Fine Art BA (Hons) module details

Year one

Block 1 and 2: Investigation and Exploration 1, and 2

Studio teaching is structured by broad themes that introduce students to the skills and knowledge required to engage with global contemporary art practice. Each theme will be introduced to the you in an introductory lecture and you will have the option to work under a specific theme during this block of teaching. Module themes are Memory and Place, Material and Meaning, Multiculturalism and Identity, and Reimagining.

Within each of these themes you will be introduced to various processes both traditional and contemporary that will allow you to explore working through different media. These processes include but are not limited to: Printmaking, Painting, Drawing, Digital and Analogue Media (DAM), Construction (Metalwork, Plaster, Woodwork, 3D printing), and Performance.

Knowledge of these processes will give you the agility necessary for both a specialist focus and interdisciplinary working that engagement with the contemporary art world requires.

You will engage with studio workshop teaching, tutorials and crits, both 1:1 and group, and will keep a developmental and contextual journal in the form of a Blog. You will also participate in a weekly observational drawing workshop and a weekly art history lecture and seminar.

Assessment: 50% practical, 25% drawing and 25% research summary.

Block 3 and Block 4: Development and Consolidation 1, and 2

Assessment: 50% practical, 25% negotiated project and 25% research summary.

Year two

Block 1: Studio Practice Development 1

This block will give you the experience of responding to externalities while supporting development of an individual practice. You will be taught through studio workshops, tutorials, crits and lectures. You will be required to record your developing practical and contextual research and understanding in a blog.

Assessment: 80% practical, 25% negotiated project and 25% research summary.

Block 2: Art History and Theory 1

We will provide you with relevant research and study skills, and introduce underlying methods, principles and concepts of art history and theory. Teaching will be delivered through lectures, seminars and workshops. The lecture series will introduce you to the history and key theories of modern art and the origins of postmodernism. Seminars will require you to engage with close reading giving you the necessary skills to complete a Textual Analysis This will give you a foundational planning document which you will use to support writing the Essay. The writing workshops will enable you to acquire the skills required to produce an essay at this level and include researching skills, referencing and academic writing for Fine Art.

Assessment: 70% essay and 30% textual analysis.

Block 3: Studio Practice Development 2

You will build on experience gained in the thematic projects in block 1 by embarking on your own individual negotiated studio practice projects.

This module will complete your shift into fully self-directed practice in a supportive environment of tutorials, and crits, peer-to-peer learning, with access to the range of workshops and resources appropriate to each project.

Assessment: 80% studio practice and 20% research blog.

Block 4: Professional Practice 1

You will document research undertaken to support your understanding of professional practice in fine art, and career pathways for fine artists. You will plan and execute a negotiated outward-facing project: this could comprise, but is not limited to, exhibitions, community engagement, volunteering and work experience. Teaching will be delivered through lectures, seminars, workshops, and study visits.

Assessment: 60% negotiated project and 40% research summary.

Year three

Block 1: Art Practice 1

This block requires you to identify an individual path supported by tutorials and crit sessions to enhance your capacity for independent learning and development.

Fundamental to this block will be engagement with the contemporary art world through lectures, contextual research and visits to exhibitions. You will have access to the full range of workshops and resources appropriate to your emerging individual practices and are expected to keep a developmental and contextual journal on their Blog.

Assessment: 80% studio practice and 20% research blog.

Block 2: Art History and Theory 2

This block supports the writing of an Essay that enables you to place your studio practice and thinking in a specific conceptual and theoretical context. You will be taught through a series of lectures, seminars and tutorials that interrogate key issues in contemporary art over the last 30 years. Each lecture discusses a range of artworks, contextualised with relevant theoretical debates. The Essay topic will be negotiated to best develop your critical understanding in relation to your individual practice. Workshops will enable the you to hone your writing strategies and will provide ongoing feedback on writing tasks.

Assessment: 70% essay and 30% annotated bibliography.

Block 3: Art Practice 2

This block requires you to synthesise, consolidate and refine your individual projects, which will culminate in an exhibition at the DMU Degree Show. Learning is supported by lectures tutorials, staff- and peer-led crit sessions to enhance independent learning and development. You will have access to the full range of workshops and resources appropriate to their individual practices.

Engagement with the current debates in contemporary art through lectures, contextual research and visits to exhibitions, will build your ability to articulate a position in a reflective statement supported by research in your contextual and developmental Blog.

Assessment: 80% studio practice (exhibition) and 20% reflective statement.

Block 4: Professional Practice 2

You will develop appropriate materials for dissemination and promotion of your practice. This will include documentation of work, professional CV, websites and social media platforms, artist statements and press releases, catalogues, including participation in Degree Show catalogue and planning. Teaching will be delivered through lectures, seminars, workshops, and curatorial study visits.

Assessment: 100% professional portfolio.