BA (Hons) Art History

Emphasis will be placed on providing you with an introduction to early periods of artistic production through key themes and visual texts. Topics will be delivered thematically - e.g. Art and Power, Art and Religion, Art and Identity - to allow for the exploration of a broad variety of objects and cultural approaches. Discussions will focus on exploring Western art historical periods and styles (e.g. Minoan, Archaic, Classical) alongside chronologically adjacent periods in non-Western traditions, e.g. Jomon, Shang Dynasty and Indias Classical period. You will also learn about the dominant structures (both chronological and ideological) within which Art History has been traditionally framed as a western-focused subject.

Coursework: individual, standard written 30% (750 words)

Coursework: individual, standard written 70% (1,500 words)

<p>You will be introduced to concepts, themes and contexts relevant to the timeframe 1000 C.E. &nbsp;1600 C.E. (including medieval and Renaissance) with an emphasis on the cultural intersections between western and non-western traditions during these periods. Some consideration will also be given to analysing how the art of these periods has been traditionally framed within art historical discourses. Subjects that will be covered include the status of artist-makers in the Middle Ages, art in the service of spirituality and the changing status of the artist in the Renaissance. These will be contextualised in a wider history of the discipline of Art History, from Pliny to Winckelmann to Hegel, and beyond. Special emphasis will be placed in the module on the intersections between western and non-western cultures.</p>

Coursework: individual, standard written 30% (1500 words)

Coursework: individual, standard written 70% (3000 words)

You will have the opportunity to develop your visual and contextual analysis skills by accessing and working with created objects in a variety of settings, including studio demonstrations and specialist talks on some of the key methods and materials used to create artworks, including printmaking, painting, drawing/ mark-making, sculpture and ceramics. You will have the opportunity to learn from practising specialists in these areas alongside lectures and seminars discussing the evolution and usage of materials in historical and contemporary contexts (e.g. Joshua Reynolds's use of oil paint, Eva Hesse's use of latex). When appropriate, this knowledge will be extended through hands-on participation in studio demonstrations.You will work with material from local collections, including the Royal West of England Academy and the Ken Straddling Collection, both to extend your understanding of the materiality of objects and also to begin to investigate how viewing contexts are constructed by different artists and other professionals working in fields associated with Art History.

Coursework: individual, standard written 30% (1,500 words)

Coursework: individual, standard written 70% (3,000 words)

This module aims to introduce you to a broad range of theories in Art History and also to provide a sound knowledge relating to the practicalities of primary and secondary research in the discipline, including methodologies of visual analysis. You will develop an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the principles and concepts underlying the theoretical frameworks and methodologies covered, including iconography and iconology, semiotics, Marxism, feminisms, sexualities (such as gender performativity and queer theory), postcolonial theory and postmodernism. The module will be based on the principle of learning through application, requiring you to interpret a range of artworks by applying the theories and methodologies you have learnt about/ been introduced to. The module also aims to provide students with skills relating to the practicalities of primary and secondary research in Art History, including methodologies of visual analysis (such as formal, contextual and subjective analysis), how to decide which resources to access (books, periodicals, websites, reference works, etc) and the importance of peer-reviewed literature.

Coursework: group, presentation 30% (7 minutes / 750 words or equivalent)

Coursework: individual, standard written 70% (1,500 words)

This seminar-based module will focus on the analysis of a number of issues, themes and contexts within which to begin to explore the often contentious subject of the body in Art History. As well as looking at representations of the body as traditionally central to the Western traditions of painting and sculpture, you will address the many ideas about the body raised by such issues as gender, sexuality, race, class and power in historical, Modern, Postmodern and contemporary contexts. Themes such as narrative (religious and otherwise), identity (including self), psychologies, materiality, sensuality, gender, sexuality and the body as material will allow for wide-ranging temporal and global discussions. Notions of the gaze, as understood in contexts including Gender, Race, Class and Power will also be explored. Methods of representation, such as life drawing and modelling in clay will be discussed and students will have the opportunity to take part in practical sessions to allow for the practical application of theoretical constructs.

70% Coursework: individual, presentation 10 minutes (1,000 words or equivalent)

30% Coursework: individual, standard written 3,500 words

This skills-based module will build on knowledge acquired in AH4004 and deepen your engagement, and ability to communicate with theory. A range of theories in Art History will be considered, with which you will be required to engage critically, and the structures of art historical writings and written frameworks will also be examined. As in AH4004, the module will be based on the principle of learning through application, requiring you to interpret a range of artworks by applying the theories and methodologies you have encountered.A range of theories will be covered, e.g. reception theory, psychoanalysis, hermeneutics, structuralism and deconstruction, and the field of material culture will also be explored. Students will progress their ability to engage critically with theoretical frameworks. To aid with this, the structures and forms of art-historical writings and written frameworks will also be examined and critiqued, e.g. academic journal articles, exhibition reviews, educational literature, gallery and museum captions and so on.

Coursework: group, presentation 30% 1,000 words (or equivalent)

Coursework: individual, standard written 70% 2,000 words

Through lectures and seminars you will investigate how the Land has been addressed in both western and non-western contexts. Topics for exploration will include (but not be limited to): the role of landscape in early western traditions; the rise of landscape painting from the Reformation onwards; concepts of landscape and empty space in Japanese painting; the land as narrative space; topographies; the Picturesque; the Sublime; Twentieth-century Land Art in Britain and America and its legacy; art and ecology; urban landscapes; the body as land; photographic landscapes; Psychogeography. Students will have the opportunity to take part in practical sessions including drawing outside and making site-specific works. These sessions will allow for the practical application of theoretical and technical constructs.

Coursework: individual, presentation 70% (15 minutes plus 5 minutes Q&A - 1500 words or equivalent)

Coursework: individual, standard written 30% (4,500 words)

This module will provide you with the opportunity to identify and take part in a collaborative or individual live project of your choosing which will allow you to demonstrate the application of your developing art historical skills. The project and context will depend on your emerging identity as an art historian and may be located in a physical or digital context. You may, for example, choose to design and produce a project on a subject suitable for an educational context or curate a small display of artworks. This curation could take place within a physical gallery space or in a digital, virtual, or other viewing environment. You will negotiate your project through consultation with your tutors.

Coursework: individual, standard written 30% (1,000 words)

Coursework: individual, standard written 70% (2,000 words)

This module aims to introduce you to the major issues surrounding contemporary art production and recent attempts to produce a critical framework in which to view it. Notions such as altermodernism, hypermodernism, supermodernism and globalism will be discussed, evaluated and debated. The work of contemporary practitioners such as Ai Wei Wei, Yayoi Kusama, Marina Abramovic, Christian Boltanski, Bill Viola, Wolfgang Tillmans and Anish Kapoor will be examined in relation to their use of contemporary and traditional technologies and the dissemination of their work to large global audiences. Their self-styling (and self-perception) as creative personalities will also be examined. Underpinning this material, students will have an ongoing introduction to the emergence of conceptual art and digital technologies in the 1960s and 70s. Recent attempts by critics and scholars such as Nicholas Bourriad and James Elkins to rationalise the very broad currents and styles in the art produced since 2000 will also be covered. The syllabus for this module will necessarily flex to allow for the inclusion of emergent artists, art forms and ways of thinking.

Coursework: individual, standard written 30% (2,000 words)

Coursework: individual, standard written 70 % (4,000 words)

This module will explore concepts of Modernism and Postmodernism, addressing key issues, artists, movements and debates surrounding the art of the late nineteenth to the late twentieth century. An ongoing emphasis will be placed on the exploration of the rise of internationalism and the shift in cultural centres of the art world, with reference to emerging global intersections. Exploration of these concepts and histories will be through the consideration of major art movements, key artists and artworks. Assessment of coursework will be through the submission of individual blog content (or other negotiated format) on three key themes which have been peer reviewed by other students to encourage the development of collaborative and analytical skills (e.g. communication, giving feedback, applying feedback, evaluation). Each student will also submit a 4000-word essay on a topic relevant to this module which has been negotiated by the student. Students will be given the choice of several broad essay questions, however, the focus for analysis will be of the students own choosing. 1.1 tutorials and a mid-semester review will allow for checking of progress.

Coursework: individual, standard written 30 % (2,000 words)

Coursework: individual, standard written 70 % (4,000 words)