Architecture, Landscape & Visual Arts

Unit Outline

Art, Technology and Society

VISA1001
SEM-2, 2015
Campus: Crawley
Unit Coordinator: Dr Clarissa Ball
Ms Saren Reid
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Unit details
Unit title
Unit code
Availability
Location

Art, Technology and Society

VISA1001
SEM-2, 2015 (27/07/2015 - 21/11/2015)
Crawley

Credit points

Mode

Face to face

Contact details
Faculty
School
School website
Unit coordinator
Email
Telephone
Unit co-coordinator
Email
Telephone
Consultation hours
Lecturers

Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts

Architecture, Landscape & Visual Arts
http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/
Dr Clarissa Ball
clarissa.ball@uwa.edu.au
6488 1553
Ms Saren Reid
saren.reid@uwa.edu.au
6488 1553
Please email for an appointment

Name

Position Email

Telephone Number

Dr Clarissa Ball Professor clarissa.ball@uwa.edu.au Mon-Wed 6488 1553 Thurs-Fri 6488 2114

Tutors

Head Tutor: Saren Reid saren.reid@uwa.edu.au

Isabel Rousset isabel.rousset@research.uwa.edu.au
Dale Buckley info@dalebuckley.net
Michael Bianco mbianco@umich.edu

Unit contact hours

Lecture capture system
Online handbook
Unit website

Lectures: 2 hrs per week; tutorials: 1 hr per week

LCS is implemented for this unit.
http://units.handbooks.uwa.edu.au/units/VISA/VISA1001
Blackboard

Unit description
This unit examines the historical and social impact of some key technological innovations on art and design practices. Particular
attention is paid to the synergies and density of relations between technological innovation, aesthetic originality and social formations.
Technological innovations discussed include agriculture, writing, the printing press, the lens, oil paint, iron, steel and glass,
photographic and filmic technologies, motorised transport, television, biological technologies and digital technologies. The unit
addresses subjects from different cultures and periods, and is aimed at a broad range of students from the arts and sciences. The
outcomes and assessments are geared to basic generic literacy and research skills which prepare students for a range of disciplines.
How have transportation technologies impacted on ways we think about the city, architecture and the environment?
Which new ideas about beauty and perception characterize the modern age?
How do we read works of art in their social and historical context?
What is the impact of art on ways we understand the world around us?
Do art and architecture have ethical import, i.e. impart certain social and political values?
How do modern media technologies change our aesthetics and change our social interactions?
These are some of the questions we will discuss in class.
Topics covered will include the impact of trains, maritime transportation and the automobile on modern culture, our attitudes to natural
and historical disasters, the politics of photographic and cinematic representation. We will also look at modern ideas about leisure and
work, hygiene, play, and social networking.

Learning outcomes
Students are able to (1) have a basic knowledge of social context and historical causation as it functions in the relationship between art
and design practice and technological innovation; (2) use a range of different texts to develop basic historical and critical interpretations
of art and design objects; (3) acquire the protocols of basic research techniques used in Art and Design Historical discourse, including
the different formats of reporting, essay writing and referencing; and (4) develop basic communication skills in interpersonal relations,
oral discussion and essay writing on art and design works.
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Unit structure
There are two lectures and one tutorial per week

Unit schedule
Week

Date

Week 1 29 July
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
BREAK
Week
1O
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13

5 August
12 August
19 August
26 August
2 September
9 September
16 September
23 September
Week of 30
September
7 October
14 October

Lecture Topic

Lecturer

Tutorial

Unit introduction / Overview (morning lecture

only)
Connectivity: Trains
Connectivity: Ships
Engineering Landscapes: Cars
War
Film
Technologies of Vision: Photography
Excess
Inventing the Future
Break

Clarissa Ball

no tutorial

Clarissa Ball
Saren Reid
Clarissa Ball
Tijana Vujosevic
Tijana Vujosevic
Clarissa Ball
Tijana Vujosevic
Michael Bianco
no lecture

yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no

Inventing the Future

Michael Bianco

yes

22 October

Demonstrable Gallery Visit (no recordings will Clarissa Ball and

be available)
Oron Catts
Play
Tijana Vujosevic

yes - At the Lawrence Wilson

Art Gallery
yes

29 October

No Lectures

no

Teaching and learning responsibilities

Teaching and learning strategies
Lectures will be delivered twice weekly. Lecture recordings will be available for only one week after the physical lecture. Students are
required to do mandatory readings each week and be prepared to discuss them in the tutorial.

Assessment
Assessment overview
Typically this unit is assessed in the following way(s): (1) a team-based workshop in two parts(a) a group oral presentation; and (b)
an illustrated written report; (2) a mid-semester examination; (3) an essay; and (4) an end-of-semester examination. Further
information is available in the unit outline.

Assessment mechanism
# Component

Weight Due Date

Relates To Outcomes

1 Major Essay

40%

due 16 October, 4PM

2 Final Examination

30%

3 Weekly Tutorial
Exercises
4 Tutorial
Presentation

20%

to be scheduled in the examination

period
due in tutorial each week

historical insight, use of readings, research techniques,

communication skills
historical insight, use of readings

10%

to be scheduled at the beginning of

the semester

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research techniques, communication skills

research techniques, communication skills

Assessment items
Item

Description

Submission Procedure for Assignments

Major Essay

The length of the essay is 2,000 words. The essay

should present one claim or proposition about the topic,
supported by research and analysis. The student should
use a variety of sources in research, including, but not
limited to, scholarly books and articles, newspaper
articles, web resources, and, where appropriate,
audiovisual resources. All resources should be properly
cited according to academic standards using the
Chicago style, and the opinions of the author
distinguished from those presented in the sources.
The final examination will consist of short essay
questions. The exam is closed book
Each week, an exercise (about a paragraph long) is to
be completed by the student. The exercises help
students develop research and analytical skills and
prepare for the essay and final exam.
Each student will give one 10 minute presentation in
tutorial during the semester

The topic of the essay is to be selected among those

provided on Blackboard. The final paper is due on the
16th of October at 4pm. A printed copy must be
submitted to the Resource Room and an electronic copy
must be submitted via Turnitin through Blackboard. No
copies sent via email or copies placed in the tutor's
mailbox will be accepted.

Final
Examination
Weekly
Tutorial
Exercises
Tutorial
Presentation

The exam will be scheduled during the exam period

The schedule of exercises is posted on Blackboard.
They must be submitted in person in tutorial each week.

Presentation days will be assigned in the first tutorial

Textbooks and resources

Recommended texts
A course reader containing the required readings will be available for purchase in the ALVA Resource Room.
Readings are also available on CMO.

Other important information

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