Year 7 Camp February 2009

Yr 9-11 Gifted & Talented Program - Long Reef

Contemporary Painting

Students submitted written applications to participate in a 3 day intensive Visual Arts Camp held at Collaroy, adjacent to Long Reef Headland. The stimulus from this beautiful seaside landscape formed the inspiration for a contemporary style painting. Students were encouraged to express the atmosphere and essence of the landscape rather than simply a visual representation. Using expressive, gestural, mark making techniques students manipulated the quality of paint, texture mediums and additional wash layers to create experimental works. Emphasis was given to colour palette, compositional strategies (placement of horizon, rule of thirds, perspective) and spontaneous chance applications. The investigation of landscape artists; Fred Williams, Guy Maestri, Arthur Boyd, Geoffrey Dyer, David Bentley, Jane Giblin, and Craig Waddell informed student artmaking and process.

Installations

The transformation of the ordinary into something extra ordinary has provided an abundance of inspiration for contemporary installation artists and photographers. After discussing the work of Andy Goldsworthy and Anthony Gormley students were presented with an everyday object (often multiples of the one) to rework into the natural environment of the Long Reef Headland. Installing the objects into the coastal surrounds, students embedded vernacular objects with an altered purpose. 

With a focus on composition, students documented their installations using digital cameras. Using image manipulation techniques, students selected a series of photographs that best represented their installation and its conceptual intentions. These were arranged into a horizontal format with careful consideration given to colour, contrast and visual rhythm.