Art Studio

This course takes the form of a tour of the city and the environment near the Maison des Arts. Beginning with architecture and covering portraits staged in various buildings from the 15th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, students create an urban alphabet book. Each session refers to two or three artists, photographers, or painters. Students learn to handle the device, exercise the gaze, and situate their work in relation to old or current references.

The course covers practical methods and techniques for constructing and presenting portfolios.

This photography course is designed to challenge students both academically and intellectually in its theoretical and philosophical parts. It is also conceived as a rather passionate invitation to a collective exploration of and adventure in photography as an art form. It combines theoretical aspects of photography, its aesthetic and cognitive values with practical exercises. Several outdoor activities make an integral part of the course in order to improve students’ individual skills in artistic self-expression. The focus is also on styles, different views of reality, how photography as an exquisite artistic medium expresses (or at times suppresses) the individual bias, aesthetics, period style, and the societal and cultural boundaries. The course also examines the age-old debate about the documentary versus artistic value of photography, and similarly the argument on the nude arts versus soft pornography. Through students’ presentations, the course also offers a look into the history of Czech(oslovak) photography.

This studio course examines creative responses to design challenges through critical awareness of contextual issues. It covers core techniques, skills and processes in visual communication design.