Art Studio

This course examines human-centred design methods and tools that range from problem framing to prototyping, modelling, and validating solution ideas. Students will address a variety of briefs based on real-world problems and contexts, exploring their personal creative potential through a series of hands-on projects supported by presentations.

In this course, students will undertake a studio art project that responds to the challenges of the Anthropocene and climate change. The course explores related art and ideas from Aotearoa and overseas.

This is an advanced level art studio course in sculptures for students with prior experience in sculpturing techniques. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor and  Accademia di Belle Arti (ABABO). The course is held at ABABO during the first and second semesters. Students are required to attend both the theoretical part and the studio laboratory and to complete individual projects. The main aim of lectures and laboratory activities is to provide students with the necessary techniques to independently execute their works in various contexts and conditions, such as: public and private settings, or enclosed and open spaces. Students learn the complexity and compositions of traditional and modern techniques. incorporating various disciplines and using different materials. Students are graded on the artistic capacity of their projects as well as the understandings and manners of the techniques chosen. 

This course offers a study of video art design and creation and the field of experimental cinema. It explores techniques and technologies of digital video and audio, as well as methods of audiovisual production. Students work in a group to develop an audiovisual project that incorporates video art techniques and formats. 

This course examines the practice of painting within a contemporary art context. Working individually and collaboratively in the studio, students will complete a range of practical tasks that will give them a foundation in painting practice. It covers how to use painting tools, materials, supports, and how to work with color and tone to create paintings. 

In this course, students will focus on the design and fabrication of functional and/or wearable objects in response to architecture and interior spaces. Students will apply jewellery and metal fabrication skills and small-scale production methods to develop a series of designs that engage with spatial and conceptual relationships between architecture and the body. The designs outcomes will be contextualized by contemporary practices in Jewellery and Object Design.

This course helps students develop skills and experience with a range of etching techniques in a supportive and peer-oriented studio environment. Working with intaglio matrix techniques such as collagraph, drypoint, hard ground line (etching), aquatint, soft ground, sugar lift and spit bite, students will be encouraged to explore how printmaking connects with contemporary art contexts where distinctions between disciplines are increasingly fluid.

Scotland’s landscape has inspired poets and writers for generations. From the hills covered in purple heather to the glorious light at sunrise, almost every vista is an invitation to the enthusiastic visual journalist. At the same time, the protection of a diverse and sustainable environment has pushed an appreciation of the landscape to the top of the educational agenda. This is a unique module that enables students to appreciate the environment, enjoy the natural beauty of Scotland while learning and developing their skills at landscape photography. Students l learn the practice of landscape photography, but also the theory and principles. Students are provided with all the equipment they need, such as cameras, lenses, and tripods, access to a state of the art editing suite and the support and guidance of top professionals to ensure they return home with valuable new skills and a portfolio to impress and remember.

Topics in this graphic design course include: safety, hygiene, and good practices; introduction to the world of graphic communication; signage, the pictogram, the alphabet, and visual information; visual identity, sign, and signal; elaboration of iconic elements; elementary composition, theory of perception applied to visual communication; calligraphy, typography, and graphic arts; evolution of traditional concepts of graphic design to those of the 21st century.

This course explores essential aspects of the theory and practice of design and introduces different concepts and methods of research, work, and presentation of ideas that make the development of complex design projects possible. Other topics include: design methods and creative processes; visual perception and aspects of form; design, meaning, and communication; use and context.