How do I work ethically, safely and authentically in my art practice?
Practise safely and ethically, using original sources and respecting authorship, materials, and cultural protocols.
How to work safely and ethically in the Stage 2 art studio, using original sources, respecting authorship and cultural protocols, and managing materials responsibly so your practice is both authentic and safe.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
Ethical and safe practice runs underneath everything in the Practical and across the whole subject. It is not a separate task but a standard your work has to meet. This dot point asks you to make authentic work from your own sources and to manage materials and processes responsibly throughout.
Authenticity and original sources
The single most important ethical principle is that the work must be genuinely yours. That means working from your own photographs, your own observations and your own experiments, rather than copying existing images.
Using someone else's photograph as the basis for a painting, or imitating an artist's composition, raises authenticity concerns and can put a result at risk. The safe and honest path is to generate your own source material from the start, which also makes your work more original.
Copyright and acknowledgement
Respecting authorship means understanding that images, photographs and artworks belong to their makers. When you reproduce a practitioner's work in your Folio for analysis, you acknowledge it as theirs. You do not pass off others' images as your own source material, and you do not build a final work on an uncredited found image. Keeping clear records of what is your own and what is referenced protects you.
This is partly a moderation and integrity issue: assessors and moderators need to trust that the development they see is genuinely yours.
Cultural respect and protocols
Some subject matter carries cultural responsibilities. Working with cultural material that is not your own, particularly First Nations stories, symbols or designs, requires care and respect for protocols about what may be used, shared or depicted, and by whom. Ethical practice means researching this, seeking permission where appropriate, and not appropriating imagery you have no right to use.
Safe studio practice
Safe practice protects you and others. Many art materials and processes carry real hazards: solvents, spray fixatives and aerosols, kiln firing, sharp carving and cutting tools, power tools, and dust from sanding or plaster. Working safely means ventilating when using solvents and sprays, following correct procedures for tools and equipment, using protective equipment, and following your teacher's and school's safety instructions for every process.
Choosing a medium also means being honest about whether you can use it safely with the supervision and facilities available. Safe practice is part of professional, resolved making.
Make work that is genuinely yours from your own sources, credit your influences, respect copyright and cultural protocols, and handle every material and process safely. Authentic and safe practice is not an add-on; it is a condition your Practical has to meet for the work to stand and to be trusted as your own.