Viewpoints represents the different perspectives, values and beliefs about the visual arts. Viewpoints are Structural, Subjective, Cultural and Contemporary, and function as the means for generating alternative interpretations of the artworld.

In Art making, students use different Viewpoints to help shape their intentions and representations in their artworks. Viewpoints can orient choices and strategies with art forms, materials, techniques and contexts in artistic practice.

In Art critical and historical studies, students use Viewpoints to orient their investigations of the Artworld concepts and their relationships. They enable students to consider different meanings in artworks and provide ways of framing their own points of view in their written, oral and multimodal explanations.

Structural

The Structural viewpoint is a creative and interpretative tool that guides students when art making or interpreting artworks as forms of visual and multimodal language.

Through the Structural viewpoint, art may be thought of as:

systematic representations by artists using a system of coded relationships between signs and symbols
symbolic objects within the conventions of a visual and multimodal language, material forms and motifs that represent ideas and communicate meaning
the representation of lived experiences and ideas through established and evolving conventions that use visual and/or multimodal language
the ways meaning is communicated between artists and audiences.

In Art making, students learn to construct artworks that communicate their ideas and interests about the world through the organisation of codes, symbols, signs and visual and/or multisensory languages. This may involve students exploring conventions within art making practice, such as colour and compositional devices in painting, film making, spatial relationships in sculpture and the use of significant cultural symbols to represent meaning.

In Art critical and historical studies, students learn about the formal organisation and visual qualities of artworks. They learn to interpret artworks as forms of communication and explain the symbolic meaning represented in their material qualities and physical or virtual properties. They learn about the formal organisation and visual qualities of artworks and how to decode symbol systems used by artists from a variety of cultures to communicate meaning to audiences. They learn how the symbolic language of artworks can be read and understood during specific periods and over time, or in different cultures.

Subjective

The Subjective viewpoint is a creative and interpretative tool that guides students when art making or interpreting artworks as expressions of deeply personal and emotive perspectives, experiences and associations.

Through the Subjective viewpoint, art may be thought of as:

being expressed by artists whose intentions are shaped by their imagination or personal experiences
emotional, intuitive or evocative expressions of personal memories, experiences and the subconscious
representations of aspects of the world through individual feeling, emotion, imagination and experience
interpretations in relation to personal associations of sensory, imaginative, expressive, felt or perceived experience.

In Art making, students learn to explore their own experiences and responses to the world around them. This may lead to imaginative investigations of their identity and relations with family and friends, or their responses to their physical or social environment.

In Art critical and historical studies, students learn about artists’ interpretations, and the deep and varied meanings of artworks, and how artworks may be regarded as expressive and unique objects.

Cultural

The Cultural viewpoint is a creative and interpretative tool that guides students when art making or interpreting how artworks reflect social ideologies, beliefs, values, conditions and shared understandings within specific communities or societies.

Through the Cultural viewpoint, art may be thought of as:

created by artists who are influenced by and contribute to social, economic and political conditions
reflections and representations of implicit and/or explicit social, community and cultural interests
interpreted and valued in relation to the social perspective of the community.

In Art making, students learn to investigate different ideas that are of social and cultural significance to them. This may involve making artworks that represent ideas related to identity, ethnicity, cultural heritage and diversity, and social or ecological concerns.

In Art critical and historical studies, students learn how notions of cultural identity inform artistic practice and the production of artworks. Students may study differing cultural attitudes about the visual arts and the effects of scientific and technological innovation, politics and economics in particular places during specific periods and over time.

Contemporary

The Contemporary viewpoint is a creative and interpretative tool that encompasses current and emerging art theoriesand innovative practices that shape artistic practice in both art making and interpreting.

Through the Contemporary viewpoint, art may be thought of as:

created by artists, art critics or facilitators who interrogate existing conventions, explore ambiguities and reassess assumptions about art
an evaluation and reconstruction of traditional assumptions about art and its relationships to artists, audiences, forms of practice and subject matter, including emerging technologies, new or contextual art forms
using artworks as texts that recontextualise references to existing texts to critique ideas and conventions, or as hybrid artworks that redefine and reconstruct the traditional roles of artists, art curators and audiences
a way to reimagine accepted ideas and assumptions and to consider the impact that future technologies, social relationships, humanity, patterns of authority, and cultural or ecological changes have on art and society
interpreted through active participation in physical or virtual environments.

In a world constantly redefined by shifts in culture, technology and ideology, artists use current or emerging theories to challenge established norms and stimulate critical discussions that resonate with diverse audiences.

In Art making, students may learn to modify or reinterpret images from a variety of sources including popular culture. They may collaborate to create artworks in which the audience is an active participant to create meaning or they may use new technologies, art forms and contexts to question or reimagine ideas in the contemporary world.

In Art critical and historical studies, students learn about the ways in which traditional conventions, canons and histories of art can be challenged to question authority, contradictions and hidden assumptions. Using theories from the Contemporary viewpoint, students can consider, reimagine and question traditional roles, forms, materials and contexts in art and how artists are creating works in response to the challenges and changes in the contemporary world.

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7–10Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus

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