IB Visual Arts SL flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Comparative study minimum works

At least three artworks by at least two different artists, from contrasting cultural contexts, with the third work optionally drawn from the candidate's own culture.

Formal analysis elements

Line, shape, colour, value, space, texture, and composition are the standard formal categories used to compare how works are constructed rather than what they depict.

Like-with-like comparison

Comparing the same formal element or function across two works, such as treatment of light in both, rather than one work's colour against another's subject.

Material constraint

The limitation a medium imposes on making, such as oil's slow drying for blending or acrylic's fast drying for layering, which shapes the finished appearance.

Site-specific work

An artwork made for one particular location, so that removal or reproduction loses meaning; scale and viewing distance become part of the comparison data.

Function categories

Ritual, commemorative, documentary, decorative, political, commercial, and personal expression are the standard functions against which a work's purpose is tested.

Three layers of context

Original context of making, documented artist intention, and the candidate's own labelled interpretation must be kept distinct in contextual writing.

Cultural hybridity

The blending of visual or material traditions from different cultures within one work, often produced by migration, trade, colonialism, or diaspora experience.

Appropriation

Deliberate use of another culture's imagery or objects by an artist, raising questions of power, permission, and who benefits from the borrowing.

Patronage evidence

Knowing who commissioned or funded a work, whether state, religious body, corporation, or the artist, explains visible constraints on subject, size, and material.

Reproduction loss

Photographs of artworks remove scale, surface texture, and original site, so analysis based only on reproduction must acknowledge what is missing.

Evidence of influence

Documented transmission such as a meeting, teacher-student link, translated text, exhibition, or travel account; visual resemblance alone does not establish influence.

Comparative question

An explicit question posed at the start of the study that the conclusion must answer, giving the comparison a purpose beyond description.

Counter-evidence in conclusion

A work or detail that contradicts the proposed pattern, acknowledged and explained, which strengthens rather than weakens the comparative conclusion.

Analysis over description

Assessment rewards explaining why a work looks as it does over recounting what is visible; descriptive paragraphs sit at a lower achievement level.

Sustained experimentation

Repeated trials of a process where one variable changes each time, producing a traceable line of investigation rather than unrelated finished outcomes.

Process evidence

Test strips, colour charts, proofs, failed casts, and material samples that physically document method and are stronger evidence than finished works alone.

Variable recording

Naming which single factor changed between trials, such as substrate, dilution, tool, or drying time, so the experiment is repeatable and assessable.

Studio safety documentation

Recording ventilation for solvents, dust protection for plaster and sanding, and correct disposal of acrylic wash water as part of the documented process.

Forward-looking reflection

Reflection stating what was attempted, what the material did, and what the next trial will change; evaluative adjectives without specifics carry no assessable content.

Method borrowing

Using a reference artist's technique, such as ground preparation or layering order, and adapting it, rather than copying the finished imagery.

Documented failure

Recording a cracked slab, muddy overpaint, or failed registration as data about material limits, which demonstrates investigation rather than hiding error.

Working bibliography

A maintained source list with access dates for web pages, since artist sites and technical data sheets change or disappear over time.

Operational intention

Stating subject, mood, audience, and intended viewing condition concretely, rather than naming a broad theme such as identity or nature.

Visible refinement

A recorded change between versions, such as composition crop, palette reduction, or scale shift, with the reason for the change documented.

Cohesion test

A reader should be able to state the portfolio's through-line in one sentence after reading; if not, the investigation is scattered.

Resolution criteria

A work is resolved when it fulfils its stated intention, is finished to edges and surface, and can be displayed without further alteration.

Hanging sightline rule

Centres of works align near eye level with consistent spacing, and no work is placed where viewers must step into doorways or crossing points.

Lighting effect on texture

Raking light reveals surface texture, diffuse light flattens it, and direct sunlight fades works on paper, textiles, and ink over time.

Removal test for coherence

If a work can be removed without weakening the exhibition's organizing idea, its inclusion requires explicit justification or reconsideration.

Curatorial rationale content

States the organizing idea, why the works belong together, and how installation guides the viewer; it argues a position rather than describing the works.

Installation as evidence

Sightlines, wall colour, plinth heights, and lighting referenced in the rationale show curation was decided deliberately rather than left to default.