Twelve Works, Nine Slots
An HL candidate has 12 resolved works: five large oil paintings (120 × 150 cm), three ceramic sculptures, two digital prints, one collaborative video installation, and one unfinished painting. The school gallery has 18 linear metres of wall, no ceiling suspension, one power outlet, and is locked overnight. The candidate must exhibit 8–11 works. The curatorial rationale draft is 680 words and mostly recounts childhood memories and favourite colours; it does not explain selection, sequencing or viewer experience. Each exhibition text is 80 words. The candidate wants to include everything, including the unfinished painting, because ‘more work shows more effort’. The collaborative video needs a projector and two speakers; the candidate’s role was one of three animators. The submission deadline is Friday.
1. Select a coherent 9-work exhibition from the 12. Justify inclusions and omissions with reference to resolution, space and curatorial intent.
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A defensible 9-work selection is: 4 oil paintings, 2 ceramics, 2 digital prints and the collaborative video. Omit the fifth painting if it repeats the same composition or is the weakest of the group; omit the third ceramic if it is fragile or crowds the plinths; omit the unfinished painting because it is not resolved. The wall budget supports this: four 120 cm paintings occupy about 4.8 m before spacing, the two prints about 1.6 m, and the remaining wall can carry the projection and plinth grouping without crowding. The single power outlet can run the projector and speakers if cable routes are safe. Curatorially, the selection should argue a through-line-for example, fragmented memory across painting, ceramic and moving image-rather than ‘best works’. Nine works is within the HL range and leaves enough space for each work to be seen.
2. How should the collaborative video and unfinished painting be handled?
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The unfinished painting should be excluded from the exhibition; it is not a resolved work, and showing it to signal effort misreads the assessment. If the candidate wants to document it, that belongs in the process portfolio, not the exhibition. The collaborative video can be included only if the candidate’s contribution is central and documented. Label all three collaborators, state roles, and make sure the projector, speakers, power and sound levels work in the venue. If the candidate was one of three animators and cannot show a distinct contribution, the video risks overclaiming and may be better replaced by the third ceramic or a print. Do not include it merely because it fills the power outlet.
3. Revise the curatorial rationale and exhibition texts to fit HL requirements and assessment criteria.
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The rationale must be cut to the HL maximum of 700 words and reorganised around curatorial decisions: the exhibition thesis, why these 9 works were selected, why 3 were omitted, how the hang sequences the viewer, how materials and scale shape the experience, and how the collaborative work is credited. Childhood memories can appear only if they explain a specific work or selection; favourite colours are not a curatorial argument. Each exhibition text must be cut from 80 words to the 50-word limit and should identify the work, materials and central idea without repeating the rationale. The candidate should check that the texts and rationale use consistent titles and that the video credit is accurate. This turns the rationale from biography into evidence of curatorial practice.