This course is concerned with approaches to the critical evaluation of discourses that frame works of art, craft and design, in particular texts and exhibitions. The texts that are examined are drawn from art history, art criticism, curatorial practice, marketing and promotion. The exhibitions/displays selected for study are wide-ranging, including those at art museums and galleries, contemporary art and craft centres, historic houses etc.  The course aims to refine graduate students’ capacity for research, analysis and interpretation of works of art in ways that enhance both theoretical and practice-led research projects.

Points of view is structured around seminar presentations by the course lecturer, academic and professional visitors, and students. It also involves case studies based on visits to arts institutions and organisations where the framing discourses involved in the dissemination of art to an audience are analysed in depth.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify the effects of context on the interpretation of works of art, craft and design.
2. Account for the differences in various institutional frameworks and devices which determine how works of art are presented to their audiences.
3. Identify and apply appropriate modes of analysis, evaluation and interpretation in order to articulate the ways works of art are framedby different circumstances and discourses.
4. Present reasoned, referenced, and structured arguments in both written and other audio-visual forms.

• Compare and evaluate  two published exhibition reviews 1000 words in total 10% total (Learning Outcomes 1-4)
• 1000 word written exhibition review  20% (Learning Outcomes 1-4)
• Introduce a discussion of your review, plus a relevant reading  10% (Learning Outcomes 1-4)
• A 3500 - 4000 word essay 60% (Learning Outcomes 1-4)

Five 6-hour days attendance at intensive classes conducted either at the ANU or cultural institutions and a further 18 hours of directed preparatory reading and preparation and up to 82 hours of independent private study/research.

Classes will be held from 9 - 13 September 2013.

In keeping with the objectives of the course, students will be required to choose as the subject of their semester's project a case study: an exhibition, an installation, or a text (or texts) that relate to a particular work of art or a group of art objects, or a combination of these elements. Having chosen your subject through discussion with the course convenor and your peers you will develop a body of research around it which aims to discover how the character of an art object's context affects the potential meanings of the works of art thus framed. Examples of texts which relate to your case study may include: a monograph, a catalogue, gallery texts, a website devoted to a particular art event or subject, or a blog, etc.