Year 11 Semester 2This unit extends over the whole semester, divided into two

components, firstly Self and secondly Social Issues and Events.

• Self: The Social and Spiritual Being Term 3

• Social Issues and Events: ReactionTerm 4

Social Being

Concept: The aim of this unit ‘Self’ is to represent your personal identity through artworks, creating a conceptual self- portrayal.

Focuses:• Physical Appearance• Trauma or Illness• Relationships• Genetics• Religion/Spirituality• Philosophy (values)• Gender• Ethnicity/ Nationality• Politics • Psychological

Context:• Personal• Sociocultural• Geographic• Technological• Historical

Concept- Main Idea

Focus – area of concern

Context – viewpoint

Unpacking the Concept

To help you choose the context and focus for this topic it will be necessary to researching the way other artists - personal, historical, technological or socio-cultural background influence the way they depict themselves. Artists have long explored their identities through representing their likeness in self-portraitures. This unit ‘Self’- however, goes beyond the representational portrait into a more conceptual framework. Contemporary art practices examine personal identity by exploring focuses related to oneself or aspects of oneself. This can be a starting point for exploring larger issues.

Self – a conceptual self portrayal . This unit investigates an individual’s perception of their identity and place within society. It challenges you to collect physical and psychological (of the mind) memorabilia of your own existence and personal identity and then to explore representing this personal existence. Conceptual art is an art form in which the artist's intent is to convey an idea rather than to create an art object. This unit explores the strange and wonderful world of postmodernism and conceptual art.

The second part of this unit ‘Social Issues and Events’ challenges you to move beyond personal representation onto works that communicate more general and universal concepts dealing with humanity’s existence.

A focus is a concentrated effort or attention on a particular thing, an area of concern, or investigation.

Some of the focuses related to Personal identity within society may include the effect of illness or trauma on

one's body and mind, the individual's relationship within associated groups, cultural or ethnic characteristics,

psychological profile, genetic individuality, sexuality and gender, religious beliefs, person philosophies and/ or the

evidence of an individual's existence.

Focuses

Listed are a selection of Focuses and their definitions(you may choose something not on this list however it must be negotiated with your teacher)

• Physical Appearance - relating to the body, rather than to the mind, the soul, or the feelings

• Trauma or Illness - an extremely distressing experience that causes severe emotional shock and may have long-lasting psychological or physical effects

• Relationships –within a community, family, school, sport, work or virtual networks (Face book, My Space)

the connection between two or more people or groups and their involvement with one another• Genetics – Mind and Body Physical traits- inherited bodily qualities Psychological - relating to the mind or mental processes.• Religion/Spirituality- beliefs and opinions concerning the existence,

nature and worship of God and divine involvement in the universe and human life. Relating to the soul or spirit, usually in contrast to material things.

• Psychological Profile – same as within genetic

Focuses

• Philosophy (values)- concerned with the study of the nature of life and reality, or of related areas such as ethics, logic, or metaphysics the branch of philosophy concerned with the study of the nature of being and beings, existence, time and space, and causality. concerned with or given to thinking about the larger issues and deeper meanings in life and events

• Gender - the sex of a person or organism, or of a whole category of people or organisms

• Ethnicity / Nationality – background, ancestry• Evidence of Existence -something that gives a sign or proof of the state of being

real, actual, or current, rather than imagined, invented, or obsolete. The items that represent the presence or occurrence of something/someone in a particular place or situation.

• Political Views - activities associated with government

Focuses cont..

The context can be thought of as a lens that you view your focus through

• Personal - relating to a specific person rather than anyone else - their life, their opinion • Sociocultural - relating to or involving cultural and social factors

Society -The totality of social relationships among humans. A group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture. Culture - The totality of socially transmitted behaviour patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population: Australian Teen culture; Japanese culture; the culture of poverty. The predominating attitudes and behaviour that characterize the functioning of a group or organization.• Geographical – place on Earth; your physical environment• Technology - the study, development, and application of devices, machines, and techniques for

manufacturing and productive processes• Historical - existing, happening, or relating to the past.

Context

This semester you will be transitioning from teacher directed simple making /appraising tasks to more complex and open-ended self directed work. By the end of term 4 in year 11 you are expected to have created a Body of Work.A body of works is a collection of investigative artpieces leading to a single or “major” work/s.The body of work shows your progress through the inquiry learning model (researching, developing, resolving, reflecting), as you integrates the components of the course (concept, focus, context, media area(s) and visual language and expression).

What’s Coming

You should be basing your artist practice on the Inquiry Learning Model

Inquiry Learning Model

Although conceptual art has overtaken figuration (art which attempts to represent something in the physical world) in terms of fashionability, the self-portrait has not been ignored by the leading artists within the movement. In fact self-portraits made under the conceptual banner can be even more frank and revelatory than their figurative counterparts. Although not necessarily thought of as self-portraits in the traditional sense, works which may at first appear abstract and inaccessible can contain an autobiographical content if not an actual physical likeness. For example, the work ‘Bed’ by Tracey Emin, featuring an installation recreating the artists bedroom complete with unwashed plates, cigarette butts and dirty laundry, offers us more of an insight into the life and mind of the artist than a likeness of her face would provide.

Conceptual Portrayal

Art Examples for This ConceptConcept: Personal IdentityFocus: Evidence of ExistenceContext: Personal

Bed by Tracy Emin, 1998.

Tracey Moffatt 'Something more #1' 1989 direct positive colour photograph Collection of the National Gallery of Australia

Concept: Personal IdentityFocus: Ethnicity / Nationality Context: Sociocultural and Historical

Moffatt is an indigenous Australian born in 1960 who grew up in foster care in Brisbane – this piece intends to portray a melodramatic (movie poster imagery) juxtaposition of characters to represents the fakeness of Australian identity.

Art Examples for This Concept

Artist Self-Portraitof/by Victor Ehikhamenor

Concept: Personal IdentityFocus: Political Context: Sociocultural and Historical

Art Examples for This Concept

Art Examples for This ConceptConcept: Personal IdentityFocus: Trauma Context: Personal

Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907-1954). The Broken Column, 1944. Oil on canvas (40 x 30.5 cm). Collection Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City.

Joseph BeuysHow to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare1965 performance art, Dusseldorf.

Tracey Emin“Everyone I have Ever Slept With 1963 -1995”

1995 Assemblage 122 x 245 x 215 cm

Concept: Personal IdentityFocus: GenderContext: Sociocultural

Art Examples for This Concept

Concept: Personal IdentityFocus: Physical AppearanceContext: Technology (anti)

Chuck CloseSelf-Portrait. 1997.

Oil on canvas, 102 x 84" (259 x 213.4 cm). Private collection, New York.

Art Examples for This Concept

Concept: Personal IdentityFocus: GenderContext: Sociocultural

By turning the camera on herself, Cindy Sherman has built a name as one of the most respected photographers of the late twentieth century. Although, the majority of her photographs are pictures of her, however, these photographs are most definitely not self-portraits. Rather, Sherman uses herself as a vehicle for commentary on a variety of issues of the modern world: the role of the woman, the role of the artist and many more.

Untitled # 132 and #138, Cindy Sherman, 1984.With bright light and high-contrast color, Sherman focuses on the consequences of society’s stereotyped roles for women — in this case as a victim of fashion — rather than upon the roles themselves

Art Examples fo

r This C

oncept

-beyond Self

Ben Quilty, Self portrait after Madrid, 2008. Oil and oil bar on linen, 214 × 183 cm.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: WORLDBen Quilty’s world is that of young Australian male culture. He grew up in the outer northern suburbs of Sydney. He chooses subjects that are local and familiar to him. Quilty sets out to represent the things that dominate so many young men’s lives: their cars and the ritual of ‘getting smashed’. He uses large images of Torana cars, human skulls with dangling cigarettes and heads of ugly drunken men—sometimes his friends, and sometimes even himself. ARTIST FRAMES: SUBJECTIVEQuilty is a figurative artist who wants to express his feelings and personal experiences in paintings on a large scale. He applies thick oil paint onto the canvas in a way that is rapid and aggressive, but also skillful.ARTWORK FRAMES: SUBJECTIVESelf portrait after Madrid is a large, confronting, unflattering image of the artist’s head shown against the empty background of the canvas. Light shines from underneath so that the eyes appear haunted and the mouth is open as if to cry out.PRACTICE: IDEASThe idea behind this self portrait was to express deep feelings. The artist had recently visited the Prado Museum in Madrid, home to many of Spain’s finest artists, including Velasquez and Goya. Quilty says he was overwhelmed by the emotional depth of the works at the Prado Museum, ranging from the joy of life to horrors of war. He says he wanted to depict himself in this portrait as though he was ‘gazing into the fires of hell’.PRACTICE: ACTIONSThis image of Quilty’s face is vibrant and textured. The oil paint is mixed with so much impasto medium that it stands up in a 3-D fashion from the surface of the canvas. The paint is applied using cake-decorating tools rather than paintbrushes. Even though he applies the paint in broad strokes, the artist can skilfully model his own likeness. Quilty says he is energised by his ‘almost violent’ way of painting because it allows him to get images out of his head and onto the canvas very quickly.AUDIENCEBen Quilty’s paintings are disturbing, and they challenge an audience with their huge scale. Up close the paint has the appearance of being slapdash, but the further back the audience stands from the works, the more realistic they become. Quilty has developed a large audience across Australia and is exhibited in major art galleries. He is also developing a more international audience, especially in Europe.www.benquilty.com www.janmurphygallery.com.au www.grantpirrie.com

Jason Mecier Pink 3-D mosaic- mixed media 61 × 89 cm.

Jason MecierCRITICAL AND HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONSCONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:WORLDThe world of Jason Mecier is that of contemporary American pop culture.ARTIST FRAMES: STRUCTURALMecier lives and works as an illustrator in San Francisco. He is a self-taught artist who specialises in 3-D mosaic portraits of famous people.ARTWORK FRAMES: STRUCTURALLike all Mecier’s portraits, Pink is a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted mosaic. It has been reproduced as the poster for one of Pink’s concerts in the USA (United States of America). It uses a traditional portrait pose, showing the head and shoulders of the subject, pop/rock singer Pink. The artist uses a kitsch style so that Pink is presented as an icon of popular culture.PRACTICE: IDEASMecier explores ideas about celebrity and modern ‘throwaway’ consumer society. Instead of using paint or a photograph, he assembles his portraits using the personal possessions ofhis wealthy and famous subjects. He bases the portraits on images borrowed from posters, magazines or television. The artist’s raw materials are found objects—discarded junk that he collects as well as the personal rubbish donated by the stars themselves. In Pink’s portrait, Mecier has put great effort into using just the right objects to express not only Pink’s appearance, but also her inner world. PRACTICE: ACTIONSThis portrait of Pink is assembled in a careful and detailed fashion to create an almost photographically real portrait made from objects sent to him from Pink’s junk drawer. This includes pink and white hair and beauty products, ribbons and rope, plastic cutlery and cotton buds. These symbolise the softer feminine aspects of her personality. These contrast with the darker, harder qualities of the discarded metal objects—safety pins, zippers, locks, keys, coins, nuts and bolts—he also uses.AUDIENCEThe artist’s choice of celebrities as his subject matter appeals to a wide audience. His work has been exhibited internationally and printed in many publications.www.jasonmecier.com www.theispot.com/artist/jmecier