Comparative Study - IB Visual Arts

Both SL and HL students need to understand the intricate relationship between theory and practice. The course encourages students to critically investigate the work of other artists and allow the work to inform their own art-making practice. This task gives students the opportunity to elaborate, extrapolate and present a comparative study of three works by at least two artists from different cultural contexts that they have investigated as a part of their art-making practice. HL students are further required to articulate the connections between the work examined in the comparative study and their own art-making, giving them the chance to think about how theory is related to practice.

The following core syllabus areas are addressed in the comparative study assessment task. The term “artworks” is used here generically and could refer to a range of visual and cultural artifacts.

Visual arts in context

• What are the social, historical, political and intellectual contexts of each of the works explored?
• How do the artworks reflect aspects of the world in which they were created?
• What experiences of the world does the audience bring to their interpretation and appreciation of the artworks?
• Which critical methodologies are most appropriate to analyse, interpret and evaluate the artworks?
• How has exploring these contexts influenced the students’ own art-making? (HL only)

Visual arts methods

• What media, processes and techniques have been used in each of the artworks?
• What aspects of the processes and techniques are conventional or innovative?
• How have formal qualities, such as the elements and principles of design, been used and to what effect (or affect)?
• What motifs, signs and symbols have been used in the works and what do these communicate to the audience?
• How are the artworks evaluated?
• How have the artists’ methodologies influenced the student’s own art-making? (HL only)

Communicating visual arts

• What methods of organization and presentation most effectively communicate knowledge and understanding?
• How can visual organizers and graphics be used to convey information more effectively than words alone?
• Who is the audience for the comparative study? What prior understandings can be assumed?

The Visual arts guide (March 2014, updated February 2017) strongly recommends that at least one of the works explored in the comparative study is a work that the students have experienced first-hand. This makes visits to art museums and galleries or artist studios of critical importance as a resource to students. The artwork itself should be considered itself as a primary source. Where the school’s geographical, political or economic context makes access to museums and galleries impractical, students need to have access to good quality reproductions.

The visual arts teacher is undoubtedly the most influential source that students have direct access to. The quality of instruction that students need in order to analyse and deconstruct works and to research the cultural contexts of works is critical to their success.

Scholarly books on visual arts, artists, styles, movements, periods and themes are extremely useful. They can often provide the quality reproductions of works that can be used as primary source material as well as reliable and critical secondary source opinions about the intent and purpose of works, the cultural context of the work and the significance. Exhibition catalogues in particular can provide models for constructing a comparative study if viewed critically, considering why the curator has chosen to put certain works together? What associations and connections are being suggested?

Visual arts journals and periodicals also provide a rich resource, and often reflect more up-to-date contemporary trends in art-making practices than is available through other published works.

The internet is increasingly useful in investigation if used judiciously. Often, it is assumed that students have the skills needed to navigate the web with discretion, but this is rarely the case. Students need direction in finding the authors of sites and how to determine if the information provided is reliable. Many art galleries and museums have great websites with educational pages or forums. These are great starting points, as are the growing number of established contemporary artists who manage their own websites.

Task summary

The comparative study is an externally examined assessment task worth 20%.

To complete the task, you are required to present a comparative study of at least three artworks by at least two different artists from different and contrasting cultural contexts. The work should be selected from work you have investigated as a part of your independent coursework, and will be explored further and presented as a series of screen-based slides.

Formal requirements

SL

• SL students submit 10–15 screens, which examine and compare at least three artworks, objects or artifacts, at least two of which need to be by different artists.
• The works selected for comparison and analysis should come from differing cultural contexts.
• SL students submit a list of sources used.

HL

• HL students submit 10–15 screens, which examine and compare at least three artworks, objects or artifacts, at least two of which need to be by different artists.
• The works selected for comparison and analysis should come from differing cultural contexts.
• HL students submit 3–5 screens, which analyse the extent to which their work and practices have been influenced by the art and artists examined.
• HL students submit a list of sources used.