5 Uses Photography as it’s main focus (theme & subject). Intelligent understanding of framing & the concepts behind photography. Research questions are clear - questioning the position of photography,& appropriate artist selection & reference. Shifts that are made; colour, black & white, material, medium, analogue to digital, relate strongly to specific shifts in concept – there is a logic to choices made. The restraint in the use of colour is astute; colour is tactically employed. Text is used both as a visual device and a tool/ element in conceptual thought process. This device is not reliant on the text to communicate alone, but rather acts as an image as well as text. Conventions of photography are employed to transport concept with a broad range of pictorial devices employed; these are well adhered to, ie the candidate is aware of how aperture/ shutter speed can convey ideas. This is a strength – it is an informative relationship. Again, the candidate documents installation/ performative aspects with understanding that the outcome operates as an image, and is in effect about the picture. There is a consistency in the continual questioning of media and its relevance to the overall premise. The fact that this portfolio keeps moving is a real success in unfolding and extrapolating complexity of concept, eg. on board two there are 5 options explored that each build and broaden the dialogue about the investigation; a criticality is employed in deciding what to take forward. The last work – the performative aspect (burning); the act of burning is dealt with succinctly, and links back to the notion of the artefact. The workbook highlights the integration of artistic models and practice, and includes key ideas and concepts of relevance. The selection of work for the portfolio is well chosen; the portfolio is visually coherent and fluent.
The workbook highlights the integration of artistic models and practice, and includes key ideas and concepts of relevance. The selection of work for the portfolio is well chosen; the portfolio is visually coherent and fluent.
13 Outstanding Scholarship This lays out a strong proposition immediately on board one and continues to isolate and draw on a number of intelligent and interesting solutions throughout. The candidate is completely engaged at all times; testing, trialing, making decisions, editing their own practice. There is a high level of drawing facility employed; ideas are explored, analysed and problem solved through the establishment of a drawn language. The candidate utilises established practices of illustration and painting related to pictorial structure/ space, sequencing (time), format of finished work, technique, conventions of fantasy and New Surrealism. These references are intrinsic to the works and are clearly understood by the candidate. There is clear understanding of how to manipulate the illustration factor, through inside/ outside frames, pop-ups, etc. The works move intelligently between illustration and the structure of the paint. When the candidate moves out of the frame, they do so meaningfully. Subject matter is constructed by the candidate, involving both a photo shoot where they directed their own subject and further innovation through drawing. Narrative is used to drive formal decisions and to inform the pictorial enquiry, for example, a woman as a character in a world, of trees and animals, and a filmic set of relationships that are subject to influences that occur in the world. This allows an interpretative quality to come through, akin to storytelling through the repetition of a central character, emphasising the sequential aspect.
The workbook enriches the study. Drawing solves its pictorial problems/ it plans for/ and engages in other possibilities. Drawing is used as a process of invention and discovery and the paintings are a synthesis of this process (drawing is used at times as a kind of doodle implicating ideas of memory and fantasy). There is a real engagement in the act of drawing, the candidate is actively processing – all of which is evidenced strongly in the workbook. T here is a strong sense that the workbook is simultaneous, that the workbook and portfolio have a symbiotic relationship, that one is problem solving the other.
20 Outstanding Scholarship A confident submission that explores an open-ended and well-structured brief; it is an emotive, sensitive and intelligent response to the topic. The situation is ‘Confide’, a new health organisation – target audience are mid teens to mid-20s – focusing on mental health issues; the brief involves developing a range of promotional graphics. Right from the outset the candidate is purposeful in their choices; the first being to draw by hand as the main aesthetic, and as a way of reaching target audience. This strategy is employed through a series of complex and intelligent images; and moves from hand drawing into contemporary graphics without losing the autographic. Illustration is used to animate ideas, ie the television is animated with the hand coming out of it, the phone reaches out, etc – this is all treated in a playful yet meaningful manner. There is a real sensitivity to the topic, which is captured in the continual attention to detail, restraint and control, and appropriate media to concept relationships. It is clear that the candidate understands formal qualities of design – he or she has such a voice because of the way that they employ specific conventions; limited colour palette, framing of formal qualities coupled with informal, playful composition, type as image. There is intelligent play with figure ground relationships, consideration of spatial ins and outs, foreground background relationships. The layout is strong and enables the viewer to move across the three boards freely.
The same type of aptitude follows through into the workbook, which also contains an open-ended tone. This is a real asset in the unfolding of this investigation – the key aspect being that the candidate chose an aesthetic, unpicked it in order to transport their thinking, and did so with both originality and a high level of reinvention.