Unit 2 - Vocational Contexts

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Introduction
How do artists, designers and craftspeople get their ideas? What is their inspiration - and how do they translate that inspiration into their work?

Learning more about the ways in which established artists and designers have developed can help you to understand creative processes and give you ideas for your own work. It will also help you to complete Unit 2:Vocational Contexts of the BTEC First Certificate and Diploma.

In Unit 2, you're asked to study a range of design developments, such as key movements, styles, schools and individual artists from the past and present. You need to think about cultural influences on art and design, and the ways in which materials and techniques have been used.

Once you've collected and recorded information, use your investigations as a starting point for developing your own art and design ideas.

Artists can find inspiration in many different ways. Here are some suggestions.

Looking back
Most famous artists and designers had some degree of formal training that involved studying the history of art and examining the movements and styles of the past. Look through the profiles of artists on this website and you'll see that many of them went to famous art schools such as the Slade and the Royal Academy. Here they not only learned technique, but also studied the development of art and design.

Try this

• Looking at examples of art and design work in books and on the Internet can be a useful, but nothing compares to seeing the real thing. Visit galleries and museums in your area that have collections you're interested in - there's a list of local venues on this website.
• Choose a particular style of art or design and develop a research portfolio that traces its history, development and key figures. You'll find information about major art figures of the twentieth century in the art dossiers section of this website and there's a list of useful reference books at the end of this section.

Looking forward
Art and design is exciting because it's progressive - it is constantly moving forward and breaking new ground. Sometimes this makes the work controversial. Even some of the most famous artists and sculptors such as Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti spent many years fighting to get their work recognised because the art establishment didn't understand it!

Try this

• Use the Internet to find out more about contemporary British artists and designers such as Damien Hurst and Tracey Emin. What makes their work different? How do you respond to it?
• How do you think art and design will develop over the next 10-20 years? Look at some of the following areas and consider what might influence them and how they might develop.
  • fashion and textiles
  • installations and sculptures
  • multimedia art
  • advertising.

Looking outwards
For many artists and designers, it is their immediate physical environment that gives them inspiration for their work. Many of us look around us without really seeing what is there. Creatives interpret their surroundings and convey their vision of the world around them to their audience.

Design agency Elmwood uses observation as a vital tool to help them interpret their clients' briefs.

Our team does a lot of shopping and regularly carries out audits of what's in the shops. We've developed a tool called Streets Ahead where we can take a picture of a moment in time in Oxford Street and use it to spot trends. Clients like this and it gives our research added credibility.

Try this

• Choose a local area - maybe some streets near your school or home - and investigate them in detail. Explore:

- building materials
- layout and design
- street furniture (lampposts, seats, etc.)

• street art (graffiti, advertising hoardings, decorative effects, sculptures and memorials, etc.)
• high street stores.
• Take photographs, and make sketches and notes, to record what you see. How could you translate your research into art or design work? You could, for example:

- use patterns you've identified on buildings in fabric design
- develop new designs for street furniture or street art
- create a mural for one of the areas you've explored.

Looking inwards
Memorable art and design work often reflects what is going on in the artist's mind - it's a way to express their emotions and thoughts.

Try this
Study the profile of Alberto Giacometti in the art dossiers section of this website and find out why his sculptures changed in shape and size. How did his work reflect developments in society and his own life?

Useful reference books
Dictionary of Art & Artists (Thames & Hudson, 1993)
Duro P and Greenhalgh M - Essential Art History (Bloomsbury, 1993)
Fiell C and P - Design of the 20th Century (Taschen, 2000)
Jervis S - Penguin Dictionary of Design & Designers (Penguin Books, 1989)
King L - Design, a Concise History (Phaidon, 1995)
Lynton N - The Story of Modern Art (Phaidon, 1980)
Rowland A - Bauhaus Source Book (Phaidon, 1990)
Scharf A - Art & Photography (Penguin Books, 1983)
Sparke B - Design in Context (Bloomsbury, 1991)
The 20th Century Art Book (Phaidon, 1998)
The Art Book (Phaidon, 1998)

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