VA4006 - Material Enquiry

You will learn through the development of a ‘parallel practice’ that will sit alongside your independent studio enquiry through the second semester. Lectures and seminars will introduce you to the core ideas of the module’s subject and will facilitate learning through critical reflection and practical experimentation. You will build on this through the production of a range of material enquiries guided by tutorials with academic staff and supported through practical demonstration. Your learning will develop through a blend of individually focused teaching and peer learning. You will be required to engage in critical self-evaluation of your learning and will be guided with formative feedback from academic staff through the module.

You are supported by an academic team, and by a module lead who will introduce the module at the start of the semester and offer guidance throughout. Academic support is provided by individual tutorials, group seminars, lectures and five weekly sessions of technical demonstration supported by technicians. Your learning is mapped out for you in a module guide given to you at the start of each semester that includes your assessment brief, guidance notes and key dates for the semester to help you organise and plan your time. Teaching materials, notices and guidance are made available to you through our online electronic learning portal (BLACKBOARD). This is accessible online both on campus and externally. You will have a University email that we contact you through, and all course timetabling is published on your electronic timetable. You will have twenty-four-hour access to the University Library. To support you we provide you with on-going formative feedback through the teaching you receive and ask you to write and submit a self-evaluation review reflecting on your own progress against the module learning outcomes.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

LEVEL 4

Knowledge & Understanding:

1. The production of work that evidences an appreciation for the relationship between material specificity and potential meaning.


Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

2. The evidence of emerging critical decision-making in relation to material-led enquiry.


Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

3. The acquisition and application of new transferable skills linked to academic curiosity for and cultural awareness of materiality.

You will receive on-going verbal feedback (formative review) from academics through individual tutorials, and seminars. This enables you to respond immediately and clarify with academics any points you are unsure of.
At the mid-point of semester 2 you will complete a Self-Evaluation Review form outlining your progress against Module Learning Outcomes. Your studio tutor will also complete a copy. You will meet (in person or online) for a feed-forward tutorial in the following week to identify gaps in understanding against the Learning Outcomes and agree on ways in which you can move forward and develop your work.

Summative Assessment – Summative 100%

The Summative Assessment carries a weighting of 100% of your final mark and takes place at the end of semester 2. You will present an example of work produced through your ‘parallel practice’. This will be accompanied by developmental material and preparatory work with evidence of material testing. You will accompany this with a short 5-minute presentation to your seminar group outlining the material specificity of your work for this module.

Summative Assessment Feedback
You will receive verbal feedback from your Studio Tutor in your studio, alongside your work, within seven days of the submission deadline. Feedback is individual and provided in the context of the assessment criteria given to you at the start of the semester in the module guide.

In this module you will be introduced to some fundamental principals in artistic production; how materials and methodology contribute to the production of meaning in art. You will develop your practical knowledge of key processes from semester 1 while gaining insight to a range of critical contexts that are informed by material concerns in art making. These concerns will be drawn from the expanded field of contemporary art practice and will include contexts in the use of non-traditional materials such as found material, language, sound, site and situation.
You will learn through the development of a ‘parallel practice’ that will sit alongside your independent studio enquiry through the second semester. Lectures and seminars will introduce you to the core ideas of the module’s subject and will facilitate learning through critical reflection and practical experimentation. You will build on this through the production of a range of material enquiries guided by tutorials with academic staff and supported through practical demonstration. Your learning will develop through a blend of individually focused teaching and peer learning. You will be required to engage in critical self-evaluation of your learning and will be guided with formative feedback from academic staff through the module.