Open College of the Arts
I am currently studying online towards a Masters in Fine Arts through the Open College of the Arts. What I really like about this programme is that it allows you to choose from the full range of courses available through the OCA, combining the study of art, creative writing, art history, printmaking, sculpture, music, graphic design, illustration, book design and photography. You may combine the mediums which interest you most, studying poetry and music for example, or art alongside creative writing, or illustration together with photography.
1. Contemporary Arts
“For somebody just to walk into an art gallery and expect to understand it straightaway, it would be like me walking into, I don’t know, a classical music concert you know, knowing nothing about classical music and saying oh it’s all just noise. It is quite tricky sometimes to get into the position where you can start to understand because you can intellectually engage with something quite quickly but to emotionally and sort of spiritually engage with something takes quite a long time. You have to live with it.”
~ Grayson Perry
This unit was a great introductory to contemporary art. We delved into the idea of what classifies as art and how to interpret it. We looked at many different types of art, including instillation art, site specific art, sculptures, performance art and paintings. We mostly explore the theme of time and space within arts and for our final assignment we had to write an Interpretation Jeremy Deller’s The Battle of Orgreave, 2001
~ Grayson Perry
This unit was a great introductory to contemporary art. We delved into the idea of what classifies as art and how to interpret it. We looked at many different types of art, including instillation art, site specific art, sculptures, performance art and paintings. We mostly explore the theme of time and space within arts and for our final assignment we had to write an Interpretation Jeremy Deller’s The Battle of Orgreave, 2001
2. Creative writing
Creative writing covers a broad spectrum of forms that includes poetry, the novel, short fiction, creative non-fiction (e.g. biography or autobiography, travel writing), scriptwriting, song writing and journalism. It gets even more complicated because within each of these forms there are subsets of genre, platform or style. A novel’s genre might be crime fiction, romance or science fiction; the platform for scriptwriting might be stage, radio or screen; the style of song writing might be ballad, rap or folk song. This part of the course dips into the broad spectrum of creative writing to give you a taste of the craft.
We looked at the basic principals that form part of story telling. During the course we analyzed different types of text. For our final assignment we either had to analyze a piece of prose or write our own poetry. Following below are some of the poems I wrote.
We looked at the basic principals that form part of story telling. During the course we analyzed different types of text. For our final assignment we either had to analyze a piece of prose or write our own poetry. Following below are some of the poems I wrote.
3. Visual Communication
‘Visual communications’ is an umbrella term for a range of disciplines that use mass media to communicate a message to an audience. As the name suggests, visual communication focuses on what can be seen within a communication, for example the typography or text, illustrations, moving image or photographs, while communication suggests purpose, as opposed to an image made purely for aesthetic reasons.
We did many great tasks during this unit. Anlayzing font, colour and composition. Interpreting posters, cards and advertisements. Symbolism, culture and historical background play a great role in the visual communication culture.
We did many great tasks during this unit. Anlayzing font, colour and composition. Interpreting posters, cards and advertisements. Symbolism, culture and historical background play a great role in the visual communication culture.
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/1/1/49115679/87289.png?406)
We looked at how much of what we see has been previously produced or made. Many artists make their living from using or re-appropriating the work of others.
One of our tasks was to use the idea of collages and creating a visual awareness of issues that are currently in the news. I produced this collage based on the beauty industry and the ridiculous expectations on woman to look a certain way.
We finally had to write an essay based on a re-appropriated image and how it changes the original meaning of the work.
One of our tasks was to use the idea of collages and creating a visual awareness of issues that are currently in the news. I produced this collage based on the beauty industry and the ridiculous expectations on woman to look a certain way.
We finally had to write an essay based on a re-appropriated image and how it changes the original meaning of the work.
4. Photography
“... a knowledge of photography is just as important as a knowledge of the alphabet. The illiterate of the future will be ignorant of the use of camera and pen alike.”
~ Moholy-Nagy & Kostelanetz
One of our tasks was to take photos of our home surroundings, but showcasing it in a more artistic way.
We then looked at photography creating a sense of motion and how that connects to time. We has to take images that showcase motion. I took the shots below during many of our school spirit events.
5. Textiles
The term ‘textiles’ is increasingly shifting from traditional notions of constructed and printed/surface embellished textiles towards textiles as materials used in a wide range of contexts.