Visual Arts Group

Visual Arts  Courses at St Mary's College

Scroll down for descriptions of: 

• Media
• Art Making and Exhibiting
• Visual Communication Design

Media

Course Description

Media is deeply embedded within life and culture at a local, national and global level. It entertains, teaches, informs and shapes audiences’ perception of their lives and the world in which they live. Stories in all their forms are at the heart of the media and its relationship with audiences. Through stories, narratives are constructed that engage, and are read by, audiences. Representations of ideas, realities and imagination are constructed and deconstructed, remixed and reimagined with ever-increasing technological sophistication, ease and speed to engage audiences. Developments in technologies have transformed media at a rapid pace. Media audiences are no longer constrained by physical, social and political boundaries. Audiences are consumers, users, creative and participatory producers and product. This has created a dramatic increase in communicative, cultural and creative possibilities. Through the study of Media, students gain a critical understanding of media and understand their role as both producers and consumers of media products. Students examine how and why the media constructs and reflects reality, and how audiences engage with, consume, read, create and produce media products.

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Course Structure

Unit 1 – Media forms, representations and Australian stories

The relationship between audiences and the media is dynamic and changing. Audiences engage with media products in many ways. They share a common language with media producers and construct meanings from the representations within a media product. In this unit students develop an understanding of audiences and the core concepts underpinning the construction of representations and meaning in different media forms. They explore media codes and conventions and the construction of meaning in media products.

Area of Study

1. Media Representations
2. Media forms in production
3. Australian Stories

Unit 2 – Narrative across media forms

Fictional and non-fictional narratives are fundamental to the media and are found in all media forms. In this unit, students further develop an understanding of the concept of narrative in media products and forms in different contexts. Narratives in both traditional and newer forms include film, television, digital streamed productions, audio news, print, photography, games and interactive digital forms. Students analyse the influence of developments in media technologies on individuals and society; design, production and distribution of narratives in the media; and audience engagement, consumption and reception.

Area of Study

1. Narrative, style and genre
2. Narrative in production
3. Media and change

Unit 3 – Media narratives, contexts and pre-production

In this unit students explore stories that circulate in society through media narratives. They consider the use of media codes and conventions to structure meaning, and how this construction is influenced by the social, historical, institutional, culture, economic and political contexts may influence the construction of media narratives and audience readings. Through the study of a media narrative, students explore specific codes and narrative conventions and begin the process of research to support their understanding of how they can adopt and employ these techniques in their own works.

Area of Study

1. Narrative and ideology
2. Media production development
3. Media production design

Unit 4 – Media production and issues in the media

In this unit students focus on the production and post-production stages of the media production process, bringing the media production design created in Unit 3 to its realisation. They refine their media production in response to feedback and through personal reflection, documenting the iterations of their production as they work towards completion. Students explore the relationship between the media and audiences, focusing on the opportunities and challenges afforded by current developments in the media industry. They consider the nature of communication between the media and audiences, explore the capacity of the media to be used by governments, institutions and audiences, and analyse the role of the Australian government in regulating the media.

Area of Study

1. Media Production
2. Agency and control in and of the media

Entry and Recommendations

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. 

Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4.

Assessment

Satisfactory Completion

Demonstration of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit are determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks.

Level of Achievement

Unit 1 and 2

• Coursework – Unit 1 
  • Presentations 
  • Posters and Editing Tasks
  • Written responses 
  • Examination

• Coursework – Unit 2 
  • Presentations 
  • Short Film and Folio
  • Written Responses
  • Examination

Unit 3 and 4

• School-assessed coursework – Unit 3 (10%) 
  • Structured Set of Questions
• School-assessed coursework – Unit 4 (10%) 
  • Structured Set of Questions
• The School – Assessed Task (40%)
  • Folio and Product Submission
• Examination (40%)

Art Making and Exhibiting 

Course Description

VCE Art Making and Exhibiting introduces students to the methods used to make artworks and how artworks are presented and exhibited.

Students use inquiry learning to explore, develop and refine the use of materials, techniques and processes and to develop their knowledge and understanding of the ways artworks are made. They learn how art elements and art principles are used to create aesthetic qualities in artworks and how ideas are communicated through the use of visual language. Their knowledge and skills evolve through the experience of making and presenting their own artworks and through the viewing and analysis of artworks by other artists.

Visiting and viewing exhibitions and displays of artwork is a necessary part of this study. It helps students understand how artworks are displayed and exhibitions are curated. It also has an influence on the students’ own practice, and encourages them to broaden and develop their own ideas and thinking around their own art making. 

A strong focus on the way we respond to artworks in galleries, museums, other exhibition spaces and site-specific spaces is integral to study and research in VCE Art Making and Exhibiting. The way institutions design exhibitions and present artworks, and also how they conserve and promote exhibitions, are key aspects of the study.

Course Structure

Unit 1 – Explore, expand and investigate

In this unit students explore materials, techniques and processes in a range of art forms. They expand their knowledge and understanding of the characteristics, properties and application of materials used in art making. They explore selected materials to understand how they relate to specific art forms and how they can be used in the making of artworks. Students also explore the historical development of specific art forms and investigate how the characteristics, properties and use of materials and techniques have changed over time. Throughout their investigation students become aware of and understand the safe handling of materials they use.

Students explore the different ways artists use materials, techniques and processes. The students’ exploration and experimentation with materials and techniques stimulates ideas, inspires different ways of working and enables a broad understanding of the specific art forms. Their exploration and experimentation is documented in both visual and written form in a Visual Arts journal. 

Area of Study

1. Explore – materials, techniques and art forms
2. Expand – make, present and reflect
3. Investigate – research and present

Unit 2 – Understand, develop and resolve

In Unit 2 students continue to research how artworks are made by investigating how artists use aesthetic qualities to represent ideas in artworks. They broaden their investigation to understand how artworks are displayed to audiences, and how ideas are represented to communicate meaning. 

Students respond to a set theme and progressively develop their own ideas. Students learn how to develop their ideas using materials, techniques and processes, and art elements and art principles. They consolidate these ideas to plan and make finished artworks, reflecting on their knowledge and understanding of the aesthetic qualities of artworks. The planning and development of at least one finished artwork are documented in their Visual Arts journal.

Students investigate how artists use art elements and art principles to develop aesthetic qualities and style in an artwork. Working in their Visual Arts journal they begin to discover and understand how each of the art elements and art principles can be combined to convey different emotions and expression in their own and others’ artworks. They also explore how art elements and art principles create visual language in artworks. 

Students begin to understand how exhibitions are planned and designed and how spaces are organised for exhibitions. They also investigate the roles associated with the planning of exhibitions and how artworks are selected and displayed in specific spaces. This offers students the opportunity to engage with exhibitions, whether they are in galleries, museums, other exhibition spaces or site-specific spaces.

Area of Study

1. Understand – ideas, artworks and exhibition
2. Develop – theme, aesthetic qualities and style
3. Resolve - ideas, subject matter and style

Unit 3 – Collect, extend and connect

In this unit students are actively engaged in art making using materials, techniques and processes. They explore contexts, subject matter and ideas to develop artworks in imaginative and creative ways. They also investigate how artists use visual language to represent ideas and meaning in artworks. The materials, techniques and processes of the art form the students work with are fundamental to the artworks they make. 

Students use their Visual Arts journal to record their art making. They record their research of artists, artworks and collected ideas and also document the iterative and interrelated aspects of art making to connect the inspirations and influences they have researched. The Visual Arts journal demonstrates the students’ exploration of contexts, ideas and subject matter and their understanding of visual language. They also document their exploration of and experimentation with materials, techniques and processes. From the ideas documented in their Visual Arts journal, students plan and develop artworks. These artworks may be made at any stage during this unit, reflecting the students’ own ideas and their developing style. 

Area of Study

1. Collect – inspirations, influences and images
2. Extend – make, critique and reflect
3. Connect – curate, design and propose

Unit 4 – Consolidate, present and conserve

In Unit 4 students make connections to the artworks they have made in Unit 3, consolidating and extending their ideas and art making to further refine and resolve artworks in -specific art forms. The progressive resolution of these artworks is documented in the student’s Visual Arts journal, demonstrating their developing technical skills in a specific art form as well as their refinement and resolution of subject matter, ideas, visual language, aesthetic qualities and style. Students also reflect on their selected finished artworks and evaluate the materials, techniques and processes used to make them. 

The Visual Arts journal in Unit 4 includes:

• the continued development of the student’s own art making in a specific art form
• evaluation of art making in a specific art form
• the visual documentation of the processes used for finalising artworks
• annotations to support visual documentation
• research into the connections between specific artists and artworks and the student’s own artworks
• research about the presentation of artworks in exhibitions
• research undertaken for conservation and care of artworks
• research about the selection of artworks for display and the planning of exhibitions 
• written and visual research to make connections with specific artists and artwork.

Area of Study

1. Consolidate – refine and resolve
2. Present, plan and critique
3. Conserve – present and care

Entry and Recommendations

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4.

Assessment

Satisfactory Completion

Demonstration of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit are determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks.

Level of Achievement

Unit 1 

• Visual Arts Journal
• Finished Artworks
• Information for an exhibition
• Thematic exhibition
• Experimental artworks and documentation

Unit 2 

• Thematic exhibition
• Experimental artworks and documentation
• Finished artworks

Unit 3 and 4

• School-assessed coursework – Unit 3 (5%) 
  • Annotated visual report
  • Annotated poster or display
  • Oral presentation with visual and written imagery
• School-assessed coursework – Unit 4 (5%) 
  • Annotated visual report
  • Annotated poster or display
  • Oral presentation with visual and written imagery
• School-assessed task (60%)
• Examination (30%)

Visual Communication Design

Course Description

Visual Communication Design students learn how to manipulate type and imagery when designing for specific contexts, purposes and audiences. They choose and combine manual and digital methods, media and materials with design elements and principles. In doing so, students learn how aesthetic considerations contribute to the effective communication and resolution of design ideas, and how an understanding of visual language, its role and potential is the foundation of effective design practice.

Students explore how designers visually communicate concepts when designing messages, objects, environments and interactive experiences. They work both together and independently to find and address design problems, making improvements to services, systems, spaces and places experienced by stakeholders, both in person and online. Students employ a design process together with convergent and divergent thinking strategies to discover, define, develop and deliver design solutions. Drawings are used to visually represent relationships, ideas and appearances, while models and prototypes are produced for the purposes of testing and presentation. Students participate in critiques, both delivering and receiving constructive feedback and expanding their design terminology.

During this study, students consider various factors that impact design decisions, including conceptions of good design, aesthetic impact, and economic, technological, environmental, cultural and social influences.

Unit 1 – Finding, reframing and resolving design problems

In this unit students are introduced to the practices and processes used by designers to identify, reframe and resolve human-centred design problems. They learn how design can improve life and living for people, communities and societies, and how understandings of good design have changed over time. Students learn the value of human-centred research methods, working collaboratively to discover design problems and understand the perspectives of stakeholders. They draw on these new insights to determine communication needs and prepare design criteria in the form of a brief. 

Area of Study

1. Reframing design problems
2. Solving communication design problems
3. Design’s influence and influence on design

Unit 2 – Design contexts and connections

Unit 2 builds on understandings of visual communication practices developed in Unit 1. Students draw on conceptions of good design, human-centred research methods and influential design factors as they revisit the VCD design process, applying the model in its entirety. Practical tasks across the unit focus on the design of environments and interactive experiences. Students adopt the practices of design specialists working in fields such as architecture, landscape architecture and interior design, while discovering the role of the interactive designer in the realm of user-experience (UX). Methods, media and materials are explored together with the design elements and principles, as students develop spaces and interfaces that respond to both contextual factors and user needs. 

Area of Study

1. Design, place and time
2. Cultural ownership and design
3. Designing interactive experiences

Unit 3 – Visual communication in design practice

In this unit students explore and experience the ways in which designers work, while also analysing the work that they design. Through a study of contemporary designers practising in one or more fields of design practice, students gain deep insights into the processes used to design messages, objects, environments and/or interactive experiences. They compare the contexts in which designers work, together with their relationships, responsibilities and the role of visual language when communicating and resolving design ideas. Students also identify the obligations and factors that influence the changing nature of professional design practice, while developing their own practical skills in relevant visual communication practices.

Area of Study

1. Professional design practice
2. Design Analysis
3. Design process: defining problems and developing ideas

Unit 4 – Delivering design solutions

In this unit students continue to explore the VCD design process, resolving design concepts and presenting solutions for two distinct communication needs. Ideas developed in Unit 3, Outcome 3 are evaluated, selected, refined and shared with others for further review. An iterative cycle is undertaken as students rework ideas, revisit research and review design criteria defined in the brief. Manual and digital methods, media and materials are explored together with design elements and principles, and concepts tested using models, mock-ups or low-fidelity prototypes. 

Area of Study

1. Design process: refining and resolving design concepts
2. Presenting design solutions

Entry and Recommendations

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4.

Assessment

Satisfactory Completion

Demonstration of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit are determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks.

Level of Achievement

Unit 1 and 2

• Folio 
• Presentation 
• Report 
• Examination

Unit 3 and 4

• School-assessed coursework – Unit 3 (20%) 
  • Outcome 1 – A comparative case study and two practical design exercises
  • Outcome 2 – A comparative analysis 
• School-assessed task (50%)
• Examination (30%) – The examination includes both hand drawn and written responses.