This most recent trip was part of a current assessment which required the students to research original artworks, examining how different media are used to create effects.
Head of Art History David Parr was excited to take the students away from their textbooks for the day, as the nature of this assessment requires close analysis of how works of art are constructed, and why choices are made by artists to create different effects.
“The artworks ideally must be viewed in situ and in the original for this assessment, rather than reproduced, and our city art gallery provides the perfect opportunity for this kind of study,” says David.
The artworks selected were by New Zealand artists’ Ralph Hotere, John Pule, John Kinder, Albin Martin, Lonnie Hutchinson and Kura Te Waru Rewiri.
Another internal assessment the Level 2 Art History students are currently working towards involves investigating the relationship between works of art and their environment. To achieve this the class visited Michael Parekowhai’s Lighthouse on Queen’s Wharf and Virginia King’s David Lange Memorial.
“Seeing sculptures up-close helped the students put into place the immediate historical and geographical context,” says David.
