module specification

This module marks the summation of the BA (Hons) Painting programme of studies. It involves a major piece of independent study, produced under supervision and guidance. The purpose of the final project is to demonstrate the application and integration of the skills and knowledge gained throughout the course. 

The module requires the student to submit an initial project proposal (in the companion module FA6001) for discussion and feedback with tutors, followed by a period of research and development, culminating in the submission of a final body of work building upon the initial aims and objectives of the proposal. 

The module will be supported by a series of project planning workshops and professional input requiring students to frame their project in relation to contemporary discourse.  Students will be expected to reflect upon and evaluate the methods they employ and the conceptual and practical aims of their projects and intended audience/reception in employment or self-employment. Students are also required to keep on WebLearn an illustrated reflective journal documenting the evolution of their project.

The Final Project runs alongside the Project Development module and is delivered in integral relationship with the work produced in the other core modules at this level – CP6010 and FA6003. Students are expected to reflect upon and represent the complexity of critical and creative relationships between and across the body of work they have undertaken at this final stage of their degree.

Pass and completion of preceding level

The main module aims are to:

• Support students to undertake a sustained piece of self-directed painting project work observing professional norms;
• Enable students to achieve degree-level technical and conceptual knowledge and understanding consistent with the aims and objectives of their final project;
• Enable students to integrate the various elements of their painting project: practical, aesthetic, conceptual and contextual in a creative and professional manner, with mentoring or input from professionals.

Indicative content:

• Outline of Module: Project Proposal and research methodology
• Guided Independent Study
• Self-directed research, experiment testing and work related learning
• Reflection, Revision, formative assessment (in-class presentation)
• Structured Feedback & Guidance, including professional input and/or mentoring
• Work in progress presentations
• Presentations/folio review of completed body of work

Intensive studio practice supported by individual and group tutorials, research clinics, group critiques, professional talks and mentoring, seminars and workshops. Formative supervisory guidance is provided to support students to realise their plans and ambitions.

On completing the module, the student should be able to:

• Devise, manage and produce a coherent body of painting work based on their research explorations;
• Identify and develop appropriate technical skills and processes and professional practice to support the realisation of their painting practice;
• Demonstrate an ability to organise and sustain their own learning and practice, in order to manage workloads, meet deadlines and present their work professionally;
• Apply informed critical judgement in relation to their painting practice and its resolution;
• Employ research, resourcefulness and entrepreneurial strategies through work related learning to support their painting practice and professional ambitions.

Tutorials provide students with opportunities to discuss learning objectives, routes to improvement and target dates. These will inform the student of their progress through the course areas for development.

Summative assessment feedback takes place at the end of the module. Written feedback addresses the strengths and areas for further development of individual presentations in relation to the grading criteria. Assessment and evaluation are viewed as significant learning tools with students engaging in peer and self-evaluation.

Work will be assessed against the learning outcomes in relation to the following criteria:

• Appropriate use of research methods
• Quality of analysis and interpretation
• Subject knowledge and relevance
• Quality of communication and presentation
• Appropriate use of problem solving, testing and experimentation
• Management of own learning and personal professional development

Agamben, G., Means without End, UMP, Minnesota, 2000
Armstrong, P., As Painting: Division and Displacement, MIT, New York, 2001
Bois, Y., Painting as Model, MIT Press, New York, 1990
Bryson, N., Vision in Painting: The Logic of the Gaze in The Gaze and the Glance, Macmillan, London, 1983
Deleuze, G., Francis Bacon and the Logic of Sensation, UMP, Minnesota, 2005
Foucault, M., chapter on ‘Las Meninas’ in The Order of Things, Routledge, London, 1999
Joselit, D, Painting Beside Itself, October, 2009 (4), p.125-134
Myers, T.R., Painting (Documents of Contemporary Art), MIT, New York, 2011
Petersen, A.R., Bogh M, Christensen, H.D. & Larsen, P.B. (eds.), Contemporary Painting in Context, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, 2011
Ranciere, J., The Future of the Image, Verso, London, 2009