COMPARATIVE STUDY
Students are required to analyse and compare different artworks. This independent critical and contextual investigation explores artworks, objects and artifacts from differing cultural contexts (SL 10-15 slides, HL 10-15 slides + 3-5 slides which analyse the extent to which their work has been influenced by the art and artists examined).
Students must examine and compare at least 3 pieces (at least 2 by different artists), at least 1 experienced in real time and space. The final size of the Comparative Study file should be 20MB maximum.
Students should present their findings as a personal and critically reflective analysis, using both visual and written forms of notation. Effective use of subject-specific language and appropriate means of acknowledging sources are required.
A successful CS can be structured as you like but should contain:
- INTRODUCTION (what is your purpose? why did you select those specific works?)
Works can be selected according to a variety of formal and conceptual criteria, you can see some HERE
- ANALYSIS OF THE WORKS (formal qualities, function and purpose, cultural significance)
- COMPARISON OF THE WORKS (formal qualities, function and purpose, cultural significance)
- CONCLUSION
- SOURCES
Students are required to analyse and compare different artworks. This independent critical and contextual investigation explores artworks, objects and artifacts from differing cultural contexts (SL 10-15 slides, HL 10-15 slides + 3-5 slides which analyse the extent to which their work has been influenced by the art and artists examined).
Students must examine and compare at least 3 pieces (at least 2 by different artists), at least 1 experienced in real time and space. The final size of the Comparative Study file should be 20MB maximum.
Students should present their findings as a personal and critically reflective analysis, using both visual and written forms of notation. Effective use of subject-specific language and appropriate means of acknowledging sources are required.
A successful CS can be structured as you like but should contain:
- INTRODUCTION (what is your purpose? why did you select those specific works?)
Works can be selected according to a variety of formal and conceptual criteria, you can see some HERE
- ANALYSIS OF THE WORKS (formal qualities, function and purpose, cultural significance)
- COMPARISON OF THE WORKS (formal qualities, function and purpose, cultural significance)
- CONCLUSION
- SOURCES
CS STRUCTURE.pdf | |
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CS INTRODUCTION.pdf | |
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The IBO website provide you with some examples of SL and HL CS and their assessment. Please check them out here.
HL CS Sample.pdf | |
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SL CS Sample.pdf | |
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Where can I find artworks?
The easiest way to find artworks suitable for your research is to visit some Museums, exhibitions and art galleries.
First hand observation is needed because it allows the most accurate analysis of the formal and material qualities of an artwork. However, other powerful sources for your research are provided by the web, namely museums and gallery websites. Most of museum's websites allow you to search their collection by different criteria (see for example the Tate online catalogue) and find interesting entries with some reliable information on the artworks. Google Arts and Culture is a very interesting project based on material coming from a variety of museums from all over the world.
An excellent source to start your research is the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History powered by the Metropolitan Museum, New York City and linked by the compass in the bottom of each page of this site. By browsing that website you can also find general information on historical and cultural context, accessible by chronological or geographical keys. In the bottom part of each entry page, links to related articles and essays will provide you with further information on the cultural and material significance of the artwork. If you are looking for artworks located in Europe, but not necessarerly European please visit Europeana, a website that will redirect you to a variety of museums and collections. This is another very useful source, namely because of how the cultural value of the artworks is framed within their historical and geographical context. A precious research tool is also the online catalogue of MOMA exhibitions.
Furthermore, you can find a list of art museums here and here. If you are interested in investigating design objects please check this DESIGN MUSEUMS LIST out. For architecture and buildings you can start researching here.
Check this LIST OF SOURCES out if you are looking for advertising and illustration.
Here are some PHOTOGRAPHY MUSEUMS museums websites.
Are you looking for something weird or you have a taste for the peculiar? Visit The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things.
Go to Art Around Us you can find a list of museums and artwork to see in Genoa.
1. Analysis of formal qualities (criterion A)
Start the analysis of an artwork by writing its credit line (name of the artist, Title, date, medium, high x width x depth cm, location).
Observe very carefully the work from far away, than get closer to look at texture, material and technique. Describe everything you see in terms of subject matter (what is pictured), but most of all consider the elements and principle of art, the grammar that rules any visual statement, artwork, artifact and object. Here are some information on how to make a formal analysis of a painting. You may refer to this site for the name of color in paintings of different ages.
Remember: your own sketches and drawing on the artwork are a fundamental tool of investigation and help a deeper understanding of how the work was conceived and organised.
Elements of Art.pdf | |
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Formal Analysis.pdf | |
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Descriptive words.pdf | |
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2. Interpretation of purpose and function (criterion B)
When the arts of the past are seen in museums, they are detached from the context where they originated and presented just for their formal qualities. If you only see these art objects in books or photographs, it is even more difficult to see them as part of a living culture. The consideration of the role of the artist in a specific social and historical context, the function of the artwork for the audience are fundamental to interpret them as part of a living environment.
What was the overriding idea that the artist was trying to convey or work with? What are the artist’s intentions and how did they hope their work was going to be received? What symbols or expressive elements have the artists employed? What social intersections are tied into the concept?
RELIGIOUS VALUE: Visual arts are essential to the belief systems of many cultures; for example: statues of gods/deities, temples, icons, altarpieces, masks, magical and ritual objects.
POLITICAL VALUE: visual arts visualize the power of a ruler or celebrate the values of a country in a persuasive manner (see any form of propaganda).
SOCIAL VALUE: visual arts often symbolise group identity and pride of individuals by communicating their values (banners, headdresses or tattooing, portraits...)
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: arts were frequently a means of transmitting the values, attitudes and history of a culture. Major fresco cycles, illuminated manuscripts, monuments are some examples.
EXPRESSIVE VALUE: visual arts are a form of personal expression as a reaction to specific emotional condition that might reflect larger scale historical issues.
PRACTICAL VALUE: art is applied to design and make up a variety functional objects, such as tools and weapons, pottery, lamps, forniture, buildiings etc.
DECORATIVE VALUE: art is used to enhance people's appearance or to beautify the environment by pleasing the eyes (jewellery, wall-hangings, tapestries, clothing etc.)
Function and Purpose of Art.pdf | |
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3. Evaluation of cultural significance (criterion C)
Consider the artist’s immediate surroundings and the pressures he/she would have to live and work under. Look at the artwork in a larger cultural perspective: how does it reflects, embodies and react to the reality of its time? What is the significance of the artwork in respect of the art movements of the time? What is new compared to previous artworks? What is its legacy for the future generations?
Cultural significance include an art historical context as well as the historical and socio-political significance of the work, but it also needs to consider the original audience as well as a contemporary audience.
Consider the artist’s immediate surroundings and the pressures he/she would have to live and work under. Look at the artwork in a larger cultural perspective: how does it reflects, embodies and react to the reality of its time? What is the significance of the artwork in respect of the art movements of the time? What is new compared to previous artworks? What is its legacy for the future generations?
Cultural significance include an art historical context as well as the historical and socio-political significance of the work, but it also needs to consider the original audience as well as a contemporary audience.
Western Art History Overview.pdf | |
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Western Art Timeline.pdf | |
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4. Making comparison and connections (criterion D)
The comparison is the essence of the Comparative Study.
The comparison is the essence of the Comparative Study.
Sources
Apart from museums and galley websites, there is a variety of reliable sources that you might consider when researching on art, artists and artworks
BOOKS
Generally speaking, monographic books on artists and art movement are much better of web sources because their content was approved by a publisher.
Exhibition catalogues and articles play a major role in the print material you can use for your art research.
The school library has some good titles available and the librarian will be happy to assist you in case you need it. You can browse those books using the online catalogue, linked to the icon on the top right side of this page. For further research the central public library in Genoa Biblioteca Berio has a good choice of art books that can be borrowed by getting a free card. The catalogue is available online here.
ONLINE LIBRARIES
The Internet Archive and Open Library offers over 11,000,000 fully accessible books and texts. There is also a collection of 550,000 modern eBooks that may be borrowed or downloaded by the print-disabled at OpenLibrary.org.
For further research Google Scholar helps you to identify the most relevant references for a specific topic and to search information on your topic in a wide range of different sources.
GUGGENHEIM DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTION The Guggenheim museum has made over 200 of their published books accessible and downloadable for free in collaboration with the Internet Archive. The quality and quantity are fantastic and includes artists ranging from Kandinsky to Holzer. This is an incredibly valuable archive and if you only explore one today it should be this one.
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM FULL TEXT VIRTUAL LIBRARY The description from their website understates the impressiveness of this site. “Five decades of Met publications on art history, available to read, download, and/or search for free”. Take advantage of the “additional resources” section of each title. It allows readers to explore the Met’s image archive directly while the “related titles” allows for a substantive exploration of subject matter and author.
GETTY PUBLICATIONS VIRTUAL LIBRARY The Getty Virtual Library contains a large quantity of select titles from the archive of Getty Publications. The selection of over 250 backlist titles is primarily focused on art history topics as well as conservation and digital archiving.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART READING ROOM LACMA’s reading room is a collaborative project with the Internet Archive that contains a growing collection of archived art books and exhibition brochures. The search functionality is a little limited, but the collection has quite a few fascinating pieces available in PDF and EPUB formats. The brochures are particularly interesting both as an introduction to certain artists and as design objects.
WEB
The web provide us with an incredible amount of fresh precious information, to be accurately selected among a lot of useless material. Please consider that most of the time googleing the name of an artist or an artwork turns out to be a failing research strategy!
Here are some sources that might provide you with reliable art information and suggest further research strategies.
- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history
- http://smarthistory.org/
- http://www.theartstory.org/
CONTEMPORARY ART MAGAZINES
For researching on contemporary art and artists, the best sources are magazines. Some of them has a lot of interesting content available online:
Here are some useful general tips to know before starting any research. A good way to begin is to read articles that will give you a broad overview of a topic.Some free general encyclopedias are available online here. For more specific information,
How to cite sources
All the sources used in your research should be acknowledged properly. HERE you can find all the information to cite your sources for your IB work.
Please follow the MLA (Modern Language Association) guidelines for in-text citation and work citing. Here is a very helpful tool for your quotation http://www.easybib.com/
MLA.jpg | |
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Cite It Right.pdf | |
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The IBO website provides you with some examples of SL and HL CS and their assessment. Please check them out here. The following example is a work of an ISG student that was grade 7 (30/30) by the IB examiners.
CS SL Sample | |
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File Type: | zip |