Comparative study Visual Arts

[olofmaria]

Hello!

 

So yesterday as I was uploading my TOK essay I saw something in the art section called "comparative study", I had never heard of that before and wondered if it was one of the investigation projects we have done in our workbooks but after some research it turns out ... its not. 

I spoke to my teacher and she had never heard of this and another classmate of mine spoke to the IB coordinator and it seems that our art teacher has been teaching us the old syllabus the entire time, my exams are in May 2016, I believe we need to upload everything before April?

Now, before I completely freak out because I have roughly 20 days to learn this, write this and upload it, I just wanted to hear how other people tackled this? Was it extremely time-consuming or is this something you can do well in a "short" amount of time? I am also a little confused about the screens, 10 - 15 screens ... are they talking about slides or something? 

I am just curious what experiences other students have had with the Comparative study and is it do-able in such a short time? (considering I am finishing up projects in other subjects as well)

Thanks in advance

[Maïa Annabelle Ancellin]

The comparative study is very time consuming. Mostly everybody does collages and writes it as they go, but I found it much easier by first doing in a microsoft word document and then copying and pasting it into the art portfolio. I first chose 2 artist and then 3 of their artworks that had to do with my subject and then copy paste them to the word document. I then made 3 sections below each piece of artwork, the meaning of the piece for the artist,  what the piece means to me and how it inspired my art. I also put how some of my personal experiences inspired my art at the end. Once you finish it in the word document, then you can just copy paste it to your art portfolio with pictures and viola! you're done. 

And supposedly you must have a introduction of 300 words. 

When I was done I easily had 3/2 slides for every artwork I analyzed which concluded into 14 and then I added a general introduction and a introduction of each artist, which had me finish at 18 slides.

 

Task 1: Comparative study

• Students analyse and compare different artworks by different artists. This independent critical and contextual investigation explores artworks, objects and artifacts from differing cultural contexts.
• At SL: Compare at least 3 different artworks, by at least 2 different artists, with commentary over 10–15 pages. 
• At HL: As SL plus a reflection on the extent to which their work and practices have been influenced by any of the art/artists examined (3–5 pages).

http://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/the-arts/visual-arts/

Edited March 8, 2016 by Maïa Annabelle Ancellin

[olofmaria]

Thank you so much! This will help me a lot when I start writing this up. I also wasn't sure if this was something that we had to put in our workbook or not but I am glad I have that answered now haha

You have no idea how much I appreciate you answering here, it sounds more do-able now than before haha 

I have a question though, is it supposed to be handwritten or does that matter? 

[Maïa Annabelle Ancellin]

Have you done anything in the Art portfolio? There are two sections the comparative study and process. Just how you did the process part is how you do the comparative study, with decorations and such. It can be digital or handwritten. If you want I can send you some slides of my my comparative study so you can base off of it, I did mine digital.

[olofmaria]

I haven't done anything process related regarding the comparative study, but I have three books with sketches and investigation projects, if that is what you mean? It would be amazing if you could send me some slides! It would help me so much

[DNA222]

I didn't think the C.Study was too time consuming, but I also picked two artists I truly love.  My teacher told us it has to be done digitally in powerpoint or a similar application, but I don't think it has to be that way for IB. 

I printed out images of the  3 pieces I was analyzing, and annotated directly on them the different formal qualities before I typed anything up.  Subject specific language is quite important and doing this was helpful.  Make sure you pick 2 different artists from different geographic areas/artistic movements, or you won't be able to score the higher marks.  Make sure you include the cultural context of each piece, as well as the function and purpose.  I took a slide per artist to write a short biography about them. I have 17 slides total. 

Let me know if you have any questions!

[Ditteee]

Easy, it's not that bad.

I'll be using power point slides, just with different dimensions. So yes, that could work. The mac-users in our class will most likely be using a program called Pages, if that is any help. I haven't started yet, but will hand it in on the 30th, along with my selected pages for the portfolio. I'm calculating around 4-5 days in the coming holiday to work on it. It's the closest the VA course comes to the IA, I believe - so don't let it take up all your time.

The comparative study is basically that - a comparing analysis of minimum 3 works by 2 different artists, but I'm going to use 4 works from 4 different artists. My teacher told me that it would add a great deal, if you had seen one of the works yourself, but that this isn't a demand as such. Just focus each slide on a different aspect (colour, material, form, etc.) and if possible, get some close-ups. The IB suggests sketches you did yourself, and I guess that could work - I'm not starting until Friday, so not yet sure if I'll do it. I was also told to be reeeeeally careful with the design and how much I put into each slide, as it very easily becomes hard to see where to start and continue on to. So keep it simple, I think. That is also easier during the process.

Otherwise take a look at the mark scheme for the component, that usually gives a fairly good idea of what to do.