The Body: Facts and Fictions

This subject is not offered in 2013.

10 Hours per Week

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Our changing notions of 'what it is to be human' affect how we represent ourselves.

This practice-based subject focuses on figurative drawing and is designed for students who have had little or no experience in visual art making. Students will be introduced to specialist drawing practices and 3D modeling through life drawing and related approaches to imaging the human form. The studio program will be delivered alongside formal lectures and seminars that will explore the nexus between theory and practice by critically examining the representation of the human figure in the context of significant visual art genres and pictorial convention. Projects will be set in both the theoretical and practical areas.

This subject aims to:
• create a dialogue between the perceptual, the conceptual and theoretical;
• develop skills that can build a visual language around representations of the body;
• provide an introduction to the knowledge and skills required to effectively represent the figure both from direct observation and through further studio based experimentation;
• offer basic knowledge and experience in key drawing and modeling practices and to direct these abilities toward outcomes of artistic conceptualisation and expression.

1. A substantial folio of selected works that will include perceptually based drawing, work made for set exercises/projects and related materials. Due: Last week of semester (75%).
2. Written component: 1,000 word essay. Due: Week following end of semester (25%).

Ongoing feedback is provided to students throughout the subject’s duration via individual group discussion. Additionally, a progress review will take place midway through the course, taking into account the following criteria:

- Course Engagement
- Work Development

Hurdle Requirement: Students must attend at least 80% of all scheduled classes.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

On completing this subject students will be able to:
• display an awareness of the graphic possibilities of a variety of concepts, materials and practices;
• exhibit evidence of skill development both pictorially and technically as a means of independent image making;
• indicate evidence of individual research in the relevant area of practice
• demonstrate capacities for artistic imagination, creativity, transformation and interpretation;
• demonstrate practical skills in respect of critical analysis, problem solving;
• demonstrate an open, independent and inquiring attitude towards contemporary cultural developments and new ideas.