AOS 2: The Creative Practice

Key knowledge

  • methods used to experiment with and explore materials, techniques and processes using the Creative Practice
  • ways to develop personal visual responses by investigating the practices of artists
  • the use of visual language to communicate ideas of personal interest
  • inherent properties of materials and their use in a range of art forms
  • the use of materials, techniques and art forms to make personal visual responses
  • ways the relationships between the artist, the artwork and the viewer or audience communicate meaning in artworks 
  • the use of the Structural Lens and the Personal Lens to interpret meaning in visual responses

Key skills

  • experiment with and explore materials, techniques and processes using the Creative Practice
  • investigate the practices of artists to develop personal visual responses
  • use visual language to communicate ideas of personal interest
  • explore and experiment with materials, techniques and processes in a range of art forms to make personal visual responses
  • explore how the relationships between the artist, the artwork, and the viewer or audience communicate meaning in artworks
  • apply the Structural Lens and the Personal Lens to interpret meaning in visual responses

TASK

You will use the Creative Practice to develop and make visual responses informed by your exploration of personal interests and ideas.

You will produce a range of personal visual responses to a selection of set tasks, showing the exploration of ideas, materials, and techniques in at least three art forms.

Note: there is no requirement for finished works to be made, though you will produce a series of studies.

Art form 1: Printmaking / Drawing / Taking a dot for a walk

See 1.0 Transition page for activities and related content to artist Laith McGregor

Etching – intaglio

Lino – relief

Monotypes. link to slideshow HERE.

Art form 2: Digital / photography / screen

Review the basics of photography:

LINK: Introduction to photography – the basics

Pictorialism – The beginnings of experimental photography

Edward Steichen, Flatiron Building, 1904
Imogen Cunningham, Dream, 1910
Clarence H. White, Morning, 1908

Further artists: Alfred Stieglitz, Robert Demachy Hugo Henneberg, Constant Puyo (and others)

Read background: https://www.britannica.com/technology/Pictorialism

Watch quick introduction to Pictorialism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuxeQD9AjXQ

Watch Pictorialism exhibition video: HERE

Write and collect:

  • What was the aim of Pictorialism?
  • Using language from the Elements and Principles, describe its aesthetic (Elements plus principles = style, mood, feeling).
  • Collect images from Pictorialism (include didactic info and URL)
  • Annotate – how could you apply this approach to your own ideas and body of work?

Surrealism – Experimental photography

Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky) Noire et blanche, 1926
Dora Maar, Untitled (Hand-Shell), 1934
John Stezaker: Pair IV, 2007, Collage
Philippe Halsman, Dali Atomicus, 1948

Insight into Philippe Halsman’s image via link HERE.

Watch: Surrealism in Art https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/dada-and-surrealism/xdc974a79:surrealism/v/the-case-for-surrealism-the-art-assignment-pbs-digital-studios

Notes:

  • What did Surrealism aim to achieve?
  • List some of the movement’s key visual characteristics

Photoshop (Ps)

The basics: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/photoshop/how-to/ps-basics-fundamentals.html

All tutorials: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/photoshop/tutorials.html

Ps exercises

3D RGB channels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOpWt-ivloQ

Solarising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhX00QMiiOU

Multiplicity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3spT03p0XAQ

Double exposure: https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/make-a-trendy-double-exposure-effect-in-adobe-photoshop–cms-23774

Photo print interventions

Greg Sand, Remnants: Betty
Woven Digital Prints from Found Photographs,
2011, 5″ x 4″
Maurizio Anzeri, embroidery on photo prints

Greg Sand: https://gregsand.net/

Maurizio Anzeri: https://www.saatchigallery.com/artist/maurizio_anzeri

Contemporary artists

Petrina Hicks (AUS). Representation of female identity through history. Surreal arrangements.

Artist’s website: Petrina Hicks

NGV exhibition “Bleached Gothic”: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/petrina-hicks/

Michael Reid: https://michaelreid.com.au/artist/petrina-hicks/?v=322b26af01d5

Art form 3: 3D / off the wall / spatial practice / site specific

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran (Aus) 

https://concreteplayground.com/melbourne/event/ramesh-mario-nithiyendran-undergod

https://www.broadsheet.com.au/national/art-and-design/article/studio-visit-ramesh-mario-nithiyendran-figurative-sculptures-and-carving-his-own-path

Nell (Aus)

https://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artist/nell
https://www.timeout.com/sydney/art/nell-at-the-national

https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/artists/nell/

Both artists are multidisciplinary and work across different art forms and mediums.

Compare the practice of both artists.