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THE SHOCK OF THE NUDE (in school) (2015 update)
Life-drawing fits very well in any or all of the three components in the new DP visual arts course, so I’m re-visiting the concept and suggesting some possible links to the new course As a...
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CONCEPTUAL QUALITIES (and experimentation, cliché, objet trouvé & the senses)
Conceptual art can be stimulating, provocative and even fun, so it’s no surprise that DP visual arts students occasionally upload files for their final assessment that have an emphasis on idea and...
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“I really wanted my artwork to be original…” (btw…NOTHING is original)
As a visual arts examiner, I regularly see the results of student attempts at originality and I have to tell you, it’s not pretty. And it’s not even original. Quite often it’s the opposite of original,...
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Skinny dipping is fine. Double dipping is NOT.
As promised, here is some feedback from the May 2015 Visual Arts Grade Award which recently took place at the IB DP Assessment Centre in Cardiff, Wales. Five years ago I blogged after attending a Grade...
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Virtual Assessment, Contemporary Art – and Predicted Grades
It’s August, which means that most final year visual arts students – and their teachers – now know how they did in terms of DP grades. I hope all went well. All the following relates to the...
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The Visual Arts Planning & Progress Form (6/VAPPF)
My school starts back in three weeks – 24th August – so thoughts are starting to turn towards the courses we teach and the students we will be working with. Whether you are about to start IBDP visual...
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“The IB do not value or even recognize effort!” Commitment, effort,...
Last month I wrote about some teacher reactions to the grades their students achieved. (At the end of every examination session, some teachers express concern about the results). One complaint that I...
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Getting the new IA right – the 10 step programme
The “new IA” in visual arts is the exhibition. Work produced for internal assessment is marked by teachers and externally moderated by the IB. Internal assessment used to be the investigation workbook...
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The Curatorial Rationale: avoid ARTSPEAK!
Write in plain English (or Spanish or French) – And avoid ARTSPEAK (“Meaningless convoluted twaddle”). Some people say that art should speak for itself and that writing about art is pointless. In fact...
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The Exhibition…A “coherent” body of works? /kə(ʊ)ˈhɪər(ə)ns,kə(ʊ)ˈhɪərəns
Those of you who like to read IBDP documentation will know that the visual arts guide refers to both a cohesive (page 51) and a coherent (page 56) body of work, in the context of the visual arts...
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Gallery Visits
PLEASE visit art exhibitions – not just because it’s a great experience but because it could improve your grade! I recently visited the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain Galleries in London. Of course,...
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To collaborate, or not to collaborate – that is the question!
There are many reasons to work together. A lot of fantastic learning can happen when we work in pairs or groups. It’s a beautiful thing. In addition, sharing ideas and skills is a great creative...
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Art too bad to be ignored
In the Visual Arts Guide there is a series of questions related to TOK “that a visual arts student might consider” To what extent is artistic knowledge something which cannot be expressed in any other...
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YOUR BODY is YOUR ART (?)
Question: can anything be art? This, of course, is as much a DP Theory of Knowledge question as a DP visual arts one, and it may be a question that you have already tried to answer either in school or...
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Visual Arts Process Portfolio: choices (and some points)
I think one point needs making at the start: there is no single route to process portfolio success. Examiners are not expecting one ‘style’ or format, or that all Process Portfolios will look the same:...
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Sound and Vision in the Visual Arts Digital Upload
Just so we’re clear, NO MORE ‘INTERVIEW’ VIDEOS NO VIDEOS IN THE COMPARATIVE STUDY NO VIDEOS IN THE PROCESS PORTFOLIO VIDEOS OK IN EXHIBITION BUT MAXIMUM 5 MINUTES NO SOUND IN VIDEOS “Only 5 minutes...
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The Digital Upload: First Time For The New Course – What To Do!
This all relates to the imminent visual arts examination session. It goes without saying (I hope) that you should have everything ready for the upload well BEFORE you start the upload process: that...
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Top Ten Visual Arts Tips (and Reminders) for Students!
OK, students, here are the Visual Arts Top Ten Tips for exam success. Its February and next month – or at the latest the following month – is upload time. I have provided tips for each of your three...
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The Curious Rat (aka Curatorial Rationale)
My Visual Art students call it the Curious Rat, because “Curatorial Rationale” is a bit of a mouthful. Anyway, its March, and the digital upload ‘window’ for final examination submission of visual arts...
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the OCC (“It’s a Nightmare!” “No it’s...
The IB say “Welcome to your OCC…The OCC is a key resource for teachers, coordinators and other school stakeholders. The enhanced branding and colour scheme improves both navigability and usability in...
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