Art & Design

What is the nature of Art at IGCSE level?

IGCSE Art and Design is a two year course that encourages students to think creatively through visual investigation and technical practice. We follow the Cambridge course that offers one year to develop understanding and technique, and one year to complete all assessed coursework and a timed exam.

What is the approach to learning?

Students will learn to use a wide variety of materials and techniques during the first year, through demonstration, workshop, practice, individual and group work. All homework is to support and enrich the class work. Students learn about a large number of artists, artistic movements and art from different cultures, and learn how to apply these techniques and processes to their own work. All this knowledge is applied to the coursework and exam assignments, which the students work on individually. Students will visit different areas of Singapore to make observational drawings through a number of field trips. Galleries will also be visited when required for the course.

What is the subject content?

The projects during the first year encourage personal expression, imagination, sensitivity, conceptual thinking, powers of observation, an analytical ability and practical attitudes. Students will learn how to use and communicate with a wide variety of materials, techniques and processes, and will create a diverse portfolio of work. In the second half of the first year, students will create their assessed coursework portfolio and their externally set exam portfolio, ending with a timed piece of work undertaken in exam conditions. Students who choose art usually spend a large amount of their free time working either in the art room or at home in their spare time.

WHAT DOES THE COURSE LOOK LIKE…

Grade 9 Jan – Sept – Non assessed (for the final IGCSE Grade) part of the course.

UNITS OF WORK in Grade 9: Unit 1 – Architecture and structures Unit 2 – The Natural world

In these units, the students learn many of the skills, techniques and critical thinking techniques that they will need for their coursework and exam later in Grade 9 and in Grade 10.

In Architecture and Structures they will:

-Record local architecture from direct observation and personal experience, using a range of drawing, painting and

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photographic skills. -Show engagement and experimentation with a range of media, materials and techniques, including new media and technologies, where appropriate. -Show exploration of manipulative skills necessary to form, compose and communicate in two and/or three dimensions making work based on various architectural stimuli, when working in carefully selected artistic styles. -Show they can think creatively and critically, and create a number of different possible compositions when planning their final piece. -Produce an imaginative, creative and personal response as a final outcome or outcomes to the project.

In the Natural World they will:

- Record various natural forms from direct observation and personal experience, using a wide range of drawing, painting and photographic skills, selected and used to a high level of technical ability. - Show increasing self-motivation, engagement and experimentation with a wide range of appropriate media, materials and techniques, including new media and technologies, where appropriate, taking risks and making daring connections between styles. - Show a high level of exploration of manipulative skills necessary to form, compose and communicate in two and/or three dimensions making work based on various natural forms as stimulus. - Work in carefully selected artistic styles, chosen independently to suit the subject matter.

COURSEWORK (50% OF THE COURSE AND FINAL GRADE)

In September, the students will receive their coursework paper where they will choose from 3 different themes or questions to base their coursework on. The coursework goes on until June of Grade 10 so it is important they select a theme by which they are really inspired. Examples Of These Are: Face to Face, Tangled, Decay, Food, Local Buildings, Rainforest.

When they have selected a theme, students will work through the project ensuring they cover the assessment criteria. 1. *Students need to work through an extensive range of drawing media to record from direct observation the subject matter they have chosen. 2. Students will experiment with a variety of different compositions as the plan and develop their work. 3. Students will analyse how different artists Styles have been used, comparing and making connections between artists from the same and different artistic movements. 4. Students will select appropriate materials and try to use them to a high technical standard. 5. Students will plan and prepare to make a personal and unique final piece which shown an accumulation of all of their knowledge attained through the coursework process.

EXAM (50% OF THE COURSE AND FINAL GRADE)

In July, the students will receive their exam paper. This has 10 themes or questions for them to choose from. These range from very literal questions like ‘a person sitting on a stool holding a ball’, to more conceptual themes like ‘distorted’ or ‘old and new’. Once they have selected their question they have 10 weeks to complete all of the research and preparation, then they finish their final piece in an 8 hour exam (with breaks!). *They are assessed on the same 5 criteria as the coursework above.

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