

Art & Design

What is art? What a nebulous thing to try and define. Any range or product of creative human activity can be defined as art. Most well associated are the visual arts - painting, sculpture etc.
The design is the preliminary planning, when the first seeds of what may become a great work of art are sown. Being taught to come up with the ideas for a great piece of art work are as important as the art creation itself.
It's a diverse area, which can be tailored to what you want to study. History of Arts, Fine Art, Sculpture, Fashion Design, Garden Art, Exhibitions, Media Studies, Graphic Design, Musical and Theatre Art - all module options.
Digging deeper into subject interests can help you in a number of ways:
-
Confirm whether this is (or isn't) something you would be interested in enough to want to study it at university either as the focus of your degree or a minor/elective
-
Give you some inspiration to use when creating your questions and topics for IA's (coursework) and your Extended Essay
-
Provide you with content for your university application writing in the future, enabling you to reflect on the things you've been doing to explore your interests in a way that is academically relevant to the course or institution you are applying for.
Useful Resources
Modern Art Oxford Blog | Blog | News, reviews, opinions and discussions on a whole variety of modern art topics | Click Here > | |
How do I apply for a Art degree? | Blog | Website | This blog provides you with some useful information on applying for an Art degree. The main topic of discussion is 'getting in to art school'. | Click Here > | |
Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography, by Roland Barthes | Book | Examining the themes of presence and absence, the relationship between photography and theatre, history and death, these 'reflections on photography' begin as an investigation into the nature of photographs. Then, as Barthes contemplates a photograph of his mother as a child, the book becomes an exposition of his own mind. | St. Clares Library L24 770.92 BAR | |
Small Things Considered: why there is no perfect design, by Henry Petroski | Book | Why has the durable paper shopping bag been largely replaced by its flimsy plastic counterpart? What circuitous chain of improvements led to such innovations as the automobile cup holder and the swiveling vegetable peeler? With the same relentless curiosity and lucid, witty prose he brought to his earlier books, Henry Petroski looks at some of our most familiar objects and reveals that they are, in fact, works in progress. For there can never be an end to the quest for the perfect design. To illustrate his thesis, Petroski tells the story of the paper drinking cup, which owes its popularity to the discovery that water glasses could carry germs. He pays tribute to the little plastic tripod that keeps pizza from sticking to the box and analyzes the numerical layouts of telephones and handheld calculators. Small Things Considered is Petroski at his most trenchant and provocative, casting his eye not only on everyday artifacts but on their users as well. | St. Clares Library L24 620 PET | |
Young Artist Programmes | Event | Conference | Gain an immersive experience of the Art industry alongside experienced artists. Choose below either our Young Artist Weekend or our Young Artist Summer Experience. | Click Here > | |
Summer Schools in Europe | Events | The most complete directory of summer courses in Europe. It includes courses for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, so ensure you read the descriptions to find options right for you. | Click Here > | |
Coursera | Online Course | Coursera is an online platform for distance learning. They have a range of free courses delivered by universities. Search in this section to find courses of interest to you, often these are courses you can follow at your own pace. | Click Here > | |
EdX | Online Course | The X Series courses on the EdX platform are free online courses delivered by universities and aimed at helping you explore areas of interest. | Click Here > | |
FutureLearn | Online Course | FutureLearn is a free online platform where universities from around the globe host FREE online courses you can undertake in your areas of interest. Browse courses by categories or use the search bar to find courses relevant to your interests | Click Here > | |
On-line on-demand Work Experience Courses | Online Course | Work Experience | Scroll down on the weblink to find a range of internship courses across a range of subjects but all with a link to Operation Wallacea's key missions around biodiversity and conservation. | Click Here > | |
TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | The University of Oxford is home to an impressive range and depth of research activities in the Humanities. TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities is a major new initiative that seeks to build on this heritage and to stimulate and support research that transcends disciplinary and institutional boundaries. Here we feature some of the networks and programmes, as well as recordings of events, and offer insights into the research that they make possible. | Click Here > | |
Discovering Black Portraiture | Black History Month talk | Video | Join opera singer Peter Brathwaite for an extraordinary evening detailing his passion for 'degenerate music', the ways in which his work has paid tribute to and been informed by Black histories in Britain, and his extraordinary lockdown project to discover Black portraiture. Taking the form of a Q&A | Click Here > | |
Winchester School of Art - How to put together a portfolio | Video | Director of Undergraduate Programmes, Tim Metcalf, shares some advice on how to put together a strong portfolio that showcases your talents in this 20 minute video. | Click Here > | |
Springpod Virtual Work Experience | Work Experience | Virtual work experience Opportunities across a range of companies and sectors. Most of them are free. | Click Here > |