Fine Art BA (Hons)

This module will include cross-disciplinary delivery with content that is applicable and central to all Fine Art and Photography students whilst also maintaining subject specialist input that reflects the nuanced nature of these two courses. 

You will gain an understanding of the wider context and study of visual art practice at university level through the delivery of cross-disciplinary studio project briefs with associated critical theory. Your responses to these overarching briefs will stem from a subject specific standpoint supported by relevant workshop and induction activities as part of the development of techniques and processes specific to your discipline.

You will be introduced to the fundamental practices, concepts, theories, and potential of Visual Arts Practice whilst simultaneously exploring, in a diagnostic sense, the media areas and specialist practices that you gravitate towards. This grounding in the skills and techniques related to a range of materials, approaches and attitudes will form a sound foundation not only for later L4 study but as a central tenet of your Fine Art or Photography trajectory through the three years of study. 

Following the Introduction to Fine Art and Photography module you will develop a body of practice that extends the possibilities, scope and outcome of one, or a combination of the earlier activities or projects. This will allow you to further consider and explore some of the visual and conceptual territory you recognise as being of interest to you. Your portfolio or body of work will test some of the boundaries of this visual territory and afford you an opportunity to consider a range of responses through visual experimentation and speculation. 

From this body of practice you will be supported to select examples of work for public exhibition, collaborating and negotiating with other students to curate and install your exhibition within a given timeframe. 

This module enables students with A-Level German or equivalent to further develop their grammar, vocabulary and expression and apply these to real world situations.You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop your oral and written communication skills at Post-A level.

This module is designed for students that have completed A-Level or equivalent in French. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and expression and apply these to real world situations. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop your oral and written communication skills at Post-A level.

This module is designed for students that have completed a A-Level or equivalent in Spanish. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and expression and apply these to real world situations. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop oral and written communication skills at Post-A level.

This module is designed for students who have completed GCSE in Chinese or equivalent. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and learning conventions for spelling and pronunciation. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop oral and written communication skills at an intermediate level.

This module is designed for students who have completed GCSE or equivalent in French. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and learning conventions for spelling and pronunciation. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop oral and written communication skills at an intermediate level.

This module is designed for students that have completed GCSE or equivalent in Spanish. You will further develop your grammar, vocabulary and learning conventions for spelling and pronunciation. You will work with written and recorded texts on a range of cultural, personal and social topics and will develop oral and written communication skills at an intermediate level.

This module provides the opportunity to study a new language from scratch and introduces you to basic grammar, vocabulary and cultural contexts. You will apply the language to practical situations using both oral and written skills. 

You will identify and establish a practice-based position, which builds upon and is informed by your previous approaches and responses to Fine Art and Photography. Your practice and its related context may be rooted in your personal experience, ideas, subject, interests, concerns and materials. This position will also be informed by your aspirations for the future, with a view to graduation, careers and employability, commercial and professional activity in the future.

The module introduces parallel but distinct directions and themes for Photography and Fine Art students that will facilitate an independent direction built on curiosity whilst embracing risk and experimentation. Whether concerned with narrative, abstracted from lived-experience or visual phenomena, subject matter and things which you encounter as part of a process of finding and making, the module provides you with the opportunity to speculate on your own methods and motivations in terms of both practice and theory. The module is followed by the introduction of a summer project will together begin to set an agenda for your practice and the increasingly focussed and autonomous position you will adopt and then develop as you start your Level 6 studies. 

This module will see you responding to a number of studio practice briefs that cover a broad range of Fine Art modes of operation and are underpinned by pertinent critical and contextual frameworks. Your studio responses will test the boundaries of your knowledge, expanding your interests and concerns beyond your L4 experience so as to prepare you for further L5 modules. Critical theory lectures will extend your understanding of historical and contemporary Fine Art and your research will inform the writing of a series of Research Reports aligned to the nature of the studio projects.

Whilst the module is about the development of your practice and critical and contextual understanding, it is also a testbed for approaches and strategies to and through your practice and critical understanding which will ultimately inform your L6 position and direction. 

This module will provide you with the practical and theoretical underpinning of professional practice in your specific subject, enabling you to identify and develop key employability attributes and skills in preparation for your future career.  

You will spend several weeks working collaboratively with other students across the School for the Creative Industries on one major project or several smaller projects in a professional ‘simulated real world’ working environment.  Projects will be contemporary, topical, externally focussed and often involve partnership with outside agencies. The module will provide you with opportunities for immersive learning and the chance to apply your knowledge in real-world contexts. 

The module provides you with an opportunity to undertake a 140-hour work placement. This placement is complemented by a number of school-delivered sessions designed to develop your employability, professional practice, and understanding of career options. Students learn to reflect on the nature of creativity within their studies, as well as other transferable skills and competencies developed on their programmes, and gain awareness of how this is valued and relevant in modern workplaces. 

This will be a university-level work placement of up to 7 weeks of 140 hours with a placement provider(s) (e.g. an employer from the private, public, or charitable sector). The placement(s) should be relevant to your area of study and wider career goals, and can either be organised by you, or with support from university staff. All work placements within this module must be university-level; this means: Undertaking high-skilled work commensurate with level 5 study (e.g. report writing, attending meetings, delivering presentations, producing spreadsheets, writing content on webpages, social media, marketing services/products etc).

Placement may potentially take place with more than one employer, reflecting the nature of freelance suppliers in the creative industries. To further reflect the diverse nature of employment in the creative industries, some- or all- of your hours may be spent working remotely on activities such as copy-writing, preparation, post-production and presentation.

The module will provide the opportunity to further develop your language skills, building on your previous learning at advanced level. The second half of the module includes a placement abroad or, alternatively, a project on a sustainability issue in a target language country. The first half of the module will prepare you for placements abroad where appropriate as well as a deeper understanding of sustainability in target language contexts. Students of more than one language may take one language in the first half of the module and spend their time abroad developing a different language. 

The module will provide the opportunity to further develop your language skills, building on your previous learning at intermediate level. The first half of the module includes intensive taught sessions in interactive workshop mode which will prepare you for placements abroad or self-directed language development. The second half of the module includes an placement abroad or, alternatively, a project on a business or tourism issue in a target language country. Students of more than one language may take one language in the first half of the module and spend their time abroad developing a different language. 

The module will provide the opportunity to further develop your language skills, building on your previous learning at beginner level. The first half of the module includes intensive taught sessions in interactive workshop mode which will prepare you for placements abroad or self-directed language development. The second half of the module includes a placement abroad or, alternatively, a project on a cultural issue in a target language country. Students of more than one language may take one language in the first half of the module and spend their time abroad developing a different language. 

• The multiple facets of global citizenship
• Ethical engagement and practice
• The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
• Cross-cultural issues and sensitivity
• Intercultural communication
• Culture shock
• Cultural adjustment
• Self- assessment of needs: identification of the range of transferable skills, competencies and attitudes employees need and employers expect graduates to possess-with a strong focus on understanding the intercultural competencies (ICC) needed to live and work abroad.
• Critical analysis/evaluation of individual requirements in relation to culture/cultural adjustment/culture shock/visas/medical.
• Critical analysis/evaluation of skills already acquired in relation to key skills related to ICC.
• Devising strategies to improve one’s own prospects of working abroad in the future.
• Devising an action plan to address gaps in transferable skills based on organisational analysis and sector opportunities.

Part A:      

Preparation for Experiential Overseas Learning will take place at the University of Chester during level 5 and will include:  

• The multiple facets of Global citizenship
• Ethical engagement and practice
• Cross-cultural issues and sensitivity
• Intercultural communication

Theories, models and strategies of learning

• Theories and models Intercultural competence
• Theories and models of Integration and Multiculturalism
• Critical thinking skills and models of Reflection

• Experiential learning models
• Self-directed experiential learning

Personal and placement-related skills

• Enhanced independence
• Improved command of multicultural behaviour
• Increased knowledge and confidence in their individual facets of personal identity
• Effective time management and organisational skills
• Project management – working away from University and independent study
• Self-management and personal development
• Team building and team work

Part B:            Overseas

Students will engage in experiential learning activities overseas for at least 150 hours 

Preparation for the year abroad will take place in Chester during level 5 and will include:

• Cross-cultural issues and sensitivity
• Host-country orientation, study methods– economic, political and social reality of the country
• Orientation specific to exchange – health, education, gender issues
• The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
• Practical matters relating to living and studying in the wider world

Theories, models and strategies of learning

• Critical thinking skills, experiential learning and models of reflection

Personal and placement-related transversal skills

• Effective self-motivation and independent resourcefulness
• Effective time management and organisational skills
• Project management – working away from University and independent study
• Self-management and personal development

Whilst abroad:

You will undertake study at one of the University of Chester's partner universities or undertake and approved work placement or virtual placement. If you are a student,  it is expected that you will choose a series of modules at the university abroad which must be agreed by the host institution and the Module Leader. you must supply details of you modules on a learning agreement within 4 weeks of arrival at the host university.

This Fine Art and Photography module will extend the outcomes of your summer project and will require you to explore your emerging context and related research interests through both practice and theory. Your Fine Art or Photography concerns and interests will therefore be negotiated through, and exemplified in a 4000 word essay, whilst your practice will feature in a public exhibition of work in progress towards the end of the module.

The work that you produce for your summer project will inform a position relating to the things you are interested in, allowing you to examine content, context, form and agenda. Thus you will have explored possibilities in terms of your approaches to your own Fine Art or Photographic practice in the third year. At the start of this module you will be in a good position to outline your thinking, your aspirations and ambitions for your independent practice and the possible directions you see it taking. Through studio based tutorials you will be tasked with extending these possibilities, examining them through active practice and a suitably critical discussion, with the resultant work being exhibited and assessed in an interim exhibition near the conclusion of the module. 

This module and the interim exhibition sees you developing autonomous approaches relating to your practice with associated feedback and feed-forward promoting support for further independent practice in subsequent L6 modules. 

This module will therefore see you setting, activating, speculating on, and experimenting with a position that will define you as an artist or photographer as you plan forwards to your degree show exhibition.

During this module you will research and formulate a Career Development Plan, which draws on your Level 5 placement experience, and outlines your ambitions and aspirations as you move towards graduation and beyond. This plan will help you conceive and design the way in which your practice is disseminated through ‘promotional’ materials and artefacts, and how your programme based experience can enhance your employability both directly and via transferable skills. Such materials will facilitate and extend networks for employability, independent practice, community or socially engaged practices, commissions, sales, or a combination thereof. Your promotional materials and artefacts will collate, parallel, complement or function as a subsidiary dimension of your practice as a body of work, defining your distinct visual identity and direction.

Your practice based modules will see you developing, making and delivering your practice, ultimately in a degree show. This module will support strategies for the broader dissemination of that work to an audience and afford you an opportunity to consider your trajectory both towards and beyond graduation. 

This module is the midway point in the development of your Studio Practice, between the interim exhibition and your final degree show. Building on previous speculative visual research and related feedback you will propose, make and reflect on studio based strategies and outcomes that continue to confirm and consolidate your artistic position. 

You will maintain a speculative mindset and have an open dialogue with your practice whilst your ideas, conceptual and contextual understanding, your handling and manipulation of materials become increasingly focused on negotiated and considered visual outcomes.

This module marks the culmination of your undergraduate Studio Practice. Your increasingly focussed and strategic visual research will see you propose and present a professional level exhibition that takes account of earlier positions, visual speculation and your interests in terms of ideas and concepts.

Whilst your studio practice is at the forefront of the module you will also take account of curatorial strategies, collaboration with others, exhibition professionalism and dissemination of your work through timely, relevant and appropriate media. The simultaneous module Audiences, Networks & Professions will support your Studio Practice affording you a platform for that wider dissemination of your work through strategies including, for example, Degree Show branding, editions and multiples, social media and web-based opportunities and consideration of your audience. You will be making your work and also considering how it, and your broader skill set mesh with graduate and professional opportunities at the point of graduation.