Art Studio

This studio course introduces the principles of painting and develops skills in composition, observation, and the use of color. The course includes sessions on technique, brushwork, color theory, and the use of different media.  During the first half of the course assignments concentrate on developing different skills and building techniques, using traditional and experimental approaches to painting. During the second half of the course, students use these skills to develop their own work. Students explore the history of art in Florence in the many galleries and museums and use this knowledge to inform their own work. The course covers the technical developments of the Renaissance, including the study of perspective, line, and form. Through guided instructional sessions, students cultivate their unique artistic styles and engage in individual research, which may involve integrating themes and techniques from both modern and contemporary art. This study is the basis for developing painting skills through engaging with, and responding to, the works and artists they study. The course also has a focus on developing skills for self and peer criticism to discuss the development of the work. Students create a final piece supported by an Artist's Statement, a research breakdown outlining the evolution of the project's concept, and technical development. 

This course supports progression towards an independent studio practice. Students are asked to develop studio-based projects in response to technology as a ‘non human Other.’ In this context, non-human Other refers to human engagement with technologies, practices, machines, tools, in ways that yield ideas, critical thinking, and a systems-based way of thinking and making. Getting to know this non-human Other as a collaborator, deepening an understanding and/or relationship with it, working with it in a transformative and artistic way to produce a body of work engaging with contemporary art ideas and practices, is the purpose of the course. Students are encouraged to pursue exploration with their chosen practice(s), including painting, print, photography, and time-based or sculptural approaches. The course encourages increased artistic independence supported by seminars, readings, small group student-led and lecturer supported dialogue. Underpinning all teaching and learning in this course are the principles of partnership, participation, protection, and whanaungatanga, explored through exchange, collaboration, and shared responsibility for learning within a community of contemporary art practice. 

In this studio course students will be introduced to aspects of contemporary sculpture with a focus on object making, the exploration of physical materials and applied processes. While working to a brief, students are expected to undertake independent investigations and develop individual responses.

This is an intermediate level course which introduces unique and topical issues in product design. Students explore one or more issues, conduct analysis and exploration, and produce designs that address a specific aspect identified. This course builds upon the learning of other courses as it prepares the way for creating unique product designs.

This course examines a range of practices, research and theories in the contemporary visual arts focusing on a selection of critical transformations in this field.

As the demand for digital visualization is rapidly growing, there is a need to learn about computer graphics. Today, industries such as animations, games, movies, advertising, architecture, and many other fields are no longer sustainable without computer graphic technologies. With the development and broader utilization of digital visualization, there is a growing need to develop basic knowledge of computer graphic technology. This course aims to review basic computer graphic tools and then introduce various techniques for creative visual expression for a wide range of applications. This course is to understand the usages and the characteristics of essential 2D graphic tools; to engage in the creative process by producing artwork and compositions; and to experiment with expressivity to elevate both the aesthetic and emotional qualities within the artistic endeavors, mainly learning how to use photoshop/illustrator/InDesign. 

Calligraphy is the representative of Chinese art. To understand Chinese art, calligraphy is a convenient way to enter. The purpose of offering calligraphy aesthetics and practice, a general elective course across colleges and departments, is to enable students who are not majoring in calligraphy to have a preliminary perception of the aesthetics of Chinese calligraphy, a general cognition of the history of Chinese calligraphy, and a basic experience of the basic techniques of Chinese calligraphy. Therefore, this course is integrated with aesthetics, history and practice. In this course, students not only listen to the history and theory of calligraphy taught by teachers and famous teachers, but also practice calligraphy in person under the inspiration of the teachers' unique teaching methods: seal script, official script, regular script, running script, cursive script, meaning and ancient meeting, elegant in hand. Students will be improved aesthetically, cultivated in their humanistic and artistic temperament, improved in the practice of writing, and finally have a new understanding of Chinese calligraphy and Chinese artistic spirit.

ICH Tai Chi Arts（Mr. Wang Qihe style） The Wang-Style Tai Chi, founded by Mr. Wang Qihe in the late Qing Dynasty, is a unique style of Tai Chi developed from the Yang-style small frame. In Wang style, not only is the softness and agility of Yang style well blended into the Wu-style hard frame, but it has also assimilated into its system the essence of other traditional arts such as Xingyi and Bagua, thus forming a special school of Tai Chi, characterized by its spiraling force and quick easy grace. Practitioners of Wang style should accustom themselves to the soft, water-like moves in Tai Chi and remember to be always as agile as the mouse-catching cat. From 1914 to 1921, Wang Qihe served in the Huiyou Security Bureau in Beijing. In 1913, Wang’s disciple Cao Shouhua was admitted to the Law Department of Peking University where he met Li Dazhao, who was also fond of martial arts. The two soon became close friends. Learning and practicing martial arts together, they also became comrades in battle when Cao joined the Communist Party under Li’s introduction. In 1938, Cao and Wang Jingfang (Wang Qihe’s son) escorted Deng Xiaoping and Chen Zaidao eastward and assisted them in establishing the revolutionary base in the south of Hebei. While Li and Cao sacrificed their lives for the Revolution in China, the Wang-Style Tai Chi survives and has thus formed an indissoluble bond with Peking University. Today, the Wang-Style Tai Chi has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage at the international (2020), national (2014), Beijing (2020) and Haidian (2018) levels. It is also a project declared, protected and inherited by the Peking University Headquarters. This course offers an overview of Tai Chi, including tuishou (pushing hands), sanshou (sparring), postures, as well as the biomechanical, biotechnological and philosophical principles behind the Tai Chi moves. The aim of the course is to let students understand and inherit the essence of Chinese culture, to boost their cultural identification and confidence, and to promote their physical and mental fitness. By learning and practicing Tai Chi, students can enhance their coordination, balance and flexibility, activate certain muscle groups, strengthen their cores, and thus gain a better control of their bodies. Tai Chi is also helpful in curing spinal and pelvic problems, reducing daily sports injuries and developing life-long sports habits among students.

This course examines human-centred approaches to the design of interactive technologies and environments. It covers theoretical concepts, methods and tools used in human-centred design, including user research, ideation, prototyping and user evaluation. It provides students with the principles, processes and tools that are used in commercial design projects. Students learn to build empathy with users, identify the problem space, develop design concepts and persuasively communicate design proposals with an emphasis on the user experience through visual storytelling.

This course examines generative and iterative studio processes. Weekly topics and activities are designed to encourage connections between materials, processes, and ideas.