NCEA Visual Arts is all about discovering new big ideas, communicating these visually with a strong sense of creativity. You will find yourself responding to art which evokes feelings, ideas, moods, beliefs and identities. It’s a celebration of all things visual. Throughout your year you will discern and champion other people’s art as well as your own.
Are you wanting to demystify useful art terms like Principles and Elements? Or maybe you are wanting some more tips and tricks for navigating how to tackle Visual Arts problems? Perhaps you're wanting to see how taking Visual Arts can prepare you for your career have a look here. Or, maybe you are just wanting to see an overview of the years course work?
90913: Selection of two portraits from a Maori context
You will need to create a presentation that compares and dissects the works. You should research a contemporary New Zealand work. It is in your interest to choose a cultural background that is similar to yours or one that you can relate to in some way. In the achivement standard it is best to compare and contrast your knowledge of the unique forms of art. You might also explore pictorial features and technical methods from European and Maori backgrounds.
Before you jump in the deep end, you will need some practice of analysing art works with portraits included. A big part of getting the hang of this assessment will be grasping and using all that art terminology, covered in class. This may also include an overview of traditional European and Māori pictorial features and technical approaches.
To complete this achievement standard, you will have six weeks of outside of class time and in-class time to finish it by. You can also able to work in small groups to research your portraits. However, you must present your ideas separately. It’s up to you as to how you communicate your ideas and present all your findings. However, it’s worth noting that it may be harder to achieve a higher mark if you choose to pick something like a poster.
You will find the portraits by visting with your class to a gallery or a museum. If this is not possible, you will be able to view pieces of art online or through books.
Analysis of a famous New Zealand artist
Marian Maguire (New Zealand Artist) combines the mediums of lithographs and etchings to inform their portrait style. She uses a unique combination of style where New Zealand colonial history is juxtaposed with ancient Greek style figures/gods. This poses the question: as to what these seemingly at odds influences share. The coming together of Maori and Pakeha culture is enhanced through the depiction of Greek gods from the heavens. Achilles, Athena, and other gods are shown and recontextualized into a mesh of unique culture with earth and heaven combined. Having an inspiration from ancient bowls and jugs, there is a fresh stamp of originality with Marian’s work. Marian showcases the theme of memory and what a nation chooses to leave out or highlight throughout their history. This is shown in the style of art where sharp lines are drawn and heavy contrast depicts the clashing and coming together of different backgrounds and perspectives. There is a clear sense of disorientation in this work, but in a positive, challenging way. The three perspectives of the larger than life god-figures, the Pakeha and the Maori cultures offer an eye feast of varying perspectives. The presence of the ancient Greek gods almost gives a heightened relationship with the humans, who are given a more valiant brush stroke of notoriety.
90914 is all about drawing methods
In this assessment you will make a portrait based on a respected elder in your community. You will use the knowledge of portraiture from in 90913 and be on your way. The portrait should be as close to the subjects appearance as possible. To make the image unique, you will look at showcasing time as a theme. This means you will demonstrate what that person was like when they were young, then compare it to how they are like now. For instance, you might utilise a prop such as a baseball cap from someone who used to play baseball when they were growing up. What does this relationship suggest? How has that person changed? What ideas does this communicate? These are all ideas you will need to express in your portrait.
You could pick a grandparent or a family friend who is elderly. You might be fortunate to have someone come into school for a few weeks and spend some time with them. Make sure you take some pictures of the experience, so you have some inspiration for later. This will be done in tandem with 90915 where ideas are developed in a range of media.
90915: Art Principles and Elements
Here you will use the same portrait developed and perfected from 90914. Your teacher will focus on how well you utilise unity, contrast, line, texture and other principles and elements. Following along from your elder, remember to interview them whilst you are taking pictures. It’s a good idea to ask them about technology and lifestyle differences of past and present. Avoid being distracted as you will need to take a natural picture, don’t take notes at the same time. Instead, try recording them on your phone, most phones have this option available.
90917: Focused on Cultural Conventions
It’s mural time! You will be researching, planning and presenting a mural for this task. To achieve this, you will need to showcase specific cultural techniques and conventions. It’s your job to depict the culture of your school or perhaps the heart of what your community means to you or to the wider collective. You could do this by linking the mural back to the geography of your school. For example does your school have beaches surrounding it with lots of whale’s? How about incorporating that into your overall aesthetic? If you are wanting some mural examples, then Google the Soul Sessions mural by the Cut Collective. There are a range of cultural conventions that are used in this artwork. For example, two flags, on the woman’s clothing shows a clear significance of representation of every New Zealander.
To complete this task, it will take you around six weeks in both class time and home learning. You will also be working in groups but remember you will be assessed individually. This will be based on your own independent research, planning and unique documentation. You will also be required to take pictures of the mural at varying stages of its development. This is so the moderators can see what was changed and shifted as the work progresses naturally.
Group wise, this will be a challenge, but you may also complete the mural alone if you choose. If done in a group, your teacher will be paying close attention to your contributions to the overall group efforts. This is so your teacher can know that the workload is balanced and fair. Included within the written work section is research made by you, planning pages and a personal work log or diary. In this, you will let the teacher know what you have contributed to the project and what still needs to be done. So this is just a run down on what you are doing, really. There will also be recordings on a video showing your progress of the mural at various different stages of the mural’s completion. Also it will be made clear which portions of the mural are that have been allocated to you, just so the teacher can know what part every student has done. However this will not be needed if you are doing this on your own.
Get started with Superprof!
Still having some trouble getting your head around Visual Arts NCEA Level 1? That’s no worries at all, it can be daunting remembering everything that is required to do for those pesky achievement standards. If you are wanting some more assistance, why not try Superprof? Superprof is an online tutoring website that is designed to help get you to the next level of any subject. Simply type in Visual Arts and you will be greeted with a variety of other art practitioners, Alumni students and some teachers. You can get help with asking questions about your art board, dissecting certain artists and their styles as well as helping you nail those techniques. The first lesson is free, so there really is a strong incentive to have a go and see if tutoring is right for you. Together with your teacher, your tutor and you will draw up a good game plan with how best to tackle all the achievement standards in the year. So log on to Superprof today and check out those tutors!
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