Upon completion of this course students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of a periods, styles, artists and interpretative contexts relevant to Modern Australian art

2. synthesise different research approaches and evaluate scholarly perspectives to formulate informed and independent conclusions about art, societies and cultures;

3. develop a range of approaches to understanding modern Australian art including Indigenous art in that period  

4. understand specialised art historical terminology and methods and theories

5. demonstrate competent visual analysis skills

6. discuss the significance of modern Australian art and art more broadly not only in terms of aesthetics, but also as a useful way to construct arguments, articulate key ideas clearly and communicate intelligibly in written and oral forms of expression

7. demonstrate effective research sills using library and other information sources in order to define areas of inquiry for the preparation of essays

8. listen effectively and respectfully to the viewpoints of others; participate actively in a cooperative learning environment in small group tutorial activities and discussions

· Course Handbook – distributed at the first tutorial
· Course Reader – distributed at the first tutorial

· Recommended text (available at the Art Gallery of South Australia bookshop or online booksellers)
· Lecture and tutorial images (on PowerPoint)
· Barr Smith Library Resource Guide:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/guide/hum/history/art.html

MyUni: https://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp

The lectures provide broad discussion of selected topics relevant to the history of contemporary art, which are complemented by focused tutorial case studies centred on oral presentations and group discussion of the prescribed tutorial readings and images. It is essential that students complete the weekly tutorial readings in order to share ideas, interpret subject matter, develop essential analysis skills and work together cooperatively. Material covered in the lectures and tutorials also provides the basic content for the final piece of assessment.

The course is composed of eight weeks of university lectures (1 hour, 10 minutes) and tutorials (2 hours) as well as four weeks of gallery sessions (3 hours). Students are required to complete the weekly tutorial readings in advance of the tutorials and complete additional reading for their assessment tasks.

2013 Modern Art Schedule (tentative)

Schedule

Week 1		Gallery introduction: Nick Mitzevich and Lisa Slade University introduction Housekeeping matters - organisation into tutorial groups etc
Week 2		University: Professor Catherine Speck What is Modernism?
Week 3		University: Professor Catherine Speck Fragmented space: cubism, futursim, vorticism
Week 4		Gallery: Jane Messenger & Julie Robinson European Modernism- Jane Messenger The Studio Movement – Robert Reason
Week 5		University: Professor Catherine Speck Dada and surrealism
Week 6		University: Professor Catherine Speck Utopias: Constructivism, suprematism and the Bauhaus
		Mid-Semester Break
Week 7		Gallery: Robert Reason & Lisa Spade European Modernist works on paper – Maria Zagala Modern Decorative Art – Robert Reason
Week 8		University: Professor Catherine Speck Dystopias: expressionism, ‘primitivism’, post World War II abstraction
Week 9		University: Professor Catherine Speck ‘Mechanical ballets: Light, motion and theatre’ kinetic art, op art and happenings
Week 10		Gallery: Tracey Lock-Weir, Lisa Slade & Nick Mitzevich Australian Artists abroad 1880s – 1940s Pop & Conceptualism and broader developments in British and American twentieth century art.
Week 11		University: Professor Catherine Speck British moderns: Hepworth, Moore, Bacon, Nicholson, Epstein, etc.
Week 12		University: Professor Catherine Speck The end of a dream: Minimalism and conceptualism

ASSIGNMENT	VALUE	LEARNING OBJECTIVES	DUE DATE
Display/Exhibition Review	15%	1,3,4,5
Slide Test	15%	1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Tutorial Presentation	10%	1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Tutorial Essay	25%	1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Research Essay	35%	1,2,3,4,5,6,7

The due dates for assessment are treated as examination dates. Requests for extension stating the reason for the extension must be sent to your tutor for approval in advance of the due date and supplemented by a hard-copy Extension Request form available on MyUni that must be signed off by both student and tutor.

Display/Exhibition Review (1000 words)

Task description:
Art Gallery display Review
Date: Friday 29 March 2013
Select a Gallery in the Melrose Wing (G12-16) that features a least 4 international Modern works. Analyse their display and how the modern works ‘speak’ to those hung nearby.

Your review should include references to the artists and artworks and any recent critical discussion of the exhibition.

Weighting: 15%

Due Date: Friday 29 March 2013.

Submission: Online Submission of Assignments (e-submission) via MyUni

All assignments are to be submitted electronically via MyUni – this is a two-step process. The assignment needs to be electronically submitted for marking via the ‘Assignments’ link in the course menu. Marked assignments will be returned to the student in printed form.

Assignments are due at midday on the due date.

Slide Test

Task description: At the end of the course your knowledge of some of the key images covered during the lectures will be examined by a slide test. At each lecture you will be provided with a photocopy listing the salient facts of slides from the lecture. To enable you to familiarise yourself better with these after each lecture, the slides will be on the web at www.myuni.adelaide.edu.au. Prior to the exam you will be given a list of between 25-30 slides and those included in the exam will be drawn from this list.

The slide test will be held under examination conditions. It consists of four single slides (each of five minutes duration) and two comparisons of two slides each (each of 15 minutes duration). For the former, you are expected to identify the artist, title, medium of each image and date and discuss the images. For the latter, you are also expected to identify the artists, title, medium and date and then to compare the images by discussing their iconography, composition and style.

Weighting: 15%

Deadline: Wednesday 12 June 2013, 5.10 – 6.00pm.
Venue: Napier LG23

Submission: In class.

Tutorial (oral) presentation

Task description: The tutorials are intended as an opportunity to give students to discuss the lecture, the readings for the week and relevant works of art. At the first tutorial you will be asked to choose a tutorial topic and week in which you will present this paper. Relevant works of art are to be included in this 10-minute presentation to the class based on the key points of your written paper. Your tutorial paper is due one week after the presentation.

Your presentation is primarily a starting point for discussion and it will be more successful if you do not merely repeat the opinion of the authors you have read. Read critically. Do you agree with their ideas? What have others thought of them? Starting points can be found in the readings listed for the weekly topic. Further readings can be found in the bibliography and in database searches conducted in the Barr Smith Library or on-line. Your analysis should also include knowledge of artists and close observation of works of art.

Weighting: 10%

Time: 15 minutes (10 minute presentation and 5 minutes for questions and feedback)

Submission: In class.

Tutorial Paper (2,500 – 3,000 words)

Task description: The tutorial essay is focussed on the topic of the tutorial oral presentation.

Weighting: 25%

Deadline: The tutorial essay is due one week after the tutorial oral presentation.

Submission: As above (per Display/Exhibition Review, and below in 5.3).

Research Essay (3000 – 3,500 words)

Task description: Research essay topics are based on key themes discussed in the course and are listed in the Course Guide along with a bibliography.

Weighting: 35%

Deadline: Wednesday 19 June 2013.

Submission: As above.

Online Submission of Assignments (e-submission) via MyUni

All assignments are to be submitted electronically via MyUni. The assignment needs to be electronically submitted for marking via the ‘Assignments’ link in the course menu. Marked assignments will be returned to the student in printed form.

Assignments are due at midday on the due date.

Extensions

The due dates for assessment are treated as examination dates. Requests for extension stating the reason for the extension must be sent to your tutor for approval in advance of the due date and supplemented by a hard-copy Extension Request form available on MyUni that must be signed off by both student and tutor. Extensions will be granted on the grounds of hardship or illness, but you must submit a request for an extension to your tutor in writing via email (with supporting medical or other evidence to be provided) before the due date.

Students wishing to apply for an extension need to submit the relevant form available at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/mod_arrange.html to the school office at least 5 days prior to the due date for the assignment.

Exceptions to the Policy
If one of the following criteria is met, an informal extension can be organised with the course coordinator or tutor:
· small extension – 2 days or less;
· assessment item is worth 20% or less;
· student is registered with the Disability Office (need to attach a Disability Access Plan – DAP).