BA (Hons) Fine Art

Year 1 

Unit 1 - Introduction to BA Fine Art 

This unit is an introduction to your course, the college and the university. 

Unit 2 - Art practice 

The aim of this unit is to help you begin to define your own practice. What you can expect: 

• Online lectures, seminars, crits, gallery visits will expand your subject knowledge 
• To further develop your own critical and theoretical ideas 
• To establish a self-directed, independent and exploratory practice 
• To produce a body of work 
• To present your work to your peers in group crit settings

Unit 3 - Thinking through making and making things happen 

The focus of this unit is an off-site group show. Working in student groups you will locate a space in London or online to test your work in an alternative environment. 

• To produce a body of work 
• Tutorials, crits and project sessions to enable discussion of both your own work and that of your peers 
• To document the research of your work and off-site project in a self-evaluation  
• Written work 

Unit 4 - Positions 1 

This unit is about exploring your position in relation to other artists. 

• To consider how contemporary art relates to wider social and ethical considerations
• To do a presentation about how different ways of working as an artist engage with broader questions of research, production, site and presentation 
• To record knowledge and skills exchanged

Year 2 

Unit 5 - Positions 2 

This unit aims to reinforce your sense of how your work relates to the work of others, and its wider context. You will be asked:

• To form collaborative groups loosely organised around research and practice interests  
• To develop a presentation that positions your work and ideas in relation to a wider context.

Unit 6 - Collaborative and collective practices

This unit aims to introduce you to different ways in which collaborative working can focus and enhance your own creative strengths. This unit has 3 core purposes:   

• To engage with fellow students with different practices and interests in a collaborative project towards a shared goal 
• To engage with external audiences, participants or institutions to consider new contexts for your work 
• To develop your creative attributes to enable you to take on future challenges in a variety of contexts 

Unit 7 - Activation 

This unit is about furthering your own practice and testing it in public. You will be expected:

• To work with a group of your peers to stage an off-site (physical or online) exhibition or event and produce an accompanying publication
• To work towards an exhibition which will help prepare you for your third year

Unit 8 - Positions 3

This unit asks you to undertake an in-depth investigation of ideas around your practice. You will be asked:

• To produce a publication or video which explores a key aspect of your thinking 

Year 3 

Unit 9 - Thinking, making, writing 

The connection between theory and practice and its importance for the development of your work will be explored in this unit. There are 4 elements to this unit: 

Show and Crit cycles - you will present work for discussion thinking about the relationships between content and form, material, medium, context, discourse and meaning. 

Thought and Action - presentation of work that will be discussed in feedback tutorials and group critiques. This will inform your practice plan. Your practice plan is an online report that will outline new directions for the development of your work. It will assist your preparation of your essay and presentation of enquiry. 

Essay - through writing you will explore and reflect on your references and the concerns underlying your practice. 

Presentation of Enquiry - you will present and talk about your work to your peers. 

Unit 10 - Making public 

• To write a report about your practice and your position in relation to site and audience
• To present work in the college degree showcase
• To produce a publication documenting your practice 

Optional Diploma between year 2 and 3

Between year 2 and 3 you can opt to undertake the Diploma in Professional Studies or the UAL Diploma in Creative Computing. Whilst these Diplomas are an optional aspect of the course, they are designed as an integrated and assessed part of your journey through the course.