Art
aerial, 95, 103, 148, 149, records, of research, 3 Smith, Chris, 203 touch, 58 of Painting, 2
188, 253 reference material, collecting, Smith, Jason, 49 translucent, 165, 257 Vigée-Le Brun, Élizabeth, 104
linear, 93, 103, 255 25–6 Smithson, Robert, 188–91 treasure boxes, 18 Portrait of Marie Antoinette
photograms, 57, 64, 64, 168, reflection, upon finished Earthworks, 188 trialling, approaches for, 64–5, and her Children, 100, 100,
171, 256 artworks, 27, 240 Map of Broken Glass, 190 123–9 104, 104
photographic media, 168–73 reflective annotations, 66–9, Nonsites, 190 triptych, 44, 257 visual elements, 257
photographic paper, 168, 171 132 Spiral Jetty, 189, 189 Tsai, Eugenie, 189 visual interpretations, 22–4,
photographs, 24, 107 Reinhardt, Ab, 72 solarisation, 169, 257 Tucker, Albert, Paris Street, 180 60–2
photomedia, 171, 256 relief carving, 163, 256 sound, 15, 59 visual language, 16–17, 29,
photorealism, 42, 256 reliefs, terracotta, 164, 257 source material, 25–6 Uccello, Paolo, 93 50, 55, 257
Picasso, Pablo, 98–9 religious values, 86 space, 9, 15 Niccolò Mauruzi da visual representation, 59
Guernica, 83, 89, 98–9, 98 Rembrandt Harmensz van spiritual values, 86 Tolentino at the Battle of visual rhythms, 257
pietá, 105, 256 Rijn, 56 stencil art, 208 San Romano, 88, 88, 89, visual stimuli, 18, 18
plagiarism, 25 Self-portrait, 56 sticker art, 208 93, 93 vitrines, 97, 111, 198, 257
politics, 86, 183 repetition, 9, 256 stimuli Ukiyo-e prints, 154–7 Vivian, Helen, 192, 194
Pollock, Jackson, 17, 122, 192 research found, 19 Unit 1 voyeur, 109, 115, 257
Lavender Mist, 122 collecting reference personally created, 19 assessment, 72, 79–80
pornography, 203 material, 25–6 visual, 18, 18 assessment criteria, 75, 81 war, 88–99, 183
portraiture, see self-portraiture organising, 3–4 Stokes, Adrian, 163 description, 28–9, 54–5 war artists, 85, 88
Postmodern style, 26, 99, your ideas, 22 storyboards, 35, 257 key skills, 55, 63, 64, 65, Ward, Bronwyn, Documentation
157, 256 resolution, 233, 238–40, 256 street art, 208–18, 209 66, 69 of photograph process, 243
presentation rhythm, 9 political, 86 student sample responses, Warhol, Andy, 111, 185
of final artworks, 245–7 Rice, David Talbot, 102 Strong, Geoff, 207 76–8 Green Coca-Cola Bottles,
of folios, 244–5 Roberts, Tom, The Openning student sample responses, tips for completing tasks, 63, 63
Prince, Richard, 55, 60 of the First Parliament of 76–8, 137–41, 178–80, 73–4 Marilyn Monroe, 63, 63
process the Commonwealth of 223–9 Unit 2 Self-portrait, 77
investigation, 26–7 Australia by H.R.H. The Duke styles, 7, 10–11 assessment, 134–5, 142–4 Wearing, Gillian, 40–1
of making art, 234 of Cornwell and York (later stylise, 102, 257 assessment criteria, 136, Album, 40–1, 40
trialling, 64–5, 123–9 H.M. King George V), May 9, stylised, 154, 257 145 Pin-Ups, 41
propaganda, 86, 256 1901, 85, 85 brushstrokes, 158, 257 description, 82–3, 118–19 Self Portrait at Three Years
prosthetic, 40, 256 Rocco style, 104, 256 subject matter, 153, 257 key skills, 119, 121, 123, Old, 40, 41
psyche, 42, 256 Rodin, Auguste, The Thinker, subjective, 49, 52, 257 130, 132, 133 Self-portrait as my Uncle
Purser, Nicky, 68–71, 129, 23, 23 Sulston, John, 37 student sample responses, Bryan, 31, 40–1, 40
235–7 Roman murals, 59, 60 surreal, 43, 44, 99, 257 137–41 Wei, Guan, see Guan Wei
Biro contour sketch, 69 Rorimor, Annie, 190 Surrealism, 38, 39, 168, 169, tips for completing tasks, Wilde, Oscar, 30
Biro sketch, 69 Rothko, Mark, 85 170, 192, 257 135 women
Charcoal 1, 235 round, in the, 108, 255 symbolism, 7, 11, 38, 42 Unit 3 in art, 183
Charcoal of Reclining Rousseau, Henri, The Dream, symbols, 257 assessment, 174–6, as artists, 32–3, 104
Figure, 236 84, 84 symmetrical, 8, 9, 257 248–51 Australian artists, 148–53
Charcoal of Standing Rrap, Julie, Persona and assessment criteria, 177, naked, 112–17
Nude, 237 Shadow, 184 tableau, 97, 257 252 woodblock graffiti, 208
Ink drawing of her Rubens, Peter Paul, The Three tangible forms, 167, 257 description, 146–8, 233 work, body of, 230, 253
granddad on a photocopy of Graces, 112 tapestry, 92 student sample responses,
a flight log, 68 taste, 59 178–80 Zhang Xiaogang, 106
Marker drawing on paper Saatchi, Charles, 197, 200 techniques, 7, 10, 257 tips for completing tasks, A Big Family, 101, 106, 106
with text, 68 safe practices, 27 investigation, 26–7 176 zooming, 35, 257
Oil experiments, 70 Saville, Jenny, 114–15 trialling, 64–5, 123–9 Unit 4
Oil sketch, 70 Propped, 113, 114–15, 114 teenagers, images of, 202–8 assessment, 219–21,
Oil sketch on paper, 71 scale, 25–6 tempera, 93, 115, 257 248–51
Old flying notebook, 68 screen dumps, 242 terracotta reliefs, 164, 257 assessment criteria, 222,
Pencil drawing (detailed Screenrights licences, 26 terracotta warriors, 88, 89, 252
trial), 129 sculpture, blood used for, 37 91, 91 description, 181, 187, 233
Resolved pencil drawing of sculptures, 162–7 textures, 8, 58, 62 student sample responses,
her grandfather, 129 secular, 100, 109, 256–7 Tezuka, Osamu, 34–5 223–9
Thumbnail photos of a girl selective focusing, 107, 257 Astro Boy, 34–5 unity, 9, 257
on the beach, 69 self-portraiture, 29–41, 56 Jigazou, 34 Unknown Roman Artist, Still
Watercolour 1, 235 self-reflection, 240 Kimba the White Lion, 34 Life with Peaches, 60
Watercolour of Reclining Sense of My World, 55–7 manga, 34–5 Utopian art, 148–50
Figure, 236 Serota, Nicholas, 110 Phoenix, 35
Watercolour of Standing Shakespeare, Dianne, 215 Self-portrait (movie) values
Nude (Final), 237 shallow space, 94, 257 Jigazou, 31, 31, 34, 34 in art, 197–201
shape, 8 Theotokos of Vladimir, 100, art challenging, 87
Qin Shi Huangdi, 91 Sharp, Wendy, 85 100, 102, 102 religious and spiritual, 86

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Art-iculate

Art for VCE Units 1–4

Cambridge University Press

© Kathryn Hendy-Ekers, Lou Chamberlin, Deryck Greenwood 2010

First published 2010

Cover design by Marianna Berek-Lewis

National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication data

ISBN 978-0-521-13811-6 paperback

Reproduction and Communication for educational purposes

For details of the CAL licence for educational institutions contact:

Copyright Agency Limited

Student CD-ROM licence

CHAPTER 1 Tools for researching, investigating and interpreting artworks 1

iv ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

CHAPTER 12 Investigation, interpretation, realisation and resolution 230

vi ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

About the cover

Andrew Pearce, Wodonga

viii ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

Units 3 – Area of Study 1

• substantiate interpretations of artworks with

Personal Framework icon

Cultural Framework icon

Contemporary Framework icon

Student CD-ROM icon

Web resources icon

x ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

TIPS FOR toCO

will read how

Detailed assessment Assessment criteria Student sample responses –

3 Student and teacher website

Figure 0.1 Vincent Van Gogh, Memory of the Garden

xii ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4 1

art criticism: the

Figure 1.1 Jan Vermeer

2 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

CHAPTER 1 Tools for researching, investigating and interpreting artworks 3

4 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

CHAPTER 1 Tools for researching, investigating and interpreting artworks 5

6 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

CHAPTER 1 Tools for researching, investigating and interpreting artworks 7

Design element description Analysis questions

Design principle description Analysis questions

8 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

CHAPTER 1 Tools for researching, investigating and interpreting artworks 9

Questions to ask when analysing techniques in an artwork:

10 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

Metaphor and symbolism

Questions you can ask when analysing symbolism in an artwork.

In The Arnolﬁni Portrait, the artist has used signiﬁcant

CHAPTER 1 Tools for researching, investigating and interpreting artworks 11

An example of how to apply the Personal Framework, using

The Cultural Framework

12 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

Examples of how to apply the Cultural Framework to a variety of

CHAPTER 1 Tools for researching, investigating and interpreting artworks 13

14 ART-ICULATE Art for VCE Units 1–4

The Formal Framework and

An example of how to apply the Formal Framework to a