IA2 Project, inquiry phase 2, in QCE Visual Art Unit 3

What this dot point is asking

IA2 is the Project, inquiry phase 2. This dot point asks you to understand how the second instrument progresses the inquiry opened in IA1: sustaining the same focus, pushing the making and responding further, and using reflection to make reasoned decisions. It is the phase where the first concept is genuinely developed into artwork.

The answer

The Project for phase 2 carries the inquiry forward. Where IA1 opened the focus, IA2 develops it, which means the centre of gravity shifts from establishing and researching toward making, reflecting and deciding.

What IA2 requires

The Project requires sustained inquiry that builds directly on the IA1 focus and inquiry question. You continue to make and respond, but you now add deliberate reflection: evaluating what your experiments reveal and making reasoned decisions that progress the work. The instrument produces developed artwork together with the evidence of the thinking that shaped it.

Sustaining the IA1 focus

Continuity is essential. IA2 must keep the same focus and inquiry question established in IA1, because the body of work is built on one focus across two concepts. The Project is where the first concept matures. Drifting to a new focus in IA2 fractures the body of work before it has consolidated, so the discipline is to deepen, not switch.

The role of reflection

Reflection is the addition that defines phase 2. Reflecting means evaluating your developing ideas and artworks, judging what is working and why, and using that judgement to make reasoned decisions. A reasoned decision names the evidence, weighs alternatives and states the choice with justification. This is what turns experimentation into progress rather than activity, and it is prime evidence of inquiry.

Making and responding, intensified

The making in IA2 goes beyond the early trials of IA1: experiments are pushed, refined and connected toward a developing concept. The responding deepens too, with analysis of artists feeding specific making decisions. The making and responding loop is more visible and more consequential here, because each pass should move the concept forward.

Producing artwork and evidence

The Project produces both artwork and a documented record of inquiry. The artwork shows the developing concept; the record shows the reasoning behind it: the experiments, the evaluations, the decisions and their justifications. An assessor should be able to follow how the inquiry progressed from IA1, what was tried, what was judged, and why the work moved in the direction it did.

What the assessment rewards

The Project is judged on how convincingly it progresses the inquiry, so the marks favour evidenced development over finished-looking pieces. Three qualities lift an IA2. First, clear continuity with IA1: the same focus and inquiry question, now visibly deepened rather than restated or replaced. Second, reasoned decisions that name the evidence, weigh alternatives and justify the choice, turning experimentation into progress. Third, a making and responding loop that is consequential, where analysis of artists feeds specific making decisions and each trial generates an evaluation that steers the next. A Project that shows tried-and-rejected paths, with the reasoning intact, demonstrates more inquiry than one that hides its thinking behind polished outcomes.

Common pitfalls in the Project

Two pitfalls recur. The first is activity without reflection: many experiments, no judgements, so the work looks busy but stalled. The fix is to end every cycle with a reasoned decision tied to the inquiry question. The second is resolving too early: treating IA2 as the finish line and closing the concept down, which leaves nothing for Unit 4 to extend. The Project should develop the first concept while keeping live, unresolved possibilities, so the inquiry carries momentum into phase 3 rather than arriving exhausted.

How IA2 sets up Unit 4

IA2 hands a developed first concept to Unit 4, where innovation pushes the inquiry toward an alternate resolution across the second concept. A strong Project leaves the inquiry with a clear, evidenced direction and unresolved possibilities to exploit, rather than a closed or exhausted idea. The aim is momentum into phase 3, not a premature ending.