1150 years ago art and design students, in order to learn, had to copy exactly the work of famous artists. From this way of working, they learned how to draw, paint and sculpt as well as to make jewellery, furniture and buildings. You don’t have to do that anymore but you are expected to find out about the work of other artists from the past and the present. You’ll find out how materials have been used, and how artists have used information from the world around them for inspiration.

This unit will introduce you to key movements in art and design and how artists responded to what was going on in their time. Finding the answers to how society changed because of new ideas in science and manufacturing and how life changed because of world wars can all be discovered by studying art and design.

If you look at how artists worked at the start of the last century you’ll find out that they were influenced by the technology that was being invented then. For example, paintings and sculptures reflected the discovery of speed through the invention of cars and planes. Fast forward to artists of the last 40 years and you can discover how Pop, Rock and Punk music changed fashion and graphic design forever. By knowing about contextual references in art and design you will find out how the past links with the work of artists today.

Learning outcomesAfter completing this unit you should:

1 know the influences of historical and contemporary art and design developments

2 be able to use historical and contemporary references to support research and development of own response

3 be able to present information about the work studied in an appropriate format

Contextual references in art and design

movementabstract art realism historical art

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Credit value: 10

When you are working with digital art and design briefs you will be exploring the potential of using digital techniques to create art and design work. This may involve using a mixture of traditional and digital techniques.

Artists and designers working in digital media need to be flexible and able to work in different ways. The ever-increasing potential of the digital environment means they have to continually adapt and refine their work and be aware of new directions made available by technology. On page 217 is an example of a digital artist and designer who works in different ways.

Learning outcomesAfter completing this unit you should:

1 be able to create visual material using digital technology

2 be able to plan and develop ideas for a digital art and design brief

3 understand the successful characteristics and quality of digital art and design work

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Credit value: 10

digital illustrationphotographic-based work digital-based fine art online publications websites blogs vlogs animatics animation

15Working with digital art and design briefs

The skill of preparing and making is an essential part of every artist’s and designer’s job and because of this it is covered within all 18 units. It includes being able to develop new ideas, make use of specialist techniques and processes and experiment with media.

Developing ideas is completed at the beginning of assignments. It’s about taking a given starting point on a design journey in order to come up with a range of ideas. Many small changes are made to the original idea along the journey in order to end up with lots of alternatives. It is often a good idea to work quickly at this stage so that you have more ideas to select from rather than less!

Experimenting could involve exploring different colour combinations, or working at different scales, or working with different media, techniques or processes. Artists and designers develop their ideas in different ways in order to produce an original design. A selection of the elements that can be changed and altered are listed on the right.

Selected ideas will need to be refined and the final piece needs to be made carefully and accurately.

This section you give you ideas and examples of how to meet the pass, merit and distinction criteria in Units 1–5 and suggest ways to further develop and extend your ideas.

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colour palettes styles of lettering materials scale and proportion composition media placement of imagery patterns surfaces

Preparing and making skills

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Unit 1 Contextual references in art and designBTEC’s own resources

1. Know the influences of historical and contemporary art and design developments

Warm upCan you connect Punk Rock with Marie Antoinette?

Dame Vivienne Westwood is a fashion designer who invented Punk Rock fashions in the 1970s. Clothes were often offensive printed slogans on torn fabrics which were pinned together again with safety pins. Twenty years later, Westwood started to look at paintings of wealthy people such as Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) to inspire her work.

Look at portraits of wealthy women from 1600 to 1850 and at Westwood’s work from the late 1980s onwards. Compare this example of a Westwood top with the painting that inspired it. Discuss the common points.

Discuss the points that are common to the paintings and Westwood’s fashions. See the Wallace Collection on Hotlinks.

This Westwood article of clothing has been photographically printed with a detail from François Boucher’s Daphnis and Chloë (1743–5) in the Wallace Collection, London

Boucher’s Daphnis and Chloë (1743–5) in the Wallace Collection, London

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Unit 1 Contextual references in art and designBTEC’s own resources

SurrealismSurrealism grew out of Dadaism as artists began to react to the political and philosophical thoughts of the time. Surrealist artists made ‘automatic’ drawings and tried to illustrate what was happening in their unconscious minds. During the early 1920s scientific theories about how the mind worked

were beginning to develop. Practitioners such as Sigmund Freud invented psychoanalysis and artists were keen to reflect these theories in their work. From the 1920s the Surrealist movement spread around the globe, affecting painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, film, poetry, writing and music.

Artists to look at include Man Ray (1890–1977), Meret Oppenheim (1913–1985), Leonora Carrington (1917–), Roland Penrose (1900–1984), Lee Miller (1907–1977) and Salvador Dali (1904–1989). Dali turned himself into a self-publicist and appeared on television and directed films. In 1973 Dali met the rock star Alice Cooper and produced a three-dimensional hologram of him.

Abstract ExpressionismJackson Pollock (1912–1956) painted drip paintings between 1947 and 1956, which are concerned with rhythm and harmony. Pollock flicked and dripped paint on to large boards and canvases as they lay on the floor. His abstract work was part of Abstract Expressionism which emerged in America after the end of the Second World War in 1945. Artists were responding to the horrors of war as well as to the emerging Cold War and mass consumerism. Look at the work of Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978) and Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) to find out more and then link these to the work of Andy Warhol (1928–1987).

What is being expressed in this painting by Willem de Kooning?

Surreal – sur-real means unreal, something which is bizarre or relates to surrealism

Key term

In what ways was Dali’s preoccupation with the unconscious mind reflected in this painting?

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Unit 1 Contextual references in art and designBTEC’s own resources

MinimalismThis was an offshoot of modern art that appeared in New York in the 1950s in the shape of sculptures and paintings. Carl Andre (1935–), Donald Judd (1928–1994) and Tony Smith (1912–1980) are among the best-known Minimalist artists. Canvases were large and, to many people, looked blank – just filled with one or two colours. This art was extremely unpopular with the public because it looked like nothing.

Unexpectedly in the 1980s, Minimalism seemed to be adopted by ordinary people. Interiors became Minimalist as contents of rooms were either thrown away or hidden behind floor-to-ceiling cupboards that often were concealed. Many magazines featured the Minimalist interiors of architects and designers, which then influenced and inspired other designers. Furniture also became less fussy. Designers began to adopt industrial materials to make furniture, and floors were covered with rubber tiles or tamped-down concrete, as you might find in factories. Of course not everyone went Minimalist, but this example shows how ideas circulate among artists and designers.

PLTS

Creative thinkers and self-managersPersonal learning and thinking skills are practised when you use your own initiative to explore historical and contemporary references.Note on a mind map or spider diagram how artists are linked.

Use the information to give yourself new directions to explore.

Contemporary – usually means ‘of now’ but often means trendy/cutting edge.

Key term

List the key movements you are familiar with. Can you put any important events against these movements?

If you are interested in a specialist pathway, can you answer any of the following about the key movements you have listed?

What were the dates of the movement?•

What fashions did women wear?•

What sort of transport was used?•

What materials were used to make furniture?•

How did people communicate?•

What did houses built at the time look like?•

What sort of music did people listen to? • P1

M1Assessment activity 1.1: Key movements

P1 D1

Grading tip M1

To achieve a Merit, you need to explain the influences of a variety of relevant historical and contemporary art and design developments. This means that your research should be thorough enough to answer this. Relevant means the ones that you have been guided to look at through your assignments. Some developments you will have chosen yourself or have found through your reading.

Grading tip D1

To achieve a Distinction, you need to show that you can analyse. This means that you should read or listen to enough information to show that you understand how one thing influences another.

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Unit 1 Contextual references in art and designBTEC’s own resources

1.3 Historical art and design developmentsExhibitions have played a prominent role in showcasing the developments in art and design starting with the Great Exhibition in 1851.

ExhibitionsThe Great Exhibition, London 1851

‘The Great Exhibition of Works of Industry of All Nations’ brought exhibits of art, design, technology and industry under the same roof for the first time, and included work from around the world. Visitors saw some of the latest ideas in furniture, iron work, china and gold and silverware design, from

Case study: Jamie Reid and the Sex Pistols

Jamie Reid (1947–) broke new design ground with a record cover for the Sex Pistols. The record was called ‘God Save the Queen’. Why was the cover of the abum (below) seen as shocking?

How were the letters made and how would you describe the style? Reid’s work defined the image of Punk Rock, especially in the UK. Reid did this

because, apart from pre-cut letters called transfer letters (one of the brand names was Letraset), stencil shapes and ready-made type, most typography was hand crafted and took skill and time to produce. At the start of the 20th century artists had experimented with collage, and Reid’s record cover echoed their subversive methods.

In the 21st century computer-generated type makes large numbers of fonts available to designers, although new fonts still evolve. Today’s graphic designers use computer applications to generate ideas, relating images with typefaces to communicate in exciting ways.

1 Look up the word ‘subversion’ in a dictionary or on Wikipedia. Can you explain why this word is used to describe the record cover?

2 Can you identify fonts that relate to periods in art history?

3 Can you find artwork that relates the image to the style of the font?The cover of the Sex Pistols album God

Save the Queen by Jamie Reid was seen as shocking when it was released in 1977

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Unit 2 2D Visual CommunicationBTEC’s own resources

• Haveyoueverproducedapieceofworkinfluenced by someone else’s art?

• Whatinspiresyourwork?

Think about it!

It is important to observe how the great periods of art and design have remained as inspirations to subsequent generations.Creative practitioners must filter the knowledge of historical and contemporary art to understand its original context and its

current relevance – if any. I use this as a springboard for an individual response, and to deliver a fresh and original piece of work. In this way my work acknowledges

the examples of others but remains true to the personal style that develops. Therefore an artist should maintain an interest in the output of other artists, not just from one’s own discipline but from wider sources. This revitalises ones own perception and understanding of creative energy and helps to balance these within one’s working life.

This image is a silver pendant with milled texture made in 2008. It is one of

the original pieces from my ‘dotted stalk’ collection that has sprouted all kinds of jewellery. It is a direct influence from the painting Cliff Top Thrift by Charles Napier c.1935, at Penlee House Museum and Gallery, Penzance. Thrift is a flowering grass that grows wild on cliff tops.

My knowledge of historical and contemporary art has informed my work as a designer. I find it very instructive to observe how artists have approached their view of subjects and how designers

have responded to demands of functionality and decoration when making objects.

WorkSpace Ruth Facey

Jewellery designer

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The skill of preparing and making is an essential part of every artist’s and designer’s job and because of this it is covered within all 18 units. It includes being able to develop new ideas, make use of specialist techniques and processes and experiment with media.

Developing ideas is completed at the beginning of assignments. It’s about taking a given starting point on a design journey in order to come up with a range of ideas. Many small changes are made to the original idea along the journey in order to end up with lots of alternatives. It is often a good idea to work quickly at this stage so that you have more ideas to select from rather than less!

Experimenting could involve exploring different colour combinations, or working at different scales, or working with different media, techniques or processes. Artists and designers develop their ideas in different ways in order to produce an original design. A selection of the elements that can be changed and altered are listed on the right.

Selected ideas will need to be refined and the final piece needs to be made carefully and accurately.

This section you give you ideas and examples of how to meet the pass, merit and distinction criteria in Units 1–5 and suggest ways to further develop and extend your ideas.

119

colour palettes styles of lettering materials scale and proportion composition media placement of imagery patterns surfaces

Preparing and making skills

124

BTEC’s own resources

An example of first thoughts and colour notes on this page and a preliminary line drawing on the next page. The artist can make use of these when completing the final painting.

Some artists’ and designers’ sketchbooks include all sorts of found imagery, from packaging to postcards, labels, photographs and found objects, such as feathers, leaves and shells, which could be used as starting points for future projects. These are often referred to again and again in their work. Matisse collected patterned fabrics and would use the same fabric numerous times in portraits and still-life paintings throughout his life.

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Preparing and making skills

Sketchbooks come in a variety of sizes and can be very easy to carry around with you, so that you can add to your ideas all the time. You can draw, write notes, stick in photographs or pages from magazines as starting points, research artists, stick in leaflets or postcards from exhibitions and so on.

Sketchbooks can become very individual and an exciting record of each assignment. It is a good idea to use the front and back of sketchbook pages and really cram in as many ideas as possible.

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BTEC’s own resources

Use your sketchbook to gather information and record the 3D shape and structure of a jug. This is a great way to work in a sketchbook as you can build up lots of facts and information to take into a finished piece later. Try to draw all key details, paying particular attention to the front, back and sides so that you can work only from your drawings and produce a replica of the jug.

Use a double-page spread in your sketchbook so that your drawings can flow, and start in the top left corner by writing down the characteristics to identify what you need to draw. The list below is the ‘menu’ of design features that you will need to work through.

When you start to draw work quickly it is better to produce lots of drawings than one, so don’t worry if they are not very accurate to start with. Turn the jug around and draw it from different viewpoints to get an understanding of its form. Look at the scale and shape of the handle and how it is positioned opposite the spout. Pay attention to how the handle and spout join on to the jug and to any pattern or details that go around the outside.

Enjoy this process of finding out about the jug. As you draw, think about which parts you like the best – is it the shape of the handle? Or the decoration around the surface? Focus on these sections and redraw to ensure you have captured detailed information.

Activity: Sketchbooks

Grading tips

In order to meet the merit and distinction criteria, you will need to record all the key details found on the jug so that you can demonstrate you have fully explored its structure, independently selected elements to focus on and produced further detailed studies. You could do this by remembering to write about, as well as draw, the key details and by working in a range of media.

Working quickly, this artist has begun to record the 3D shape and decorative patterns on this ceramic jug

colour material size shape patterns usedthe shape of the handle the shape of the spout