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Body of Work

Developing a mature, professional, self-directed body of work forms the heart of the course. During the second half of the semester students extend their material semiotic research, informed by their visual cultural research, into in-depth projects geared towards their senior studio exhibition.

Art/Design Projects

Complete a body of work over the course of the semester. You will divide your work into three phases, each phase representing a minimum investment of 20 hours of work. The scope of work will be set out in a contract with the instructor at the beginning of the semester. Works should be of exhibition quality.

Students will be assessed on formal and conceptual rigor, risk-taking, professional presentation, attention to detail AND on the criteria outlined by each student in the exhibition contract. Work must arrive at the agreed upon time on installation day in the gallery with appropriate hanging hardware. Students may need to consult the instructor to determine appropriate hardware. Students must trial the installation of all works during the mock install.

Mock Install

Occurs 1 week prior to the beginning of the exhibition install. Mock install takes place in the art studios. The mock install is a chance to trial all the elements of installing the work before it goes into the gallery. Students must have all appropriate hardware, technology etc. in time for the mock install. Work should be presented in the studio/portable approximating gallery install as closely as possible. All work, including installations should be installed as they will be presented in the gallery. 

All work students wish to exhibit in the senior show MUST be presented in full during the mock install and must be exhibition ready. Work not presented at the mock install is not eligible to be exhibited in the Senior Art show.

Assessment:

  • FORMAL ELEMENTS: elements of art, principles of design, material sensitivity, craft
  • CONTENT/CONCEPT: originality, complexity, evidence of research, engagement with contemporary art/design discourse
  • FORM/CONTENT RELATIONSHIP: form strengthens concept/concept strengthens form
  • INVESTMENT: commitment to project, investment of time and effort, quantity and scale of work
  • RISK: work demonstrates risk-taking in media, concept or process, moves beyond comfort zone

Short + Extended Artist Statements

Blog Categories: sr-studio, statement

Write a statement that folds in research, theory, process and other significant content. Think of your statement as an additional entry point to your work. Artist statements can take many forms– discursive, narrative, poetic. Each statement is a custom job. The nature of your work as well as your given audience will determine the kind of language that is appropriate for a particular statement.

See Unit 8: Writing About Your Work for a statement writing exercise. 

Exhibition STATEMENT

This 200-400 word statement includes information about process, materials, concept, inspiration, research etc. and will be presented in the senior show alongside your work. Here you are writing for the general public. The writing should be as clear and concise as possible. 

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Assessment: 

  • Statement is clearly written
  • Correct grammar, punctuation and spelling 
  • Language used in the statement is appropriate to the content of the work (form/content)
  • Statement includes appropriate information about process, research, theory
  • Awareness of audience: statement acts as an additional entry point to the work

Senior Show Installation

The semester culminates in the SAMC Gallery exhibition. Students are expected to carefully consider presentation and installation of their artworks well in advance of the installation of the work in the gallery. Students will be assessed on the professionalism of installation in addition to the quality of the work itself.

Considerations:

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Assessment: 

  • Installation + Curation: Works included in the installation are thoughtfully edited. Excellent attention given to how works relate to one another, the viewer and the space. Appropriate space has been chosen.
  • Professional Presentation: Work is installed professionally using professional installation techniques. Presentation looks clean and intentional. 

Photo Documentation

Photo-documentation of the semester’s work, including process documentation and comprehensive, high-quality documentation of the final exhibition. Photographs will be assessed on quality, professionalism and faithfully reflecting the installation of the work.

Documentation should be taken on a good quality camera with adequate lighting. Documentation will be assessed based on professionalism, how faithfully it “documents” your work and technical elements like exposure, lighting, white balance, focus and resolution.

Documentation should include:

  • Documentation individual works Document each work on its own. These photos should be taken straight on on a neutral background with even lighting. The goal for these images is a faithful representation of the work (detail, colour, materials etc.)
  • Installation shots should capture the scale of the work, how the work exists in space, how the viewer interacts with it and how it relates to the other works. In most cases you will photograph the work installed in your final review.
  • Detail shots capture surface, texture, materiality and detail of the work. You may take these photos straight on or at an angle to capture the texture of the work. These kind of images are also useful for promoting your work on social media. 
  • If your work is time-based (video, installation, animation, performance) your work will need to be documented in still images and video. You will also need to focus on getting more installation shots. 

Assessment: 

  • Individual Shots: Comprehensive documentation of all works created over the course of the semester (Process and Art/Design Projects)
  • Installation and Detail Shots: Both installation and details shots are captured and give the viewer an excellent grasp of the work and how it is installed in space.
  • Exposure, Lighting, White balance: Lighting is even, exposure is correct, colour is accurate. Overall images are clean. Edited as necessary.
  • Focus and Resolution: Images are in focus, represent detail accurately, images are high resolution.