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VAS1020 SYLLABUS
Time: 5:3-10:00 PM (MON, WED, THURS)
Professor: David Poolman dpoolman@uwo.ca
VAC 240B

Course Description
Foundation of Visual Arts is the introduction of core studio practices at the entry level. The course will explore a range of studio disciplines in 2D, 3D and time based media including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, and multi-media practices. Classes will foster an understanding of the meanings and functions of various media and their related techniques and formal structures in the context of the theoretical and critical concepts, which inform contemporary studio production. Course work over the year will be organized under five thematic sections.

Course content will be promoted through lectures, workshops, assigned readings, class discussions and critiques of projects. A critical writing project will be assigned in relation to required visits to London or Toronto area galleries. A test will be held in response to assigned readings and lectures.


Course Objectives
Upon Successful completion of this course the student will be able to:

• Demonstrate perceptual, visual and conceptual skills through art making and as a critical viewer
• Apply technical and theoretical principles to work in 2D, 3D, and time based media
• Demonstrate a grasp of historical and contemporary issues relevant to the making and evaluating of contemporary practices within the visual arts
• Demonstrate sufficient confidence to expand upon foundation skills in advanced studio courses

Course Requirements
• Students are expected to punctually attend all class sessions and come prepared to participate in all class activities and critiques. Under university regulations, students who miss more than 15% of the course hours (4 classes per semester) without prior consultation or documentation (medical or bereavement vetted through student’s faculty academic advisor) can be debarred from final critiques and examinations. Note that if a student is consistently absent from a three-hour class for 1 hour, they will exceed the 15% cutoff and be debarred.
• Students are responsible for making themselves aware of all assignments, procedures, and due dates for critique. It is the student’s complete responsibility to keep informed of any such changes.
• Students are expected to complete all assignments on due dates for critique. Failure to complete assignments or present completed work in scheduled critiques without prior consultation with instructor will result in a failing grade. With prior discussion, students can hand in late work with 5% per day deducted form the assignment (Monday to Friday, weekend considered one day). No late work will be accepted 3 weeks or later, after the assignment due date (grade = 0).
• Students are expected to be prepared for the beginning of class with appropriate materials, as well as cleaning up after each work session.
• Students are expected to spend a minimum 1-hour outside of class for every one hour in class towards fulfilling course requirements.
• Students are responsible for ensuring they have successfully completed all course prerequisites and that they have not taken an antirequisite course. Lack of prerequisites may not be used as a bias of appeal. If you are not eligible for a course, you may be removed from it at any time, and you will receive no fee adjustment. These decisions cannot be appealed.

Evaluation
Students must be present for all classes in order to receive information regarding material(s), processes, and project parameters. Students must complete all assignments by due dates stated in the syllabus. The syllabus though may be subject to change to adapt to class needs. All changes to the syllabus will be announced in class with fair advanced warning.
All grades will reflect the student’s ability to clearly demonstrate

• Student’s success in accordance with general course objectives (as above) and specific assignment objectives
• Completion and quality (workmanship) of assignments
• Understanding of project concepts and the ability to express that understanding
• Degree of inventiveness and ambition of assignments
• Participation and commitment to all class activities

The final grade will be composed of:

Visual Assignments 80%
Attendance and Participation 10%
Test 5%
Essay 5%

Work will be handed in for regular marking. Formal evaluation of the student’s progress will take place mid-term and at the end of term. Students final course grades will be determined by combining the first and second term grades 50/50.

Based on a student’s success in meeting the above criteria grades will be assessed on the following:

A+/90 – 100%
Exceptional work, well exceeding the basic requirements of the project and demonstrating profound insight and originality.

A/80 - 90%
Excellent work, well exceeding the basic requirements of the project demonstrating insight and originality.

B/70 – 79%
Very good work, showing a thorough understanding of the course material and exceeding basic requirements.

C/60 – 69%
Satisfactory work, meeting the basic project requirements and showing a good understanding of the material.

D/50 – 59%
Satisfactory work which meets the basic requirements and demonstrates some understanding of the course material but not a thorough understanding.

F/below 50%
Unsatisfactory work which shows little effort and insufficient comprehension.

Mandatory Reading
The VAS 020 reading package can be purchased at InPrint in the basement of the UCC.

Materials

Class Schedule

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Constructed Body: Picture Elements (May)
This section of the course will approach drawing as an expanded field to investigate space, experience, and alternative forms of presentation and production. Students will experiment with a diverse range of approaches and materials to complete assignments.

Readings:
Claudi and Sale, Drawing: A Contemporary Approach
Jane H. James, Perspective Drawing: A Point of View
David Laurer, Design Basics
Otto C. Ocvirk, Art Fundamentals: Theory and Practice
Howard J. Smagula, Creative Drawing
Charles Harrison, Modernism
Health and Safety Readings

Assignments:
Natural And Artificial Textures
Investgating Perspective
From Object to Image

Means:
Basic Drawing, Still Life, Life Drawing, Mark-making, Line, Texture, Value, Composition, Proportion, Perspective, and Colour

Materials:
Newsprint, Drawing Paper(s), Drawing Board and Clips, Fixative Spray, Ruler, Sketchbook, Wet and Dry Drawing Media, Found Images and Objects
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Narrative Space: Painting (June)
This section of the course will approach painting as tool to investigate issues colour theory and colour interaction, working with the model, symbolism, iconography, gender, originality, and authorship.

Readings:
David Laurer, Design Basics (Colour Articles)
Daniel Buren, The Function of the Museum
Sventlana Alpers, The Museum as a Way of Seeing

Assignments:
Multi-Frame Colour Studies

Means:
Colour Mixing and Experimentation, Compositional Studies, Preparatory Sketches and Research, Texture, and Paint Application Techniques

Materials:              
Sketchbook, Acrylic Paint, Gesso, Brushes, Palette, Paper(s), Masonite, and Canvas/Canvas Board
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Media World: Print Media (June)
This section of the course will investigate the social/historical developments and impetuses for the evolution of print media. Discussions and projects will address issues of photographic interpretation and narrative, mass production, and multiplicity.

Assignments:
Photographic Narratives
Relief Printmaking

Readings:
Judith Williamson, Images of Women: The Photography of Cindy Sherman

Means:
Relief Print/Printing Processes, Disposable Camera, Black and White Developing/Darkroom Processes, and Alternative Approaches to Exhibition

Materials:
Linoleum, Linoleum Cutter and Blades , Brayer, Printing Inks, Rags, Newsprint, Printing Paper(s), Disposable Camera, Black and White Photo Paper, Safety Glasses, Gloves, Plastic Apron
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Time Based Media: Video (July)
This section of the course will deal with issues of working with time-based media, narrative construction, performance, sampling, and interdisciplinary video work. Introductory lectures will focus on the historical development of the media in both the gallery and popular/commercial culture.

Readings:
Armin, Medosch, Introduction to Media Art

Assignments:
Video Remix

Means:
Brainstorming, Writing, Storyboarding, Shooting and Working with Non-Linerar Editing, Animation

Materials:
Videotapes, Props, Video Camera, Drawing Materials
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Narrative Space: PT. 2 Sculpture (July)
This section of the course will introduce and investigate issues of appropriation, alternation, and intervention. Discussions will focus on the role of the gallery/museum, alternate sites of exhibition, the development of sculptural mediums and their historical applications, and the advent of site-specific works and installation/intervention art.

Readings:
Robert Irwin, Being A Circumstance: Notes Toward A Confidential Art
Suzanne Lacy, Seeing Mud Houses

Assignments:
From Image to Object

Means:
Basic Sculptural Reductive Sculptural Processes, Plaster Mixing and Carving

Materials:
Sketchbook, Plaster
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Assignment Grade Weights

Assignment 1: Natural and Artificial Textures 10%
Assignment 2: Investigating Perspective 10%
Assignment 3: From Object to Image 10%
Assignment 4: Multi-Frame Colour Studies 10%
Assignment 5: Photographic Narratives 10%
Assignment 6: Opinions in Relief 10%
Essay 5%
Assignment 7: Video Remix 10%
Exam 5%
Assignment 8: From Image to Object 10%
Attendance and Participation 10%

TOTAL_______________100%
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Safety and Maintenance

Faculty Responsibilities:

• Inform students about safe use of materials and ensure that students are following safe procedures. In case of emergency call 911.
• Instruct students in the proper use of the spray booth in RM 230 if they wish to use aerosol fixatives. (The door of the booth must be closed when it is in use.)

• At the end of each class, return props and drapes to the model closet.
• At the end of each class, return space heaters, skeleton, opaque projectors, slide projectors, etc., to room 122. In the case of evening classes, equipment may be stored in your office and returned the next day.
• Notify Joan Francis of any burnt-out bulbs, broken or missing furniture, broken window blinds, etc.
• Inform students about general cleanup (including removal of paint, etc. from table surfaces), about storage of work in progress, and removal of completed marked work.
• Supervise students’ adherence to the maintenance requirements listed below, under the heading “Student Responsibilities”.

Student Responsibilities:

• When using paint remember that some pigments are more hazardous than others. Take special care with cadmium colours, cobalt colours, manganese colours, zinc white, flake white, cerulean blue, vermilion red, burnt and raw umber.
• Do not eat, drink or smoke while painting since these activities may lead to accident ingestion of paint.
• Use aerosol fixative only in the spray booth in RM 230 or outdoors. Fine mist from the sprays can penetrate deep into the lungs.
• At the end of each class, remove work-in-progress from easels, a-frames and walls, and store these works in your locker or storage racks.
• At the end of each class, clean all table surfaces. Throw used jars and other containers, and dirty rags and paper towels, into the garbage containers.
• Take home all completed graded work.
• Replace drawing boards in the model closet.
• Wash your hands thoroughly when you are finished working with dry or wet pigments or inks. Use a good hand cream after washing with soap, in order to prevent damage to your skin’s natural defensive barrier.
Please note: According to the University regulations guiding “Laboratory Use”, students who fail to respect the responsibilities listed above will not have their final course grades sent to the Registrar.

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