In this course students will develop and extend their art practice beyond a specific medium and grapple creatively with urgent ideas and themes shaping contemporary art. In dialogue with peers and staff, students will use their existing knowledge of technical processes and apply them to new enquiries, themes or research questions. Students will develop skills that support an increasingly independent studio practice, and produce new artworks that creatively respond to a rotating set of class topics. Students may complete this course up to four times provided they enrol in a different topic. Course content, assessment structure, and reading list will change depending on the topic and the expertise of the convenor. Please refer to the class summary for the specific term in which you wish to enrol for a detailed description.
Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Art after Social Media: This topic explores how the internet and social media have reshaped art and cultural production. Through seminars and workshops, students investigate how artists respond to - or resist - the aesthetics, politics, and sociality of digital life. Students are invited to develop a series of new artworks - in any medium - grounded in critical research and experimentation, while considering how platforms enable art to circulate beyond the gallery.
- The Book as Art
- Politics of Memory: Video Installation, Sculpture, Documentary This course examines the politics of storytelling in contemporary art practice and the effects of historiographic methods, including video installation, documentary and public sculpture. The conceptual design and the realization of student projects will be informed by analysis of various contemporary art projects and their approach to formats like the visual essay, the voice-over, re-enactment, the edited interview, the archival display, and the monument. Although the media students work with is dependent on the conceptual development of their projects.
- Open to Influence: Studio Research
- Object Ontologies: This course explores the potential of three-dimensional art objects to make us feel, think, know and experience the world differently through how they are made, what they are made from and how they are used or displayed. Students will further existing skills by developing practice-led methodologies that interrogate the making of meaning and the meaning of making.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- create works that synthesise skills with new methods;
- interpret and critique a range of methodologies in response to set projects;
- conduct independent research into practice and theory relevant to class topic; and
- analyse and discuss precedents and local and global influences on artistic practice;
Other Information
School of Art & Design studio courses have a limited enrolment capacity. Students are advised to enrol as early as possible to maximise the opportunity of securing a place.
Depending on the class topic defined each semester, the course may have a Materials Fee. At the ANU School of Art & Design, each workshop sources appropriate specialist materials, which are made available to students to facilitate their working effectively, efficiently and safely within our programs. The School of Art & Design is able to supply materials that don’t compromise ANU obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS), and that have been assessed as suitable for each course. The Materials Fee is payable for the School of Art & Design to supply consumables and materials that become your physical property. You can choose to pay the Materials Fee and have these materials supplied to you through the School of Art & Design, allowing you to take advantage of the GST-free bulk purchasing power of the ANU. These materials are also WHS compliant. The exact cost of the Materials Fee will be updated in the Class Summary for each semester in which the course is offered. The full SOAD policy can be read here: https://soad.cass.anu.edu.au/required-resources-and-incidental-fees
Indicative Assessment
- Portfolio of studio work (Project 1) (30) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Portfolio of studio work (Project 2) (50) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Research and Critical Reflection equivalent to 1000 words (May include visual diary and/or written reflection) (20) [LO 3,4]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 48 hours of contact over 12 weeks: lectures, tutorials, critiques and supervised studio practice; and
b) 82 hours of independent studio practice, reading and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
See Canvas
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 12
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $4200 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $5820 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Politics of Memory: Video Installation, Sculpture, | ||||||
| 3960 | 23 Feb 2026 | 02 Mar 2026 | 31 Mar 2026 | 29 May 2026 | In Person | N/A |