ART 1TI3 C01
Making Art and Understanding Images
Fall 2024 v.3.5
Digital Creative Challenge 2
The Abstract Composite Project (DCC2)
Project Code: DCC2
For this challenge, you will design and create one abstract digital composite. Your composite may include abstracted figurative elements, be entirely non-representational, or combine elements of both. It should visually communicate your chosen themes and intentions in a way that is personal and unique to you, drawing inspiration from your exploratory studies and research into contemporary digital and photographic abstract practices. Unlike a comic book, where many images follow a sequence to tell a linear narrative, the image assets in a composite must coalesce to form. one single, new image experience.
Preparatory Sketches and Studies
Preparatory sketches and exploratory studies will be essential to your design process. Use sketches to develop your compositions and refine your concepts. Your exploratory studies should focus on the materiality of seamless digital compositing, helping to shape your concepts and evolve your creative direction. You will submit these sketch studies as part of the assignment.
Research Component
As part of your preparations, you will research the work of three contemporary artists whose practice includes abstraction and who exhibit in museums or galleries (artists whose primary platform. is social media are not eligible for this challenge). For each artist, you will:
• Post a link to their professional curriculum vitae highlighting their exhibition history.
• Include samples of their work with accompanying didactic information.
• Provide a brief explanation of how their work and concepts inspire your own.
Inspiration versus Copying
It is important to understand that gaining inspiration from another artist’s work is not the same as copying. Inspiration involves studying how their techniques, concepts, and approaches spark new ideas in your own work, guiding your creative process while allowing you to express your unique vision.
Copying, on the other hand, means reproducing their work or ideas without introducing your personal interpretation. For this challenge, focus on how these artists influence your thinking, not on mimicking their exact style. or content.
Abstract Composite Guidlines
1) Original Photographic Image Assets
- Create and use 12 original photographic image assets: These must be captured by you using your own camera.
- Do not appropriate images from other artists, the internet, social media, or generative AI.
- Avoid using imagery from the artists you research as inspiration; your composite must reflect your own creativity.
2) Original Virtual Photography Image Assets
- Create and use 4 original virtual photography image assets: These images should be created by you capturing screen-grabs or virtual photographs within a digital environment (e.g., virtual reality or video games).
3) Create an Abstract Composite Image
Your digital composite image must:
- Measure 6000 x 3372 px, or, 3372 x 6000 px and have resolution of 72 pixels/inch,
- Your composite image must be created using entirely nondestructive methods and should aim for a seamless visual result.
- You may include digital drawing and painting elements, but these do not count toward the total of required image assets (12 photographic, 4 virtual).
4) Artistic Unity
Your composite must be artistically unified in form, subject matter, and content. It should maintain visual unity and demonstrate a productive sense of balance throughout the composition.
Project Materials
- Camera Phone or Digital Camera
- Laptop or Tablet Computer
- Photoshop, Photopea, or GIMP
- Access to a virtual space that you can navigate and engage with using an avatar (e.g.,
Virtual Reality Applications, Virtual Reality Installations, or games like Second Life, WoW, Animal Crossing, etc.)
Project Statement
Write a 200-word minimum statement describing the content of your project and how you addressed the project theme through your use of form. and subject matter. Additionally, explain how the artists you selected influenced your creative approach.
At the top of your project statement, include your Full Name, Project Code: DCC2, and your Project Title (if you have one). Save this file as LastName_FirstName_DCC2D and submit it as a Word or PDF file to Avenue to Learn. Also, include the text of your project statement when you upload your project to the Miro Exhibition Board.
Document Submission Inventory
Submit the following to Miro and/or Avenue to Learn:
- Sketches, Studies, and Research
Post photos of your sketches, studies, explorations, and project related research to your Miro Board.
- Virtual Photo Assets
Post to your Miro Board unedited versions of all the virtual photo assets used in your project, labeling each image with the virtual environment it was taken in.
- Finished Composite Image
- Upload to Avenue to Learn your final composite image as a PSD or XCF document.
- File Name: YourLastName_YourFirstName_DCC2a.PSD (or XCF)
- Upload a JPEG of your completed composite image to your Miro Board.
- Project Statement
- Submit to Avenue to Learn your project statement as a Word document.
- File Name: YourLastName_YourFirstName_DCC2b
- Copy and paste the text from your project statement into Miro using the application’s text tool.
When adding your composite image and project statement to the Miro Exhibition Board, ensure they fit within the designated areas. Take care not to move, alter, or change another student's work.
DIGITAL CREATIVE CHALLENGE 2 ASSESSMENT RUBRIC - 100 Points
This studio project is worth 100 points and will be assessed accordingly:
Expectations met?
This includes:
• The creation of a composite image inspired by a three contemporary art practices.
• The submission of all required documents, formatted according to the project guidelines.
• The inclusion of a project statement that meets word minimum, adequately contextualizes your project, and connects clearly with the inspiration artist and their artwork.
• The project was fully submitted as requested to A2L & Miro as required.
11 POINTS
Demonstrated understanding of the project's core materials, approaches, and concepts.
This includes:
• The evident and adequate use of exclusively non-destructive image editing techniques.
• The design and creation of a visually compelling composite image using all twelve of the required image assets.
• Seamlessness: The degree to which the seams of the composite’s image assets were productively blended into your composite image.
• A compelling use of colour and value in your imagery.
• A composite image that has a clear sense of asymmetrical balance.
• A clear and proficient use of principles of design to create a visually unified image.
51 POINTS
Quality of concept(s), idea(s), and artistic unity?
Includes:
• The use of digital imaging techniques in a manner that supports their artistic intention(s).
• A composite image visually articulates your interpretation of the project theme in a manner that is unique to you.
• An image that image communicates the concepts written about in the statement.
• An image whose form, subject, and concept work together to convey the artist's intentions. (Artistic Unity)
25 POINTS
Level of apparent risk-taking, innovation, and commitment to conceptually and formally resolving this work?
• What is the level of apparent efort put into completing this project?
• What is level of innovation is displayed in conceptually, formally, and technically competing this artwork?
• What is the level of commitment to resolving project-related choices and issues?
13 POINTS