Visual Media

Description

This module offers an introduction to the history of specific media and the materials, techniques and processes used by artists to produce works of various types. The module is organised in a broadly chronological way, beginning with 'traditional' media, such as drawing and painting (egg tempera and oil), with a focus on late Medieval and Early Modern artists and their techniques, before then moving through innovations in modern art up to and including the nineteenth century (e.g. French Impressionism), and culminating with contemporary art and practice. Each week addresses a specific media or 'type' of artwork, and you will be introduced to the different properties and capabilities of each media and learn to examine and understand the visual effects achieved. The module aims to provide you with knowledge about how different media are composed and used and how different media and their techniques engender specific and recognisable visual effects in art and visual culture. It aims to equip you with an in-depth understanding of how different media have been utilised, over a long time period; how materials and processes contribute to the meanings and significances of works of art/visual culture; and it also aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills required to compare and contrast different types of object/work and their materials. An underlying aim of the module is to prepare you to analyse works of art and visual culture in theoretical and methodological ways by developing key foundational skills in visual analysis and understanding the materiality of art objects.