BA (Hons) Fine Art

BA Fine Art integrates studio practice, Critical Studies and Professional Development through teaching both within the Studio structure and across the year group at key moments. Students are allocated to a Studio through a diagnostic process at the start of the course however pathway transfer is possible.

Each Studio has a distinct culture that is orientated around particular discussions, themes and resources. As the student progresses through the course, the relationship between the Studios is progressively porous. We encourage students to take a fluid and flexible approach to their use of media and understanding of artistic discipline. 

The Studios

The way we work and create starts with exploration speculation and enquiry and this takes place through materials, processes of making, dialogue and criticality. Theory and practice are understood in relation to one another, integrating both studio and contextual studies contexts.

2D explores how making is informed by contemporary culture, politics and social forms as much as by questions of the image and abstraction. It considers the screen, the picture plane and surface as fundamental aspects of visual production. Technical inductions are positioned in terms of these questions. In the studio, we discuss how diverse disciplines, practices and forms of thought can be mixed. 

3D explores matter, scale, production, material and immaterial form in relation to place and audience. Students are inducted into a range of traditional and new 3D technologies, and to the debates surrounding hybrid production processes. The studio is a place where the reading, writing and creation of spaces can take place and be questioned. 3D challenges a conventional understanding of the studio, the exhibition and institutional spaces. 

4D explores time-based, durational performative and interdisciplinary practices. Critical and philosophical positions are explored in relation to practice and current ideas such as the post- medium condition, the apparatus of technology and temporality are considered. The Studio is experimental in approach and explores how this might challenge conventions of practice. In this context, the ‘open work’ is engaged as a site where collaboration and production take place. 

XD explores the possibilities of not only ‘what does art mean?’ but also ‘what can art do?’ and ‘where can art be?’ The implications of working across different Studios and placing art in particular situations and communities’ throws into question the rights and responsibilities of the artist in relation to the audience and the environment. The studio is considered as a laboratory where ideas for interventions in the practice of everyday life can be generated. 

Stage 1

Unit 1: ISHE: What and Where is an Art School?
Unit 2: What is a Studio?
Unit 3: What is Practice?
Unit 4: How is an Exhibition Made?

Stage 1 asks you to consider; Where do we make work and what is practice? 

Starting with an introduction to Art School in which you will be guided through the various teaching methods and events deployed on the course. You will experience learning through each other, staff practice, staff networks, tutorials, lectures, critical discussion, seminars and self-directed study. Through this, you will actively shape and inform the teaching environment of the course.

The nature of the studio shifts in relation to what the studio community choose to do with it. You will be inducted to a wide range of workshops. Studio and Critical Studies staff will support you in beginning to identify interests and concerns that will nourish your practice as an artist.

In your final unit of the year, you will work with Stage 3 students to both support and document the construction of the degree show. This will culminate with the production of Stage 1 group publication that interrogates and explores the qualities of the degree show.  This is presented as part of the show.

By the end of Stage 1 you will have established ways of making in the studio appropriate to your interests. With the support of tutors, you will be able to confidently self-direct the development of your own work.

Stage 2

Unit 5: How Do We Make?
Unit 6: How Do We Think?
Unit 7: How Can We Write?
Unit 8: How is Work Encountered?
Unit 9: Creative Unions: Socially Engaged Practices for an Ethical World

Stage 2 is about how we make work public. 

You will continue to establish and develop your practice with an added emphasis on how and where to exhibit your work.

The year-group will have the opportunity to present work within the university in a number of cross programme curated exhibitions and in two open studios where the art programme opens its doors to the general public. You will also select from a range of external projects designed to further question the many ways in which you might make elements of your practice public.

In Critical Studies you will begin to focus on concerns specific to your practice and start to establish a habit of enquiry that directly supports your studio work, forms a part of it, and generates new ideas or thinking.

By the end of Stage 2, you will have identified a range of strategies for making your work public and begun to contextualise your practice exploring how your work might be publicly encountered. 

Stage 3

Unit 10: Are There Any Questions? (Dissertation)
Unit 11: What is Fine Art?

Stage 3 is about how you extend your practice beyond CSM. 

Stage 3 will give you the tools to theoretically, culturally, politically and socially contextualise your work. You will be supported to identify strategies for establishing a sustainable practice beyond the course and empowered to plan your own career trajectory within the cultural industries.

There are only two units in this year, culminating in your dissertation and the degree show.  The nature of the degree show will be routinely questioned and reinvented.  It is a site both of exhibition and of public engagement and needs to address the needs and interests of diverse practices and audiences.

The dissertation and degree show are strategically placed next to each other to give you both the agency and resources to address relevant public and professional realms.

The working week

The building and studios are vibrant and busy working environments where students learn together by being active and giving time to their studies. The course team will offer structured teaching and informal learning through events and projects. Students learn the best and are most productive when they are fully committed to their practice and to each other.

You should expect to spend 40 hours per week on independent and collaborative practice and in teaching events such as workshops and discussions.

Critical studies

Critical Studies tutors are fundamental in the delivery of theory within the course. Writing and presentation skills and the ability to articulate practice are a key focus and are essential for the practicing artist.

Critical Studies supports a student’s theoretical exploration and provides the methodologies and a conceptual framework for developing practice. This takes the form of; lectures, seminars, tutorials and presentations. 

Through Stages 1 and 2 there are a number of different forms of written submission leading up to the dissertation in Stage 3. Teams of critical studies and studio tutors jointly supervise this.

Diploma in Professional Studies

Between Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the course there is an option to take a year out and complete a Diploma in Professional Studies. This separate qualification (rated at 120 credits) involves researching, undertaking and reflecting on a 20-week (minimum) placement related to your professional interests and aspirations. The Diploma provides a valuable opportunity to make professional contacts and to develop your personal employability skills. In recent years BA Fine Art students have had placements at Tate Modern, the Royal Festival Hall, Anthony Gormley’s studio and the National Theatre.

Exchange opportunities

Students enrolled on BA Fine Art have the opportunity to spend time studying outside of the UK at a partner institution. Studying overseas allows you to experience a new culture, an alternative perspective on the course’s subject discipline, and different learning and teaching methods. The application process for these opportunities is competitive. Alongside this, BA Fine Art is actively engaged in the University’s Study Abroad scheme, with the incoming international students bringing an important additional dynamic to the course.

Mode of study

BA Fine Art runs for 90 weeks in full-time mode. It is divided into three stages over three academic years. Each stage lasts 30 weeks. You will be expected to commit 40 hours per week to study, inclusive of teaching time and independent study.

Credit and award requirements

The course is credit-rated at 360 credits, with 120 credits at each stage (level).

On successfully completing the course, you will gain a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (BA Hons degree).

Under the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications the stages for a BA are: Stage 1 (Level 4), Stage 2 (Level 5) and Stage 3 (Level 6). In order to progress to the next stage, all units of the preceding stage must normally be passed: 120 credits must be achieved in each stage. The classification of the award will be derived from the marks of units in Stages 2 and 3, or only Stage 3, using a dual algorithm.

If you are unable to continue on the course, a Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) will normally be offered following the successful completion of Level 4 (or 120 credits), or a Diploma in Higher Education (DipHE) following the successful completion of Level 5 (or 240 credits). 

Should you choose to extend your study through the Diploma in Professional Studies, between Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the degree, your success will gain you an additional Diploma award.