AOS 1: Artists, artworks and audiences

Key knowledge

  • the practices of artists from different periods of time and cultures
  • the use of the Structural Lens and the Personal Lens to analyse and interpret artworks
  • the use of personal opinions and points of view about artworks
  • the ways artists use visual language to communicate ideas and meaning in their artworks
  • terminology used in discussion of artists and their artworks

Key skills

  • analyse and discuss the practices of artists from different periods of time and cultures
  • apply relevant aspects of the Structural Lens and the Personal Lens to analyse and interpret artworks
  • formulate and justify personal opinions with reference to artworks and related sources
  • analyse and discuss how artists use visual language to communicate ideas and meaning in their artworks
  • use appropriate art terminology and references to a range of sources in the discussion of artists and their artworks

TASK

Research and analyse three artists, their practices and their artworks using the Structural and Personal Lenses as a framework to guide your inquiry.

Choosing artists (requirements):

  • Different periods of time (pre 2000 historical, post 2000 contemporary)
  • Different cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
  • One Australian artist
  • An artist whose work shows relationships between the artist and the audience through the artwork (collaboration)

Guide for each artist:

  • Provide example of artwork, source, didactic information – Title, Date, Technique / Medium.
  • Is it a historical or contemporary artwork?
  • Use art terminology and a range of references to support your inquiry

Research

  • Choose artists for whom there is sufficient background information so that the inquiry can be deep and broad.
  • The sources should be many, varied and reliable.
  • Acknowledge and record all sources.
  • You must conduct research on a minimum of one artwork per artist.

For each artwork:

Describe

  • Use the Interpretive Lenses (Structural and Personal); refer to the elements and principles.
  • What do you see and / or hear? Include both the physical object and the visual and/or aural elements and principles. Imagine you’re describing it for someone who can’t see it. Start with a general overview and then become detailed.

Analyse

  • How did the artist make the work? Examine and discuss the materials, techniques, and processes.
  • What aesthetic (visual) decisions did they make?
  • Does the origin, location or presentation of the work influence the audience interpretation? This considers the context of the work.

Interpret

  • What message is the artist trying to communicate to the audience?
  • How and why did they do that?
  • How do the art elements / principles help to communicate meaning?
  • How has the artist used symbolism?
  • Who was the intended audience at the time the work was made?
  • How would an audience from a different time react?

Opinion

  • Formulate and justify an opinion. What do I think or feel? How do I relate to the artwork?
  • What do I think of the artwork? Why?
  • What evidence supports your response?

Different opinions

  • Interview a person whose life is quite different from your own, showing them the work and gathering their responses.
    Are they different?
    In what way?
    Why?

Key for choosing artists:

Suggested artists:

  • Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael) (1483–1520) Italian. Narrative painting, humanism. HIST, COLL
  • Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) Swedish. Watercolourist, identity, and spirituality. HIST, COLL
  • Edward Burra (1905–1976) British. Large-scale watercolours of African American culture, 1930’s Harlem. HIST
  • Marlene Gilson (1944– ) Australian. Narratives of her ancestorial land that re- evaluates history. FNA, CON
  • Badger Bates (1947– ) Australian. Lino, wood cut, carving. Barkandji elder (lower Darling River) whose works are about his connection to the river and its ecosystems. CON, FNA
  • Grayson Perry (1960– ) British. Ceramics and tapestries, themes relate to identity, interior landscapes and personal obsessions. CON
  • Tracey Moffatt (1960– ) Australian. Film, photography and video, works often of a narrative nature, Indigenous concerns. CON, COLL
  • Vik Muniz (1961– ) Brazilian / American. Memory perception use of metaphor to recreate iconic artworks with new contemporary meanings that ask the audience to question. COLL CON
  • Tracey Emin (1963– ) British. Mixed media including installations, works are biographical and often of a confessional nature. CON
  • Jules de Balincourt (1972– ) French / American. Saturated colourful paintings on the human cost of mainstream culture. CON
  • Laith McGregor (1977– ) Australian. Drawing, painting and sculpture. Intricate drawings using ballpoint pen reflect on ideas to do with portraiture and identity. CON
  • Vincent Namatjira (1983– ) Australian. Figurative painter whose works deal with issues to do with First Nations people. CON, FNA

Assessment options:

  • An extended written response
  • Short answer responses with visual references
  • Digital presentation eg. Slide show or interactive website
  • Oral presentation

AOS 1 Example

*Laith McGregor link: example slide show