University of Sydney Handbooks - 2019 Archive

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Visual Arts (Degree)

Visual Arts (Degree)

The following units are only available to Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies students

Visual Arts

Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies

To qualify for the award of Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies, a candidate must complete 192 credit points including:
(i) 72 credit points of Studio units
(ii) 24 credit points of Art History units, of which 12 credit points must be from 1000 level and 12 credit points must be from 2000 or 3000 level.
(iii) A major from Table S, excluding the Visual Arts major
(iv) 12 credit points of Open Learning Environment units from Table O
(v) a minimum of 24 credit points at 4000 level from this table
(vi) elective units from this table, Table O or Table S where appropriate

Bachelor of Visual Arts

To qualify for the award of Bachelor of Visual Arts, a candidate must complete 144 credit points including:
(i) 72 credit points of Studio units
(ii) 24 credit points of Art History units, of which 12 credit points must be from 1000 level and 12 credit points must be from 2000 or 3000 level
(iii) 48 credit points from Elective units in this table, Table O or Table S, which may, optionally include a minor or major, excluding the Visual Arts major or minor

Studio units

1000 level units of study

CASF1001 Studio Foundation 1

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x3hour studio class/week Assessment: reearch file/process diary (20%), academic led peer review (20%), project/s (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio Foundation 1 you will experience a variety of Image, Object, and Screen processes. Through these 2, 3, and 4 Dimensional projects you will engage with content particular to each field of enquiry. This is designed to develop your creative engagement, conceptual understanding, and problem solving skills within a studio environment.
CASF1002 Studio Foundation 2

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CASF1001 Prohibitions: CAST1001 Assessment: 1x1350wd equivalent PROJECT/S (60%), 1x450wd equivalent ACADEMIC LED PEER REVIEW (20%), 1x450wd equivalent RESEARCH FILE/PROCESS DIARY (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Studio Foundation 2 continues your investigation of 2, 3, and 4 Dimensional fields of enquiry and culminates in a final X Dimensional (Interdisciplinary) project. Here, you will build on the skills and thinking developed throughout the year and deepen your understanding of Contemporary Art by merging modes of studio practice.

2000 level units of study

CAST2001 Studio 1

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CASF1002 or CAST1001 Assessment: 1x1150wd equivalent Studio Project 1 (50%), 1x550wd equivalent Studio Project 2 (25%), 1x550wd equivalent Studio Project 3 (25%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio 1 you will engage intensively with one area of emphasis by choosing assessment tasks in Ceramics, Glass, Jewellery, Painting, Photography, Printmedia, Sculpture or Screen Arts. You will develop specialist skills and deepen your critical and conceptual competencies through structured feedback and the support of Production workshops.
CAST2002 Studio 2

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CAST2001 or EXCH2005 Assessment: 1x1350wd equivalent Studio Project 2 (60%), 1x900wd equivalent Studio Project 1 (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio 2 you will continue to engage intensively with one area of emphasis with growing independence. Through self-directed projects in Ceramics, Glass, Jewellery, Painting, Photography, Printmedia, Sculpture or Screen Arts you will further develop your specialised studio skills and theoretical and conceptual competencies.

3000 level units of study

CAST3001 Studio 3

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CAST2002 or EXCH2005 Assessment: 1x1600wd equivalent Studio Project (70%), 1x650wd equivalent Studio Proposal (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio 3 you will produce a body of work that is conceptually, technically and aesthetically of exhibition quality that also demonstrates a rigorous process of research analysis and critical awareness. Outcomes produced at the 2000 level can act as a starting point for this unit's self-directed project or you may take an entirely new direction. engagement with a critical context relevant to your professional practice. Reflective of an emerging art practice you will seek to make a significant contribution to innovation regarding the production and realisation of your work.
CAST3002 Studio 4

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: CAST3001 or EXCH3005 Assessment: 1x1600wd equivalent Studio Project (70%), 1x650wd equivalent Studio Proposal (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Studio 4 you will produce a body of work for the graduate exhibition. You are expected to refine your skills to produce final outcomes that demonstrate a rigorous process of research, analysis and critical awareness. This is designed to prepare you for professional life, independent art practice and/or postgraduate study.

Art History units

1000 level units of study
ARHT1001 Style and Substance: Introducing Art History

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 2x1000wd object analysis (40%), 1x2500wd research project (50%), tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Taking a diverse, global view of art making from the Ancient to the Modern world, ARHT1001 will introduce students to key philosophical and methodological approaches in the field of Art History. As our experiences are increasingly mediated through a variety of visual platforms, this course will help students develop critical perspectives on visual communication. The development of professional skill sets will be a key focus. As such, the course serves as an essential introduction to Art History for those considering a career in the arts, education, or the museum and design sectors.
ARHT1002 Shock of the Now: Global Art since 1900

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr Lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x1000wd Visual Test (30%), 1x2000wd research essay (40%), 1x1500wd Exhibition/Artwork Review Blog (20%), 1x Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Art shapes our cities, streets, galleries, phones and minds. It is now made with every conceivable material, and sometimes none at all. It shocks, challenges, soothes, entertains, engrosses and overwhelms us. This unit charts the history of Modern and Contemporary Art across the world, as it is shaped by and shapes society, politics and environment. It shows current concerns in art , with materials, landscape, self-image, politics, and the body are grounded in a century of global experiment
2000 level units of study
ARHT2614 Pollock to Psychedelia

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in American Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1500wd Artworks review (40%), 1x3000wd Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit studies the interplay between high art and popular culture in America from the 1950s onwards. Pop Art, Minimalism and Performance formed alongside emerging youth cultures of political protest, drugs and rock music. We examine the interactions of high art, youth culture and mass media.
ARHT2640 Contemporary Asian Art

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Asian Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2040 Assessment: 1x1000wd visual test (20%), 1x1500wd analysis of key term or area (30%), 1x2000wd essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores contemporary art from across Asia since World War II. The unit places artistic developments, curatorial practice, and artworks within the context of rapid geo-political and socio-cultural change, particularly exploring the effects of nationalism and globalisation.
ARHT2671 Art, Travel, Empires

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2-hr lecture/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2071 Assessment: 1x2500wd essay (60%), 1x2000wd visual analysis exercise (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines art and the culture of travel from a post-colonial perspective. The work of European Orientalists will be analysed alongside work by North African, Persian and Ottoman artists and in conjunction with photography, international exhibitions, travel literature and film
ARHT2616 High Renaissance Art

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2016 Assessment: 1x2000wd Visual assignment (40%), 1x2500wd Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The Unit of Study will explore a range of alternative approaches to some of the most famous works of art in the Western tradition, including works by Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Titian. Topics to be investigated include: problems of definition in High Renaissance and Mannerist art; Rome under Julius II and the creation of an imperial capital; Venetian visual poesie; art and dynastic display in Medicean Florence; civic ritual and public space; eroticism and mythology at princely courts; portraiture and gender.
ARHT2676 Planetary Art: Nature, Ecology, Environment

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr x (face to face) lecture/week, 1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level Assessment: 1x1500wd Research Essay (40%), 1x2000wd Visual Analysis (40%), 1x1000wd Paired learning research project (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit studies contemporary and historical artists in relation to today's environmental crisis. Students engage with how art objects and artmaking relate to issues pertaining to nature, ecology, and the environment. Through visual and textual analysis, students gain interdisciplinary perspectives on art's place within contemporary posthumanist theories, the significance of ecological thinking to contemporary aesthetics, art's historical response to the impact of science and technology, and art's recognition of the importance of Indigenous knowledges to planetary ethics.
ARHT2653 Memory of the World: Key Films

This unit of study is not available in 2019

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: (ARHT1001 and ARHT1002) or 18 Junior credit points including ENGL1011 or 6 Senior credit points from ICLS Prohibitions: ARHT2053 Assessment: 1x1500wd film analysis (30%), 1x2500wd Essay (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
1. A historical study of independent cinema, or New Wave movements in post-World War II Europe, including Italian Neo- Realism, the French New Wave and New German Cinema among others. 2. The study of Gilles Deleuze's thesis about these cinematic movements and concepts. 3. A study of the idea of Epic cinema cross-culturally so as to understand how memory is erased, sustained and created anew by film.
ARHT2678 Islamic Art and Architecture

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 x hour lecture/week, 1 x hour tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Art History major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x500wd (or equivalent) class oral presentation (10%), 1000wd short answer test (25%), 1x1000wd tutorial paper (25%), 1x2000wd essay or research project (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
We survey the complex arts, architecture and material culture of the Islamic world and explore critical debates that help us relate different traditions that encompass this broad category of visual culture. We introduce important global, transcultural, and transregional currents in art history through an object-oriented approach to teaching that includes the on-site study of gallery and museum collections.
ARHT2632 Modern Australian Art and Cinema

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2032 Assessment: 1x2000wd Essay (50%), 1x1hr Short-answer exam (30%), 1x1500wd Seminar paper (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit examines Australian art, cinema and popular imagery from 1880-1940, situating them within the global history of modernism and modernity. Themes include the landscape tradition, national identity, war, gender, and indigenous issues, with special focus on the Australian film industry.
ARHT2674 Fashion and Dress: Past and Present

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1000wd text analysis (25%), 1x1000wd visual analysis (25%), 1x2500wd research essay (40%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit offers an introduction to the study of dress through the discussion of major theories and methodologies that inform current scholarship in the field. With a focus on designers, wearers, and cultural practices of dressing the body, the unit will question how dress communicates as a form of visual expression.
ARHT2677 Art, Memory, and Identity

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr x (face to face) lecture/week, 1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level Assessment: 1x1500wd Research Essay (40%), 1x2000wd Visual analysis (40%), 1x1000wd Paired learning research project (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students study contemporary and historical art in relation to collective or public memory, as well as personal memory. Memory as a subject, and memory as a tool, are considered in relation to the making of art objects and their reading. The unit looks at art's connection with the past, with history, trauma, loss and remembrance, as well as art's connection with identity, dreams, and childhood. Students gain informed perspectives on how memory is theorised as a phenomenon both real and imaginary, and why it memory often judged as more important to art than history.
ARHT2652 From Silent to Sound Cinema

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2052 Assessment: 1x1000wd equiv video portfolio (30%), 1x1000wd video essay plan (20%), 1x2500wd equiv video essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Examining cinema as a manifestation of modernity, this unit of study contextualizes early film as art, commodity, industry, institution and mass production of the senses. It introduces students to the study of the history and aesthetics of silent cinema, including major genres such as melodrama and slapstick, and the impacts of the transition to sound.
3000 level units of study
ARHT3673 Art and the Aesthetics of the Everyday

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr x (face to face) lecture/week, 1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Art History major or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1500wd Research Essay (40%), 1x2000wd Extended Visual Analysis (40%), 1x1000wd Paired learning research project (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students study contemporary and historical art made in response to the ebb and flow of daily life and the material conditions of the street, the city, and the home. They study key texts of the art and politics of the everyday and topics related to the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century theory and practice. Students will focus on artists who heighten awareness of the banal and mundane, of the detritus of life, of gendered distinctions between home and city, and the paradoxical revelation of the marvelous in the everyday.
ARHT3636 Issues in Indigenous Art

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Indigenous Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2636 Assessment: 1x3500wd Essay (70%), 1x1000wd Exhibition Review (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit focuses on critical and theoretical issues affecting Indigenous art practice today. The parameters of cross-cultural understanding will be addressed. Key ideas derived from Indigenous cultures, language and identity will be debated.
ARHT3646 Modern Art in East Asia

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Asian Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2646 Assessment: 1x2500wd Essay (40%), 1x1000wd Visual Analysis (40%), 1x1000wd Oral Presentation and Paper (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit investigates key debates about the visual culture of East Asia in the early modern and modern eras. The impact of profound political and social changes on cultural identity will be explored in depth. We also consider the role of art in addressing evolving identities and increasing globalisation in the region.
ARHT3677 CInema Spectatorship

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Film Studies major or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2655 Assessment: 1x2250wd equivalent Film Sequence Analysis (50%), 1x2250wd Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
What is the nature of the cinematic experience? How do we think about some of those experiences that cinema provides that we value so much as spectators? In this unit we will closely view some of the key films central to debates on cinema spectatorship in Film Studies, as well as examining more recent developments in the field.
ARHT3674 Objects and Problems: Old Regime Europe

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Art History Major or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x2000wd Reflective Journal (30%), 1x1500wd Group Presentation and Write-up (30%), 1x1000wd Individual Object Presentation (20%), 1x1500wd Object Research task (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the art of Old Regime Europe, C. 1600-1789, through intensive study of objects from the period in local collections. Students will use their encounter with artworks in situ and up close to examine how art engages the power structures, ideologies, habits and daily lives of the courts and cities of eighteenth-century Europe.
ARHT3633 Contemporary Australian Art and Film

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2633 Assessment: 1x2000wd equiv group curatorial project (40%), 1x2500wd essay (50%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
What are the current debates and issues driving Australian art and film? We explore contemporary studio practices through screenings, on-site gallery visits and the study of works in university and other local art and film collections.
ARHT3601 Cinematic Transformations

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Digital Cultures or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1000wd montage analysis (20%), 1x750wd online group assessment task (15%), 1x2000wd research essay (35%), 1x750wd blog (20%), tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
What is the cinematic object of the twenty-first century? Where do we locate the essence of a medium that has undergone such a radical transformation? This course examines the intersection of film, digital cinema, and new media experiences such as YouTube, machinima and mobile cinema. Where many have spoken of the death of cinema in a digital era, we will conceptualise the complexity of cinema's evolution from its earliest celluloid incarnation to the technologies of digital simulation.

Elective units of study

CAPP2003 Professional Placement for Artists

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2-hour seminar/week Assessment: visual diary (30%) and final report (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit of study provides you with direct experience of working closely with nationally and internationally acclaimed professional artists in the context of key art events including the Sydney Biennale and ISEA , as well as in leading museums and contemporary art spaces and significant artists' studios.
You will have access to discussions and interactions between artists and national and international curators, as well participate in the exhibition production process, including production management, technical and preparatory methodologies, publicity and promotion. In addition, you can choose to undertake an internship with the organisation itself, to develop your understanding of the expectations and responsibilities of professional practice, including insights into: the creation and presentation of contemporary art, marketing and promotion, curatorial decision making, administration, funding structures, audience development, publication, and working relationships with artist, writers and conference speakers.

Honours

In addition to the requirements in the degree resolutions, admission to Honours in Visual Arts requires:
(i) completion of the requirements of the pass degree of the Bachelor of Visual Arts, or a Major in Visual Arts in an undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney or an equivalent degree from another university with a weighted average mark (WAM) of at least 65 across all 2000- and 3000-level units; and
(ii) presentation of a research proposal outlining the proposed topic of investigation; and
(iii) for students not in the Bachelor of Visual Arts, presentation of a portfolio of creative work demonstrating level of expertise for honours level.
(i) 36 credit points of 4000-level core Honours units, either by studio practice and research paper; or by dissertation.
Achievement of Honours in Visual Arts requires 36 credit points of 4000-level core Honours units, either by studio practice and research paper; or by dissertation from this table:

By studio practice and research paper

CAHO4005 Research Honours Seminar

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1-hour lecture/week and 1x1-hour seminar/week Corequisites: CAHO4001 or CAHO4003 Assessment: 1x2,000-word essay (50%) and 1xseminar presentation (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study serves as a point of articulation between the Honours paper and the studio practice. In this unit students will establish a methodology where members of the cohort will be able to identify philosophies, theories and the dynamics that are central to their art practice. It takes the research proposal as a starting point, to generate critical discussion and develop ideas. Theories discussed can include, but are not limited to, materialism, relational aesthetics and representation. This unit of study also provides a framework within which you will develop an essential understanding of research methodologies to support your individual project. Topics covered will include approaches to researching, the author's voice and its role in the text and organising and structuring documents. You are expected to further develop your critical and analytical skills in readings, discussion and essay writing. You will write a paper identifying the ideas and theories central to your project and present an individual seminar on your developing studio research.

By dissertation

CAHO4005 Research Honours Seminar

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1-hour lecture/week and 1x1-hour seminar/week Corequisites: CAHO4001 or CAHO4003 Assessment: 1x2,000-word essay (50%) and 1xseminar presentation (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study serves as a point of articulation between the Honours paper and the studio practice. In this unit students will establish a methodology where members of the cohort will be able to identify philosophies, theories and the dynamics that are central to their art practice. It takes the research proposal as a starting point, to generate critical discussion and develop ideas. Theories discussed can include, but are not limited to, materialism, relational aesthetics and representation. This unit of study also provides a framework within which you will develop an essential understanding of research methodologies to support your individual project. Topics covered will include approaches to researching, the author's voice and its role in the text and organising and structuring documents. You are expected to further develop your critical and analytical skills in readings, discussion and essay writing. You will write a paper identifying the ideas and theories central to your project and present an individual seminar on your developing studio research.

Advanced Coursework

The requirements for advanced coursework in Art History are described in the degree resolutions for the Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies.
24-36 credit points of advanced study will be included in the table for 2020.