Units
Australian Art
Unit code: KVB103
Contact hours: 3 per week
Credit points: 12
Information about fees and unit costs
This unit focuses on Australian art over the course of the twentieth century, including the contemporary period. It gives you an understanding of the national, cultural and social frameworks within which this art has been produced and introduces a number of artists, artistic movements and issues within Australian art. It also considers the nature of indigenous art and its contribution to the complexity of Australian cultural identity. All of these issues are presented in order to help you understand the important role of Australian art as an expression of our cultural values throughout the twentieth century.
Availability
| Semester | Available |
|---|---|
| 2013 Semester 2 | Yes |
Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013
Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.
Rationale
NB: Information in this Unit Outline is subject to change prior to commencement of semester
This unit introduces you to the history of Australian art in the 20th Century. It is important that you understand the national, cultural and social frameworks within which this art has been produced, particularly after World War 2. You will be introduced to a number of movements and styles in Australian art and their relationship to international tendencies. The unit also considers the nature of Indigenous art and its contribution to the complex of Australian cultural identity. All of these issues will assist you in understanding that Australian art has, and has continued to be, an important expression of our cultural values.
Aims
The unit aims to provide you with an understanding of the evolution of Australian art, including indigenous art, as an expression of ideas about national identity and Australia's place in the international community. This includes the viewpoints of marginal voices from indigenous culture, multiculturalism, and at the level of gender and sexual politics.
Objectives
On completion of this unit you should be able to:
1. Display broad and coherent skills of visual analysis
2. Effectively communicate key ideas concerning Australian and indigenous art
3. Identify and interpret works of Australian and indigenous art
Content
The unit content addresses the historical, cultural, political and social issues that have informed Australian Art, particularly in the postwar period. Major issues that will be studied include Australian figurative painting and the reaction against American abstraction; Australian Pop Art and Hard Edge abstraction; the use of performance art as part of a counter-cultural challenge to mainstream social values. Other issues include Australia as a postmodern cultural centre during the 1980s; the agitational strategies of sexual politics in Feminist and Queer art; the artistic expression of multi-culturalism; the Suburban experience and recent trends in a globalised consumer market. The examination of Australian indigenous cultures will include the history of aboriginal art movements and artists. Postcolonial strategies of aboriginal artists; the practice of urban aboriginal artists and indigenous art's contribution to Australian cultural identity in the international marketplace.
Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Lectures, gallery visits, seminars/tutorials, films, Blackboard.
Assessment
LATE ASSIGNMENTS
An assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked. If you are unable to complete your assignment on time, you should submit on time whatever work you have done.
NB: In order to gain a passing grade in this unit, you must attend and participate fully in a minimum of 8 tutorials during semester
Faculty Assessment Information
To access complete Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information please refer to the Blackboard site for this unit.The overall aim of the assessment pattern is to foster a combination of skills between textual-critical analysis and visual analysis. These skills are developed against the background of art-historical knowledge that is presented.
Assessment name:
VIsual Analysis Presentation
Description:
You will be required to lead a visual analysis & discussion of set images. The purpose of this task is to develop skills in critical analysis of the visual image. A written visual analysis of the set images will be due one week after your scheduled presentation. (1200 words)
Relates to objectives:
1, 2, 5
Weight:
30%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
Ongoing
Assessment name:
Tutorial Presentation & Paper
Description:
You will be required to lead a discussion on the key points in the set readings. A written paper based on your presentation topic will be due one week after your scheduled talk. (1500 words)
Relates to objectives:
1, 2, 4
Weight:
40%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
Ongoing
Assessment name:
Written Slide Test
Description:
Identification and critical analysis of five slide images studied over the semester.
Relates to objectives:
2, 3, 4
Weight:
30%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
End Semester
Academic Honesty
QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.
A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.
Resource materials
Required Text
There is no set text for this unit.
Recommended References
Allen, Christopher, Art in Australia: from Colonialism to Postmodernism, London: Thames and Hudson 1997
Butler, Rex, What is Appropriation? An anthology of critical writings on Australian Art in the 1980s and 1990s, Sydney and Brisbane: Power Publications/IMA, 2004
Green, Charles, Peripheral Vision; Contemporary Australian Art 1970-94, Sydney: Craftsman House 1995
Marsh, Anne, Body and Self: Performance Art in Australia 1969-92, Melbourne: Oxford University Press 1993
Smith, Bernard &Smith, Terry, Australian Painting 1788-1990, Melbourne: Oxford University Press 1991
Smith, Bernard, Place, Taste & Tradition Painting; a study of Australian Art since 1788, Melbourne: Oxford University Press 1979
Stephen, Ann, McNamara, Modernism & Australia: Documents on Art, Design and Architecture
Andrew & Goad, Phlip (eds.), 1917-1967, Melbourne: Miegunyah Press-Melbourne University Publishing 2006
Risk assessment statement
There are no undue risks for you when participating in this unit.
Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.
Last modified: 26-Mar-2013
