At the beginning of February, the Edexcel Examination Board updated the proposition of this year's A-level Art C2 exam:
Observe, Seek, Challenge
However, how should these three simple words be understood, and how should students in the six major disciplines of Alevel Art &Design make them relate to their own works?
今天我们就以 Alevel Textile Design 方向为例，
Let's take a look at how textile students can prepare for the exam efficiently!
#1
C2 References
M50 Winland Art
In addition to the propositions, the examination bureau will also provide a number of reference information for different majors.
Most of this information is an example of the art and design research process, and students can read the relevant content to assist in the production of the C2 section.
This year, for the Textile Design direction, the Examination Bureau has given 4 articles as references:
Literature I
The first article focuses on sportswear:
Some sportswear has special fabrics and wearing scenes, and these sportswear can often quickly become an independent fashion trend item after being worn by sports stars.
In addition to sportswear, designers also observe current trends in sportswear and change them during the design process of items such as sneakers and sweatpants.
Designer Olivier Rousteing's Fall/Winter 2022 collection for the Balmain brand is a great example of this,
Ref. 2
The second article focuses on fiber art:
Many fiber artists often seek to challenge traditional fabric materials and techniques, often using materials that are more likely to be used in industrial or architectural processes to create surprising works of art.
For example, fiber artist Bethany Walker's 2011, 2013, and 2014 works use concrete and fiber materials for weaving;
Artist Maggy Johnston, on the other hand, often combines bicycle parts with fishing line to create works of art.
Literature III
The third article does not focus on the material itself, but on technology:
For textile designers, it is often necessary to combine different technologies to guarantee efficient and fast production of textiles.
Designers Barbara Brown and Marimekko, for example, have combined woven printing with woodblock printing in their designs.
Nowadays, some textile designers even like to disassemble the basic graphics and recombine them using different techniques to directly form new patterns.
Such an idea sounds a bit "lazy" and a little "breaking common sense", but for the speed of development of today's fashion industry, although this approach challenges conventional operations, it balances the relationship between fashion and efficiency.
As a result, more and more vendors (such as LightInTheBox) have begun to adopt such technology, and have achieved good results.
At present, many textile design majors in overseas colleges and universities have begun to pay more attention to the research of technology, rather than the fabric itself.
So how can we make full use of the A-level program and efficiently apply for textile majors in overseas universities?
Live lectures
Winland
At 19:00 on April 18 (Thursday), Susan, a senior A-level tutor of Wenlan Art, will share with you:
- Alevel Textile Core Content and Assessment Standards
- The undergraduate major of Lunyi textile is divided in detail
- How to embed an A-level project into an undergraduate portfolio
- Textile College Recommendation & Future Career Planning
Scan the QR code to register in advance
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Literature IV
The fourth article talks about gender stereotypes in fashion:
For some formal occasions, people still dress very conventionally: men wear suits and ties, women wear dresses, etc.
But today, such entrenched gender stereotypes are being challenged by some fashion designers.
Suits and ties have long been accepted by women's fashion, while men's skirts are still difficult to promote.
Thom Bowne and Virgil Abloh are still involved in Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2021 collection.
Compared with several other majors, this year's Textile Design direction gives more references, and discusses the proposition of "observe, seek, challenge" from four dimensions.
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#2
How to prepare for the C1 section
M50 Winland Art
Now that we've talked about C2, let's talk about C1.
Since C2 is an "exam", while C1 is more like "independent research", a considerable number of students have not paid much attention to the C1 part.
However, a solid research foundation in C1 is the fundamental prerequisite for C2 to get a high score, and the examination board also clearly emphasized: "C2 works should be consistent with the research theme of C1 and combined with the propositions given by the examination board." ”
What's more, the C1 part actually accounts for 60% of the score, so how C1 is researched and how C2 is made is equally important.
So what should be done in the C1 research of textile design?
Let's take the work of Grace, a student who got A, as an example:
Grace first recorded the process of a textile printing and dyeing experiment she did:
She first soaked ordinary cotton fabric in washed dye, and then dyed the color of the fabric.
Later, she took photos of the sunset and the texture of the moss on the road, and also dyed it on the cotton fabric, and also got good results.
In her later work, Grace researched abstract art and applied it to textile design experiments:
After an organic image appears on the fabric, the acrylic is used to paint on the fabric.
In addition to this expression, she also experimented with the use of discarded fabrics, such as wool felt, mesh bags and other materials for collage.
As her research deepened, Grace's experiments became more and more daring:
She began to combine Cubist painting with textiles, collaging in the form of felt fabrics, grids, fine threads and other materials, and then completed the effect of a human face.
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Alevel work case dismantling Alevel creation skills sharing
In addition to works that are directly related to textiles, Grace has added a large number of photographs and collages to her works. These contents seem to have nothing to do with textiles, but they record the source of inspiration and the development process.
This is one of the key points of C1 and C2:
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AO1: Inspiration Development (25%)
Document the process of source inspiration and conduct critical and analytical research. Inspiration can come from anything, but document the process of "how to turn ideas into works of art" in CourseWork.
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AO2: 材料探索(25%)
Research and select appropriate materials, media, materials, techniques and processes, and reflect and iterate on inspiration during the production process.
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AO3: Inspiration Record (25%)
Record observations related to inspiration (depicting the artist's work, scenes from nature, etc.) and reflect the observed elements in your own work and creative process.
- AO4: Presentation (25%)
- Sort out a clear motivation when presenting your work, and try to connect the visual presentation with other elements.
So do C1&C2 have different research emphasis?How to prepare for the upcoming C2 exam?How to put the Alevel project into the portfolio?Please scan the code to add a teacher, take you to sprint for the Alevel exam, and get the offer of a prestigious school!
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