Edexcel GCE Art and Design Advanced Unit 4: A2 Externally Set Assignment Timed Examination: 12 hours Paper Reference 6AD04–6CC04 You do not need any other materials. Instructions to Teacher-Examiners Centres will receive this paper in January 2012. It will also be available on the secure content section of the Edexcel website at this time. This paper should be given to the teacher-examiner for confidential reference as soon as it is received in the centre in order to prepare for the externally set assignment. This paper may be released to candidates from 1 February 2012. There is no prescribed time limit for the preparatory study period. The 12 hour timed examination should be the culmination of candidates’ studies. Instructions to Candidates This paper is given to you in advance of the examination so that you can make sufficient preparation. This booklet contains the theme for the Unit 4 Externally Set Assignment for the following specifications: 9AD01 Art, Craft and Design (unendorsed) 9FA01 Fine Art 9TD01 Three-Dimensional Design 9PY01 Photography – Lens and Light-Based Media 9TE01 Textile Design 9GC01 Graphic Communication 9CC01 Critical and Contextual Studies Candidates for all endorsements are advised to read the entire paper. Turn over P40697A ©2012 Pearson Education Ltd. *P40697A* 6/7/6/4/4 Each submission for the A2 Externally Set Assignment, whether unendorsed or endorsed, should be based on the theme given in this paper. You are advised to read through the entire paper as helpful starting points may be found outside your chosen endorsement. If you are entered for an endorsed specification, you should produce work predominantly in your chosen discipline for the Externally Set Assignment. If you are entered for the unendorsed specification, you may have been working in two or more different disciplines in Unit 3. For the Externally Set Assignment you may choose to produce work in one discipline only. The starting points in each section will help you generate ideas. You may follow them closely, use them as background information or develop your own interpretation of the theme. Read the whole paper as any section may provide the inspiration for your focus. You should provide evidence that all of the four Assessment Objectives have been addressed. It is anticipated that A2 candidates will show in the Externally Set Assignment how their knowledge, skills and understanding have developed through their work in Unit 3. The Assessment Objectives require you to: Develop your ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding. Experiment with and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining your ideas as your work develops. Record in visual and/or other forms ideas, observations and insights relevant to your intentions, demonstrating your ability to reflect on your work and progress. Present a personal, informed and meaningful response demonstrating critical understanding, realising intentions and, where appropriate, making connections between visual, oral or other elements. 2 P40697A Preparatory Studies Your preparatory studies may include sketchbooks, notebooks, worksheets, design sheets, large-scale rough studies, samples, swatches, test pieces, maquettes, digital material… everything that fully shows your progress towards your outcomes. Preparatory studies should show: • your development of a personal focus based on the theme • a synthesis of ideas • evidence of your development and control of visual language skills • critical review and reflection, recording your thoughts, decisions and development of ideas • the breadth and depth of your research from appropriate primary and contextual sources • relevant selection with visual and/or written analyses rather than descriptive copying or listing processes. Timed Examination Your preparatory studies will be used to produce an outcome(s) under examination conditions in twelve hours. 3 P40697A Turn over The Theme: Combinations and Alliances Throughout history certain combinations and alliances have created extremely powerful and occasionally dangerous liaisons. Aside from the great art movements, the art community has seen many individual examples such as Michelangelo and Pope Clement VII, Caravaggio and Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, Rodin and Rose Beuret, Gilbert and George, Anthony Green and Mary Cozens-Walker, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Charles Saatchi and the Young British Artists, to name but a few. Each of these partnerships resulted in the production of some remarkable works of art. Still-life painters have always recognised that combinations of certain objects create dynamic visual effects, with the arrangement and choice of the subjects being crucial to the success of the final work. The genre reached a zenith in Holland in the 17th century with skulls, dead animals and shrivelled leaves being carefully juxtaposed with living plants, flowers and sumptuous fruit. These compositions exaggerated and emphasised the individual qualities of each object, as well as metaphorically commenting on the fragility of human existence. Architects also recognise the strength of certain combinations, humanising vast concrete structures with the inclusion of living organic forms. The contemporary architects Patrick Blanc and Edouard Francois are pioneering new ways of creating ‘growing walls’ to achieve this. Many artists have a particular attachment to a technique or particular piece of equipment. Henri Cartier Bresson was inseparable from his Leica 35 mm camera and this alliance produced some of the most remarkable and sensitive photographs of the 20th century. It could be said that his intimate knowledge of the device was in part responsible for the success of the images. Wild plants and animals have formed unlikely alliances with urban environments. Any suburb, back garden, park or canal towpath will demonstrate the tenacity of nature to reclaim the tarmac and concrete, as neglected cracks and rough surfaces provide nutrients for tiny plants and lichens. Right in the heart of major cities wild peregrines nest on office blocks and towers, adapting to the new environments; they co-exist with feral pigeons and foxes that thrive on the litter from fast food outlets. Here are some further suggestions generated by the theme that might inspire your journey. • Cars/drivers, horses/jockeys, sheepdogs/shepherds • Cross-pollination, courtship displays, photosynthesis, symbiosis • Clubs, meetings, fairs, markets, sports • Fashion, advertising, bill posters • Seagulls/rubbish tips, foxes/towns, swifts/eaves • Road works/traffic lights, commuters/trains • Cogs/gears, pulleys/cables, toys/batteries • Snow/sledges, beach/sandcastles, graffiti/dereliction • Egg/cress, fish/chips, spring/clean • Relationships, communities • Religions, politics • Boats/water, kites/wind, music/orchestras 4 P40697A Fine Art Optional disciplines: • Painting and drawing • Printmaking • Sculpture • Alternative media Optional starting points: • Physical collisions, whether intentional or accidental, can provide artists with spectacular visual reference material. Objects, people and landscapes have all provided the subject matter and the interpretation of them has utilised many different mediums. War artists such as Peter Howson, Maggi Hambling, Howard Brodie, Vasily Vereshchagin, John Singer Sargent and Graham Sutherland documented the devastation created by armed conflict. The shipwreck of the frigate Medusa in 1816 provided a rich source of inspiration for the artist Theodore Gericault. Sea of Ice by Caspar David Friedrich exploits the incredible forms created by masses of sea ice colliding. Contemporary artist Tom McGrath has used crashed cars as subject matter in paintings such as Wreck 2. • In many portraits the negative space surrounding the subject contributes as much to the impact as the model. The combination of environment and subject creating powerful dynamics within the composition frequently give insight into the character of the sitter and artist through the inclusion of metaphorical artefacts. The Spanish artist Diego Velásquez was a master of the use of negative space with portraits such as Las Meninas, exploiting the composition to provide a wealth of narrative information. Occasionally, an artist such as Ken Howard will intentionally overpower his model with the environment giving glimpses of their intimacy and the unique light in the studio. • Site-specific sculpture relies on the combination of the specific characteristics of the environment, working in contrast or harmony with the piece itself. Recently, sculptors have been asked to consider religious buildings, such as cathedrals, as gallery spaces. Whilst there has been no specific requirement that the spiritual nature of the site influences the work, many naturally do so. Artists are asked to consider the physical aspects of the sites and construct or place works sympathetic to those spaces. The Crucible exhibition held in 2010 in Gloucester Cathedral resulted in considerable critical acclaim fuelling further interest in the potential of such venues. • Artists have always been interested in, and intrigued by, the optical effects of colour and how these can be exploited in their works. Certain combinations of colour can create illusions altering the perception of the painting or sculpture. The Op art movement explored these concepts in their purest form with painters