Fall 2019 - CA 260 D100

Studio in Visual Art I (3)

Class Number: 9795

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2019: Tue, Thu, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    DT VSAR

  • Instructor:

    Kathleen Slade
    kslade@sfu.ca
    Office: GC 3855
    Office Hours: By appointment
  • Prerequisites:

    CA (or FPA) 118 (or 168) and 161. A course materials fee is required.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

This course permits students to work extensively in a mature critical studio environment on a combination of freely chosen and assigned projects in various contemporary media. Reading will be required. Students with credit for FPA 260 may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course offers a studio environment in which students become familiar with the skills, concepts and conditions of a contemporary art practice. Students work on challenging projects that focus on the development of material, technical, and conceptual vocabularies. These are enhanced by class discussion, critiques of completed projects, gallery visits and written assignments. Students are expected to attend all visiting artist talks held on Thursday during the lunch break and must make room in their schedules to accommodate this. Class time will be primarily devoted to working on projects with group critiques at intervals. Students should expect to spend outside time working on assigned projects, and to actively contribute to class critiques as well as the Alexander studio community as whole.

Grading

  • Project 1 Group 10%
  • Project 2 Concept Strategy 20%
  • Project 3 Research, Presentation, Response 30%
  • 3 x Reflection Assignments 15%
  • Gallery Report 10%
  • Participation, studio practice 15%

NOTES:

Grading Guidelines:

A+ = exceptional | A A- = excellent | B- B B+ = good | C+ C = satisfactory | C- D = marginal

Grades are determined according to the student’s level of:

  • seriousness of engagement with studio practice and the problems posed during the course
  • openness and willingness to pursue avenues of investigation relevant to their own progress and needs of their work

  • openness to and awareness of issues in contemporary art
  • complexity of ideas manifested in projects and how those ideas are transformed into material existence ie. understanding of the relationship between materials used and an artwork’s connotation

  • understanding of the chosen process of production
  • paid to the “finish” of works: care of fabrication appropriate to works; presentation of works

  • contribution to critiques: level of thoughtful analysis of works

  • ability and willingness to integrate feedback from critiques and from instructor into one’s practice i.e. future work and the thinking about one’s own work and other artist’s work
  • development of work over the semester: degree of advancement attained beyond entering level of achievement

  • ongoing contribution to class group as a whole and the maintaining of good studio practice (clean work area, respectful sharing of resources and space, tools, etc.)

Detailed descriptions of projects with timelines will be provided on the first day of class


Please note the following:
  1. Attendance and punctuality are very important. Marks will be deducted due to arriving late, leaving early, or missing class. A doctor’s note is required for absences due to illness. If you do miss a class, please speak to me about your absence. It is your responsibility to find out what you have missed. Students are expected to be in class and working during scheduled class times; material collection, research, etc., is to be done outside of class.
  2. Each Project includes a Reflection Assignment this consists of two parts: 3 images of the completed work and a short text (500-750 words). Each Reflection Assignment is due the next class following a crit.
  3. Students are expected to spend at least as much time on the course outside of class as in class, i.e. 3 hr class + 3 hr extra.
  4. Complete your projects to meet deadlines. This includes installing work for critique prior to the beginning of class. Marks will be deducted due to late projects.
  5. Keep regular notes and / or sketches. You may be required to hand them in.
  6. Daily Cleanup: The last 10 minutes of class are for cleanup. All students will contribute to cleaning up the shop (sweeping the floor, benches and tools, putting equipment and materials away, etc.)
  7. Final Cleanup: No grade will be issued until all work is out of the studio and all tools returned; walls and floors patched, sanded and repainted; all string, wire, screws, nails, masking tape removed, shop cleaned up, etc. (see Alexander Guidelines)

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS