First Year Short Modules
This module is designed to introduce you to architecture through the medium of ecclesiastical buildings. Focussing on three key periods - the medieval, the 19th century and the 20th century - you will examine form, function and interpretation, the significance of architectural style and the relationship between building and setting. Using key buildings and significant local examples the module will explore the contrasting approaches taken by architects and patrons and also consider the important role and function of works of art within the buildings.
This module aims to highlight the variety of issues involved in interpreting landscape. It examines the rise of landscape as a genre and analyses landscape in its social and political context. You will address issues of landscape aesthetics from both an historical and a theoretical perspective and examine the techniques artists employed in painting landscapes. The module is also concerned with bringing you face-to-face with examples of landscape paintings in local collections.
You will learn about the range of printmaking techniques and practices used from the early Renaissance onwards. As well as providing an understanding of the physical construction of the print, the module will familiarise you with the vast generic range of printed images, spanning 'high' and 'low' culture, and will introduce the social, political and aesthetic meanings of such objects. We will also consider the status of the print as both a transmitter of information and values, and an aesthetic object in its own right, establishing itself within a fine art tradition. You will have the opportunity to handle prints and printmaking tools and will develop skills in close looking.
Introducing the medium of sculpture this module provides a sound understanding of the fundamentals of sculptural practice as well as encouraging you to think critically about the types of issues that sculpture raises for the art historian. Themes will include, the significance and handling of different materials; the status of sculpture as a medium; display and the role of the beholder. We will be exploring sculpture primarily from the modern period - from the eighteenth century to the present - and examining a number of key themes, above all the representation of the human body.
The aim of the module is to introduce students to the study of medieval artistic works in England and to the issues involved in their interpretation. It looks particularly at the role the arts played in religious education and personal devotion in the period of the late middle ages. The types of buildings, the micro-architecture of tombs and monuments, and the style and symbolism of devotional objects will be studied.
Our Photography module highlights major technical innovations in the art form as well as critical methods of evaluation in work from the nineteenth century to the present day. Close analysis of image and the different conceptual methods in which to think about them will be considered in relation to the evolving status and uses of the photograph in contemporary culture and its relation to other forms of art.
A broad knowledge of artistic media and practices through the ages is necessary if we are to recognise and understand how artists have produced their works, how some of these were considered innovative and how choices of materials and techniques contribute to the meaning of works of art. This module aims to introduce you to some of the media and techniques used by artists over the centuries, and to some of the debates among artists and scholars around issues of artistic practice. It will help you learn to identify the reasons why artists choose certain technical approaches and materials, and the effects they achieve with them.