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NSWVisual Arts

Practice

3 dot points across 3 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do critics interpret and judge artworks?

Art criticism practice: the practice of critics, curators, and writers, including interpretation, judgement, the use of the frames, and the production of critical writing
A focused answer to the HSC Visual Arts dot point on art criticism practice. Defines criticism, distinguishes it from artmaking and art history, identifies its outputs (reviews, exhibition catalogues, critical essays), explores the use of the frames in criticism, and applies the concept to named critics including Robert Hughes and Sebastian Smee.
6 min answer →

How do historians situate artworks in their temporal, cultural, and stylistic contexts?

Art history practice: the practice of historians, including the writing of art history, the construction of canons, the use of archives, and the situating of artworks within periods, movements, and cultures
A focused answer to the HSC Visual Arts dot point on art history practice. Defines art history, distinguishes it from criticism, identifies its outputs (textbooks, catalogues raisonnes, museum exhibitions, scholarly monographs), explores how historians construct movements and canons, and applies the concept to named historians including Bernard Smith, Sasha Grishin, and E.H. Gombrich.
6 min answer →

How do artists make artworks, and what shapes their practice?

Artmaking practice: the practice of artists, including intentions, materials, processes, conceptual interests, and how practice develops across a career
A focused answer to the HSC Visual Arts dot point on artmaking practice. Defines practice, distinguishes material practice from conceptual practice, identifies the dimensions of practice (intentions, processes, materials, conceptual interests, world context), and applies the concept to named artists including Margaret Olley, Pablo Picasso, and Tracey Moffatt.
6 min answer →