This course provides students with a working understanding of how textiles-based and textiles-informed methodologies can be deployed in contemporary art. Through set projects students will apply and extend basic techniques in conjunction with further topic specific material processes. Contemporary textiles practices afford multiplicity: they enliven rich and diverse threads of thinking through making. Each set project involves deepening analytical engagement with and a hands-on approach to complex issues, such as the material culture of marginalised people or environmental regeneration as it takes place on campus. Supported by seminars, group critique and tutorials, students will become increasingly independent in developing their own research-led methodologies and artworks. The resolution of projects includes learning how to display outcomes in ways relevant and appropriate to contemporary art.
Students may complete this course up to three times for a maximum credit value of 18 units, provided they enrol in a different topic in each instance/semester. Please note that the course content, assessment structure, and reading list will change depending on the topic and the expertise of the lecturer convening the course. 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:
- Subverting Stitch: Labour, Gender and Image
Histories and current practices of stitching are rich with resistance. The accumulated images and forms created through stitch speak of labour, care and spaces of individual and collective agency. Through research and experimentation, students will develop skills and knowledge relating to the historical, social and cultural meanings embedded in these processes and produce creative and conceptual projects. Throughout this course students will explore the potential of these images and forms as much as push the boundaries of the process of stitching itself.
- Plants and Place: locating colour and fibre
The practices of tending, gathering and processing natural materials can embed a knowledge of plants and place into crafted objects. This knowledge can then be carried, worn and shared. The focus of this course is to gain an insight into local knowledge, plants and places and to deepen that understanding through material processes. Students will learn how to undertake a materials-based investigation of their immediate environment and how to communicate these processes and outcomes. Through research and experimentation students will develop skills and knowledge relating to the rich historical, social and cultural meanings embedded in these processes and produce creative and conceptual outcomes.
- Handmade and Digital Methods in Contemporary Textiles
This course investigates the intelligences of making that underpin contemporary textiles. Students will experiment with various methods, from the handmade to machine production, developing their own nuanced understanding of how knowledge, technique and apparatus shape each other. As the course progresses, students will learn to identify and evaluate the problems and potential of studio processes in the context of textile histories, cultural knowledge, and the current existential implications of technology. By reflecting upon their own emerging art practice in terms of embodied, mechanised and digital methods, students will gain a deeper understanding of how textile processes can drive critical inquiry and creative works.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- demonstrate competency with a range of advancing technical skills in relation to studio area & contemporary art practice;
- independently explore the potential of material/s & methods relevant to the studio area and set projects;
- recognise and analyse precedents and influences on artistic practice; and
- evaluate chosen studio methodologies on the outcomes of studio projects.
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.
This course will 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
- Set project: development and outcomes (30) [LO 1,2,3]
- Independent project: development and outcomes (50) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Critical Evaluation equivalent to 1200 words (may include visual diary, written reflection and/or presentation) (20) [LO 2,3,4]
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, writing and active research engagement (gallery visits, scoping sites, public observation etc.)
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
As listed on 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 |
|---|---|
| 2027 | $4320 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2027 | $6000 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants and Place: locating colour and fibre | ||||||
| 5080 | 22 Feb 2027 | 01 Mar 2027 | 31 Mar 2027 | 28 May 2027 | In Person | N/A |