framing questions

postmodern frame

• Compare ARTEXPRESS to other exhibitions you have been to. Discuss your overall impression of viewing student artworks in the context of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. With this in mind, reflect on the significance of ARTEXPRESS.
   
• What other venues is ARTEXPRESS shown at this year? Consider how these varied viewing contexts might alter the impression of HSC artworks.
   
  
• ‘Museums exist in order to acquire, safeguard, conserve and display objects, artefacts and works of art of various kinds.’ - Peter Vergo, art writer and curator.
  Critically assess this statement with reference to the role of ARTEXPRESS.  

structural frame

• Select two works (in different media) which appeal to you. Write a detailed description and analysis of each artist's practice, outlining the conceptual and material characteristics of each work. Examine the ways each artist has manipulated and pushed the boundaries of his/her chosen media.
   
• Select two or more works that explore a similar theme or concept, created in different expressive forms. Investigate how each student has manipulated his/her materials in particular ways to explore and communicate similar meaning.
   
• Identify an artwork which may have been influenced by another artist represented in the AGNSW collection. Consider the impact of this influence on the material and conceptual aspects of the work.

subjective frame

• Select one artwork in the exhibition that shows an emphasis on emotion and memory through the use of materials and subject matter. Write a subjective response to this work, describing the feelings it evokes in you and the particular elements within the work that provoke this response.
   
• Analyse the psychological world of the artist communicated in one of the video works. Identify strategies used to convey this.

cultural frame

• How have aspects from our contemporary world been reflected in the works on display in ARTEXPRESS? Select three works that represent a variety of influences through their subject matter, theme, visual references, or selection and manipulation of materials. Write a comparative analysis of these chosen works.
   
• Comment on the representation of a subculture in ARTEXPRESS. How has the artist portrayed aspects of this culture to the audience? Identify some of the key issues when presenting subcultures and assess the impact on various audiences. 
   
• Locate artworks that explore ideas of gender. Are there any artworks that challenge gender stereotypes? How do they challenge? Discuss the wider role of art in challenging ideas.

conceptal framework

• Walk around and observe ARTEXPRESS critically. Consider the construction of the viewing experience for the audience. Comment on the information provided to the viewer. Discuss some of ways the curator has explored the relationship between the artworks and the audience. List some of the strategies employed.
   
• Watch how the audience interacts with the exhibition. Consider the way they walk between the works, where they stop and how they view each work.
   
• Identify works that are attracting the most attention. Why do you think this is so? Suggest the strategies the artists have employed to achieve this. Other than by simply 'looking', in what other ways are viewers engaging, learning about and absorbing the artworks? Explain.

practice

• What do you think is the overall intention of ARTEXPRESS? What key criteria do you think this particular exhibition might need to meet to be successful? List the range of audiences you think ARTEXPRESS may attract. Do your key criteria need to vary with respect to these differing audiences? Discuss why.
   
• Observe the exhibition design of ARTEXPRESS. Imagine you are the curator, and re-design the exhibition hang. Make a copy of each work in the exhibition off the website and construct a diorama with your design for the exhibition. Place the work within a ‘mock-up’ layout and consider how you would utilise space, colour, floors and walls to exhibit the work. How would you organise the work and engage the audience? 
   
• How many of each type of expressive form are shown in this exhibition? Why do you think this is so? What particular requirements do each of these expressive forms need for exhibition installation? Consider practical limits and constraints of a gallery space. How might this impact the selection, design and hang of such an exhibition, compared to other exhibitions you have seen?
   
• Examine the importance and variety of materials in ARTEXPRESS. 
   
• Imagine you are the curator of ARTEXPRESS. How might you select, design and install the exhibition? What might you do differently to the current? Decide on your exhibition space - traditional or contemporary, similar to one of the many ARTEXPRESS venues or totally different? Consider the number and type of works and what links them together, and finally the exhibition design and layout as a cohesive experience. Sketch an exhibition floorplan with an outline of the exhibition's key features. Present your proposal to the class.
   
• Review the current ARTEXPRESS. In your review introduce the exhibition as a whole; outline its highlights and your personal experience of the exhibition, along with that of the general audience your observed. Read exhibition reviews by art critics on other exhibitions and/or on ARTEXPRESS and compare your critical responses with theirs and your classmates. Post or email your review to the exhibition's venue, sharing your critical opinion. Some may be posted on this website.