University of Sydney Handbooks - 2020 Archive

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Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies

Semester 2 2020 unit of study availability

Some Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences units of study originally intended to run in Semester 2, 2020 are no longer available.

A full and up-to-date list of units of study available in Semester 2, 2020 from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, can be found on this webpage.
 

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
ARHT2612 Forming Power: 17th Century Art and Design

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mark Donald De-Vitis Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points in ARHT1001, ARHT1002 or ENGL1011 Prohibitions: ARHT2012 Assessment: 1x1500wd visual analysis (25%), 1x1000wd text analysis (20%), 1x2000wd research essay (45%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
At the great courts of the seventeenth century, artists painted, sculpted and built vast programs of works to completely overwhelm the senses. Grand pavilions and gardens, sumptuous clothes and décor, and extravagant spectacles drew audiences into a world shaped by artifice and etiquette. This course will consider why the artist was an essential ally for those with absolutist ambitions.
ARHT2614 Pollock to Psychedelia

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
ARHT2616 High Renaissance Art

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
ARHT2618 French Art, Salon to Cezanne

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: ARHT2018 Assessment: 1x3000wd Essay (60%), 1x1500wd Gallery exercise (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit treats French Art in terms of the cultural structures that allowed academic art, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism to emerge. Mainstream art is studied alongside emerging avant-gardes. Other topics include nationalism, exoticism, and peripheral versus metropolitan modernism.
ARHT2624 Sensation: Contemporary Art

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: ARHT1001 and ARHT1002 Prohibitions: ARHT2024 Assessment: 1x2500wd essay or curatorial proposal (50%), 1x1000wd exhibition review (20%), 1x1000wd class presentation in situ (20%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit to students enrolled in the BA (Advanced) degree program.
What is contemporary art? Today we encounter art on our phones, in the street, at festivals, in the natural environment as well as in galleries. We explore art's expanded field from a global perspective. Themes include the art of de-colonisation, globalization, art and environment, feminism and queer art, traditional and new media, art as spectacle, art curating, aesthetic value, art and the everyday. We spend time at the Biennale of Sydney, explore university collections and city galleries, adding our voices to current art debate.
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.
ARHT2636 Contemporary Aboriginal Art

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: (ARHT1001 and ARHT1002) or 12 Junior credit points in GCST, SCLG, ANTH, ENGL1008, ENGL1026, PHIL1011 or PHIL1013 Prohibitions: ARHT2036 Assessment: 1x3000wd Essay (60%), 1x1500wd Exhibition review (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Aboriginal and Torres Strait art is the major Australian movement of the last 50 years. Surveying its development from Papunya Tula to the present, the unit focuses on critical issues like appropriation and copyright, art and native title, women artists, the market and curatorial practices.
ARHT2640 Contemporary Asian Art

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
ARHT2645 Arts in Imperial China

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 Assessment: 1x750wd descriptive analysis exercise (15%), 1x1500wd comparative analysis exercise (30%), 1x2250wd research exercise (45%), tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the art, architecture and material culture of dynastic China (ca. 3000 BCE-1900), contextualizing works within the region's diverse social, political and cultural histories. The unit foregrounds focused interpretation of individual works through visual and material analysis.
ARHT2671 Art, Travel, Empires

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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
ARHT2674 Fashion and Dress: Past and Present

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
ARHT2675 Fieldwork: Art at the Gallery

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x 1000wd Object Analysis (20%), 1x 500wd Acquistion Highlight (25%), 1x 3000wd Research Project (40%), 1x Participation (15%) Mode of delivery: Field experience
Note: Taught as a three-hour block. To meet the agreement we have established with our industry partner, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, this unit will be taught as a three-hour block. This structure allows us to engage in focused and extended object-based learning activities, the logistics and pedagogy of which require an extended block of time. Teaching in a three hour block means less disruption to the gallery's schedule.
Working in partnership with leading museums, this unit introduces students to object-based learning, and the study of artworks in situ. Driven by hands-on learning experiences, students will develop a core set of analytical and professional skills through the close examination of artworks as material and physical objects.
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 in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x1500wd Research Essay (40%), 1x2,000wd Visual Analysis (40%), 1x1,000wd 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.
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 in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies 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.
ARHT2678 Islamic Art and Architecture

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 x hour lecture/week, 1 x hour tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts 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.
FILM2000 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 the Film Studies major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Art History major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Critical Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major Prohibitions: ARHT2052 or ARHT2652 Assessment: 1x1000wd equivalent Video portfolio (30%), 1x1000wd Video essay plan (20%), 1x2500wd equivalent 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
ARHT3610 Art in the Age of Giotto

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Senior credit points in Art History Prohibitions: ARHT2610 Assessment: 1x500wd Bibliography (10%), 1x500wd Essay Proposal (20%), 1x3500wd Essay (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit investigates art produced in Italy during the 14th century for a range of patrons, from bankers and merchants to kings, princes, city states and new religious orders like the Franciscans. Traditional narratives are critiqued and alternative interpretations encouraged.
ARHT3617 British Art and Empire

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History Prohibitions: ARHT2617 Assessment: 1x1500wd exhibition review (40%), 1x3000wd essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit critically analyses the role of the visual arts in mediating the experience of urbanism in 19th-century Britain and its function across a global Empire. We undertake an in-depth study of the rich holdings of this art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
ARHT3633 Contemporary Australian Art and Film

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
ARHT3636 Contemporary Indigenous Art

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 Indigenous Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT2636 Assessment: 1x500wd Presentation (10%), 1x1500wd Visual Analysis (35%), 1x2500wd Research Paper (55%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the diversity of Indigenous art practice and its inclusion within the fields of contemporary art. Through in-death visual analysis of individual artists and art producing communities, the unit will consider distinct Indigenous art practices and relate them to issues of cultural and political sovereignty, colonisation, land rights and representation. Problematising the historical and contemporary reception of Indigenous art, we aim to understand the Indigenous systems of value that shape the creation and circulation of Indigenous art.
ARHT3646 Modern Art in East Asia

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
ARHT3662 On Photography and the Wretched Screen

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Senior credit points in Art History Prohibitions: ARHT2662 Assessment: 1x1000wd object analysis (25%), 1x500wd tutorial presentation (25%), 1x3000wd essay/exhibition proposal (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will draw on a wide range of photographic material, including university and museum collections, to examine the pivotal role of photography in recording and shaping our image-culture across diverse global contexts. The unit will engage with key debates to examine the social, cultural, theoretical, historical and art practice contexts of the photograph as an image and as an object. Key theories from Walter Benjamin to Hito Steyerl will be used to interrogate themes of memory, documentary and the real, witnessing, conflict, gender and sexuality, decolonisation, and the digital.
ARHT3663 Gender and Sexuality in Asian Art History

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/wk Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: Tutorial participation (10%), 1x 500wd Visual Analysis Exercise (15%), 1x 1500wd Tutorial Presentation (25%), 1x 2500wd Final Research Paper (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit investigates issues of gender and sexuality in art, visual culture and art history in modern and contemporary Asia from the 19th century to the present. Students will explore women- and/or queer-centred histories of the production and reception of art, and the rise of feminist and queer art and art history in parts of Asia.
ARHT3672 Fieldwork: Art and the City

Credit points: 12 Session: Intensive July Classes: 6x2hr preparation seminars or web-based assignments, 10x4hr visit/day, 10x2.5hr reflection/presentation Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Assessment: 1x2000wd preparation site study (20%), 1x20mins/2000wd write-up presentation (30%), 1x1500wd reflective journal (10%), 1x3500wd research essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Field experience
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This Senior Fieldwork unit takes students out of the classrooms and into major world cities to explore not only the history of architecture and public space but also the galleries, collections and artworks housed in the city. It offers a vital opportunity for students to learn with and from artworks, buildings, spaces and monuments in situ.
ARHT3673 Art and the Aesthetics of the Everyday

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
ARHT3674 Objects and Problems: Old Regime Europe

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
ARHT3675 Objects and Problems at Chau Chak Wing Museum

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr object seminar/week, 1x1hr group meeting/week Prerequisites: 12 cred points at 2000 level in the Art History major Assessment: 1x1500wd Individual reflective journal (30%), 1x1500wd equivalent group exhibition project (30%), 1x600wd individual object research task, 1x900wd small group presentation (25%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit brings students into sustained contact with objects in the CCW Museum and challenges students to research and curate them. It is designed to build and test the key skills of art historians 'in the world' -from basic analysis of materials and techniques to complex questions of cultural meaning- by analyzing objects and the challenges they pose.
FILM3000 Cinematic Transformations

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 Digital Cultures or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT3601 Assessment: 1x500wd Digital Cinema: Project Proposal (15%), 1x1500wd Digital Cinema: Project (25%), 1x1000wd Digital Cinema: Project Critical Reflection (20%), 1x2000wd Research Essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
What is cinema in 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 platforms such as YouTube, mobile cinemas, and virtual reality technologies. 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

1000-level units of study
2000-level units of study
CAEL2039 Screen Arts: an Introduction

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: individual presentation and project proposal (15%) and assessment 1 (video project) (20%) and major self-directed project (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces you to the conceptual frameworks and technologies that shape the making of screen-based media and contemporary art practices. Through a series of lectures, seminars, tutorials and screenings you will explore the evolution of experimental film, video art and independent filmmaking from the 1960s to the present. You will engage in the production of a self-directed digital film that may be realized in any style or genre. The unit is supported by a technical program that provides you with the applied skills and competencies needed for the use of studio facilities and equipment.
CAEL2041 The Art of Sound and Noise

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: directed project (40 %) and major self-directed project (60 %) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study approaches sound in the broadest sense as it crosses barriers through physical and cultural space, and exists as a force in the world. In this unit, you will undertake a studio-based approach to the production of sound art works, including sound objects, instruments, sonic sculpture, sound installation, performance and new ways of working with sound. The unit begins with the physicality of sound and music physics. You will listen to sonic phenomena, materials, forms and existing sound works. This unit will be conducted in an open studio framework including a variety of workshops, sound studios and digital labs.
CAEL2042 Photography and the Darkroom

Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive July,Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: technique task (20%) and concept task (20%) and self-directed major project (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces the principles of black and white photography via the 35mm camera and the darkroom. You explore alternative documentary photography strategies by challenging the role of the camera to simply observe and capture. You experiment with the genres of reportage, street photography and conventional documentary practices, and are encouraged to take an interventionist approach to the urban environment. You are introduced to the 35 mm manual SLR camera, black and white film processing, dark room printing, film exposure and photographic print enlargement.
CAEL2046 Painting Music

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: seminar presentation (30%) and production and exhibition of a painting (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
From Piet Mondrian to Albert Oehlen, artists have been influenced by music. This has had both direct and sublimated effects on the development of the techniques and styles of painting. From seriality to polyrhythms, synchronicity between painting and music has been a constant for a century now. Abstraction has especially taken its cue from the autonomy of music to create a painting that is free from a direct representational quality and instead focuses on an engagement with its own reality through colour, materials and action. This unit of study investigates the dovetailing of painting and music, from modernism to contemporary art, and examines the current trends of painting, relating these processes to those of contemporary music. You will research and investigate the influences of music on painting, and create a work that has music as its core value.
CAEL2049 Vessel as Concept: Hot Glass Intro

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: research presentation (20%) and themed project 1 (40%) and themed project 2 (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study examines the glass vessel in everyday life and its application as a conceptual agent in contemporary art. By nature, the glassblowing process creates a vessel or container from a mass of molten glass. Through research projects you will investigate the psychology of the glass vessel through its function and physical properties. You will develop fundamental hand skills and glassblowing techniques through structured weekly workshops, and combine practical skills with contextual knowledge in the development of conceptually themed projects. You may work exclusively with glass or in conjunction with other media and processes.
CAEL2053 Screen Printing: an Introduction

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: project proposal (20%) and major work (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces you to screen printing and its broad application across media. The unit explores the technical basics of this process through various projects. It provides for the development and enhancement of critical skills through group and individual tutorials and critiques and the acquisition of technical knowledge required to independently access and use the Printmedia studio facilities.
CAEL2054 Silversmithing: Exoskeleton Extension

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: technical samples (15%) and research presentation (20%) and major work (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
From the symbolically charged through to the functionally utilized, the hammer formed metallic object builds upon the dynamic landscape of the body. In this unit of study you investigate the potential for an object to expand the metaphysical self. The malleable and ductile qualities of metal will be examined as a creative catalyst enabling material characteristics to form a transformative element of a work that is made for the body by the body. You will explore silversmithing processes, in alignment with your individual research interests, as a technical and conceptual starting point to negotiate ideas of metamorphosis and growth. The appropriate forming processes, including sinking, raising, hot forging and planishing, will be introduced alongside an examination of the historic foundations and key principles of contemporary metalsmithing, as a means to generate your own individual project.
CAEL2055 Bodyworks: Jewellery as Communication

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: technical samples (15%) and research presentation (20%) and major work (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides a studio-based approach to the production of creative contemporary jewellery work that engages with the space and physical dimensions of the body. Fundamental to this approach is an investigation of the role of the worn or carried object in social communication. The unit provides for the development and enhancement of critical skills through group and individual tutorials and critiques and the acquisition of technical skills appropriate to the assigned projects.
CAEL2069 Screenwriting and Directing

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: participation in seminars (30%) and script (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces you to the art and craft of writing for the screen. Through a series of lectures, seminars, tutorials and film screenings you will explore a range of approaches to screenwriting. These include looking at the structure of dialogue and character driven scripts, then moving to an analysis of more experimental approaches to script writing that rely less on character or dialogue and more on mood, situation and atmosphere. You will write an original script for a digital film that can be realized in any style or genre.
CAEL2072 Ceramics: Potter's Wheel as Sculptural Tool

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: experimental process folio (20%) and written research report (20%) and final studio work (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores notions of the void and the aperture through the development of hollow formed objects created by hand or the potter's wheel. You will be introduced to the creation of various common forming techniques on the potter's wheel and will be encouraged to use these to create new techniques and develop modular and sculptural assemblages. This unit also examines the philosophical underpinnings associated with the traditional and contemporary practice of this genre of ceramics through group discussion and individual research.
CAEL2085 Photography and the Lighting Studio

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x 3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: project 1 (40%) and project 2 research presentation (20%) and project 2 major work (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study offers you an introduction to lighting and its effects in photography. Considering the lighting studio as a site for experimentation and critical exploration, you will learn the fundamentals of lighting while exploring both how it has been historically used and how contemporary artists use it today both in and out of the studio. Through the nexus of photographic portraiture and still life, lighting is explored as a mechanism for both documenting and transforming its subjects/objects. You are encouraged to work in groups to create original photographic work for two major photo assignments. Please note this unit of study is for students who have had little or no experience in high-end digital photography, software and lighting. The unit of study introduces you to photo editing software, file management and the fundamentals of digital printing.
CAEL2092 Sculpture: Introduction

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: project proposal (20%) and final artwork (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study provides you with an introduction to building processes within Sculpture and Installation. You will be introduced to working in the sculpture studio, and in particular, will gain practical experience in plaster and wax and discover key contemporary artists who reinterpret the casting process in innovative ways. You will be invited to consider a range of ideas -including negative forms and anti-monuments - that challenge the preconceptions of what sculpture can be. Initially, you work through a series of material-based workshop activities to learn basic construction techniques as well as to gain confidence in the safe use of machinery and equipment within the studio and workshop. The unit introduces a broad range of traditional and contemporary sculptural practices (including the use of wood, metal, fibre, plastic) and encourages you to develop original and creative solutions. The unit combines studio work, short presentations by the lecturer, student presentations and group discussion/critiques. In consultation with the lecturer, you will develop a studio work proposal and create a finished work that responds to the notion of 'negative sculpture.'
CAEL2093 Sculpture: Installation and Space

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Assessment: project proposal (20%) and final artwork (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will explore installation as a spatial practice within the expanded terrain of sculpture. You will examine installation as a hybrid form that negotiates and incorporates the boundaries of traditional art practices like painting, sculpture and video. The unit of study provides an overview of contemporary installation art practice and explores methods for producing work in a variety of media to activate and utilise space. Students explore innovative applications of conventional materials, found objects and time-based media such as video, sound and custom technologies in the development of their work. This unit engages with dedicated installations spaces and the adapting of environments and locations. The unit combines studio work, short presentations by the lecturer, student presentations and group discussion/critiques. In consultation with the lecturer, you will develop a studio work proposal and create a finished work.
CAEL2094 Painting: Transcultural Collaborations

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 1-hour seminar/week and 1x 2-hour studio class/week Prohibitions: CAEL2067 Assessment: in class participation, preparation of reading material, active contribution to group discussions (10%) and reflective journal (200 words or equivalent weekly) (20%) and production and exhibition of fully resolved body of work (painting/s) (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
For Aboriginal people of Australia, the place where saltwater and freshwater meet, is a site of intermingling, mixing and sharing of knowledge. The Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land call this place where the river meets the sea: Ganmu and it is usually used as a metaphor for 'two way learning.' This unit of study explores how contact with other cultures through the reciprocal sharing of images, stories, histories, experiences, ideas, skills and culture can activate collaborative practices to create meaningful connections both locally and globally. The investigation of issues such as representation and presentation, protocols and practices, combined with a critical understanding of the cultural complexities of Indigenous culture, will foster greater understanding and enable students to facilitate the development of a collaborative and sustainable practice.
CAEL2095 Video Art

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: directed project (40 %) and major self-directed project (60 %) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study approaches video art in the broadest sense as it unites a great variety of practices regarding time based manifestations of abiding artistic concerns. Video has become a pervasive medium in contemporary art and makes an appearance in many different contexts that span from the most experimental exhibition settings all the way through to the museum. In this unit, you will undertake a studio-based approach to the production of video art works, including video installation, single channel and synchronized multichannel artworks, streaming video and video as it appears in other digital forms. The aim of the unit is to produce original artworks that forge new image worlds and innovative production methodologies. This unit will be conducted in an open studio framework including a variety of workshops, studios and digital labs.
CAPP2003 Professional Placement for Artists

This unit of study is not available in 2020

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.
3000-level units of study
CAEL3014 Image/Object in Photomedia

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Prohibitions: CAEL2043 Assessment: project 1 (40%) and research project (20%) and project 2 (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores how photography intersects with sculpture. You research and explore the relationship between objects and photography and how sculptural ideas can stretch the function of an image. You consider what a photograph may be materially when extended to encompass sculptural, performative and interactive dimensions. Projects may utilise and combine image-based practices such as digital photography and analogue photography, projection, print, performance, objects and installation to encourage an expanded approach to photographic practice.
CAEL3015 Glass in Time: Advanced Hot Glass

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Visual Arts including CAEL2049 Prohibitions: CAEL2078 Assessment: research project and presentation (20%) and self-directed project (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In this unit of study you consider the scientific, cultural and artistic impact of Venetian glassblowing from the Renaissance to present day through research projects. Structured weekly workshops traverse contemporary use of a range of Venetian glassblowing techniques and methods. You will apply learned theoretical knowledge and developed practical skills to a self-directed work that reinterprets the Venetian glassmaking tradition. You may work exclusively with glass or in conjunction with other media and processes.
CAEL3016 Experimental Film

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Studio Foundation Assessment: found footage film project (25%) and 16 mm film project (60%) and in-class presentation and product documentaion (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores key processes and issues related to the production and exhibition of experimental film works. The unit includes discussions, readings and screenings of relevant historical and contemporary film works. It focuses on the creative potential of the physical properties of film. You will produce a short 16mm film project. A Bolex 16mm camera workshop and hand processing of 16mm film will also be an integral part of this unit of study.
CAEL3017 Skin and Sign: Ceramic Surfaces

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prohibitions: CAEL2073 Assessment: experimental folio (20%) and proposal for final work (30%) and final work (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study will focus on the development of an in-depth understanding and application of the ceramic surface. It will explore notions of trace, impression, wound, scar, identification, memory and memento through material layering and surface specificity, and the construction of meaning associated with surface qualities such as depth, absorption and incorporation. You will be introduced to a range of applied ceramic surfaces including ceramic pencil, paint and crayon, glaze, screenprint and decal production, as well as found and mixed media surfaces, and kiln firings. Initial instruction and individual experimentation will form the foundations for the completion of a student-generated studio project. This unit would be of particular interest if you want to develop your investigation into three dimensional form and/or broaden the possibilities of the two dimensional surface.
CAEL3018 Introduction to Digital Publishing

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prohibitions: CAEL2052 Assessment: digital booklet (20%) and typography design (20%) and digital publication (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study explores the boundary between artwork, publication and portfolio. The unit acquaints you with the principal tools of InDesign, a software program that has become industry standard for designing digital and paper publications. Focusing on experimental magazines and other small scale artist's publications the unit explores the visual language of contemporary publishing from an artist's perspective. You learn about the complex interplay of text, image and sequence involved in producing multipage documents/artworks through the practical experience of creating your own InDesign publication. A series of lectures and in-class digital tutorials will equip you with the technical skills and critical framework to produce intelligent, engaging and innovative output.
CAEL3019 The Experimental Darkroom

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3-hour studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Visual Arts including CAEL2042 Assessment: project 1 (20%) and research project (20%) and major project 2 (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This advanced darkroom unit challenges students to rediscover photography in the age of the jpeg. Through two projects, the unit introduces the wet and wonderful world of alternative analogue processes to encourage students to produce experimental images that consider the conceptual, material and alchemical possibilities of the 'outmoded'. The unit also encourages the development of hybrid practices that combine contemporary digital technology with analogue processes.
CAEL3020 Critical Bodies: Performance Art Practice

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr studio practical/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Visual Arts major or 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Bachelor of Visual Arts Assessment: 1x1500wd essay (20%), 2x1500wd equivalent visual art project (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Critical Bodies explores innovative and exploratory approaches to contemporary Performance art practice, placing the body at the centre of these investigations. Using studio-based skills students will explore performativity as a broader concept through re-enactment, photo construction as tableau and video performance alongside 'live' actions.
CAEL3022 Posters to Paste-ups

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr studio class/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Visual Arts or Studio Foundation Prohibitions: CAEL2051 Assessment: 1x1900wd equivalent Presentation of works in context (40%), 3x600wd equivalent Production of experimental print (40%), 1x800wd equivalent Poster production and research (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Images made for public space have been integral to modern art. This unit looks at printmedia's role in this history, surveying agitprop graphics and subcultural poster making to examine the currency of screen-printing and digital processes in urban intervention. This will support studio research and the production of print works intended for public display.