Learning and Teaching Unit
Studio is one of the teaching and learning arrangements in the discipline of visual arts where you experience various ‘hands on’ learning activities. The sessions are held in studio spaces that encourage the development and display of different kinds of 2D and 3D work.
Studio sessions provide you with learning experiences that are essential for your work as a visual artist. Working as part of a team is an important aspect of professional practice and the studio fosters group work and collaboration.
Professional artists use critique to refine their work, and the Studio session develops skills in giving and receiving feedback. This provides different perspective on your ideas and work, expanding those ideas through contact with others. Studio also allows you to work over an extended period of time and to develop various studio based practice skills .
A Studio session, or series of sessions, begins with an explanation and outline of the tasks or projects you are to complete. Sometimes these tasks relate explicitly to lectures. In some courses the link with theory is less obvious and you need to make the connections.
Studio sessions occur in blocks of 4.5 or 9 hours. This together with a similar time outside class is needed to to research and complete projects and to give and receive feedback.
Your Studio work involves you reflecting, experimenting and exploring; influenced and enriched by exhibitions, books, journals and by your everyday surroundings. You are encouraged to be adventurous in your discoveries and how you reach them.
One strategy by Crowe and Hurtt (1986) is ‘graphic thinking’ i.e. thinking by constructing pictures. Use different types of drawings to think about ideas in new ways. Use journals and sketchbooks to record your thinking in graphic form; your conversations with yourself as you reflect, experiment and explore.
Studio involves not only the work you do, but the way you interact with staff and students. Studio involves critiquing; evaluating what you and others are doing, making judgments as to what is good and not so good about it and giving and receiving feedback.You may find this challenging, particularly at first, but it is the way Studio works.
While critiquing may occur throughout Studio sessions, often the most important feedback on your work will be given towards the end of each session.
Some practical suggestions for getting the most from your Studio sessions:
Throughout the study period there will be reviews, including oral presentations, providing valuable feedback and the opportunity for you to receive and justify or substantiate your presented work. At the end of each study period, students present their work for final assessment usually in the form of exhibition and review. This comprehensive assessment is generally completed by a panel of both internal and external reviewers (see Visual Art Studio Reviews).
The learning experiences in Studio are critical in developing the skills you will need as a visual artist. If you regularly prepare for Studio, participate actively in it and develop ways to reflect on, experiment with and explore your ideas, you will develop your understanding of arts practice. You will develop your critical and creative thinking and your ability to work individually and collaboratively. You will also appreciate the experience of being part of an arts community.
Crowe N. and Hurtt S. 1986, ‘Visual Notes and the Acquisition of Architectural Knowledge’, Journal of Architectural Education, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 6-16.
