1. Visual Art 2019 v1.1 Unit 1 high-level annotated sample response
April 2019
Reverse chronology investigation — multimodal presentation
This sample has been compiled by the QCAA to assist and support teachers to match evidence in student responses to the characteristics described in the assessment objectives.
Assessment objectives
This assessment instrument is used to determine student achievement in the following objectives:
1. implement ideas through an inquiry to investigate how contemporary artists represent personal observations
2. apply spoken literacy skills using relevant visual art terminology, referencing and language conventions to recognise and distinguish features of artworks and practices of self and others
3. analyse and interpret features and relationships of visual language in artists’ practices through the personal and contemporary contexts
4. evaluate art practices, traditions, cultures, and theories to explore historical influences on representations of the material world
5. justify representation of artists’ personal viewpoints in artworks that assign new meaning to found objects
6. experiment in response to artists’ contemporary representations of new meaning through found objects
8. realise responses to communicate meaning through contemporary and personal influences.

2. Task

3. Task

4. Student response
Click the image for video. This video can also be viewed at

5. This is a high-level response because:
The individualised experimental artworks capitalise on new knowledge and understanding of the chosen artists’ contexts and practices.
The investigation includes analysis and interpretation of literal and non-literal meaning in discussion about each artist’s practice and the student’s own work.
Individualised reactions to stimulus, and the interrelationships and understanding of art practices of self and others are evident in the introduction and in the evaluation of their own artwork. In the analysis of each of the artists’ works, the response includes critical understanding of how audiences engage with artworks.
Evaluation of relevant primary and secondary sources has impacted the inquiry as seen in the student’s own artworks and the reference list.

6. The following slides are the student’s folio of experimental work used as the background for the multimodal presentation.

7. Unit 1: Art as lens Reverse chronology investigation
This is my reverse chronology investigation for Unit 1: Art as lens.

8. How do artists use and manipulate found objects in artworks to express personal viewpoints?
This investigation responds to the inquiry question, How do artists use and manipulate found objects in artworks to express personal viewpoints?
Joachim Froese, Cornelia Hesse-Honegger and Juan Sánchez Cotán inspired me in my experiments with ideas, materials and processes. Using the personal context as they have, I chose objects that had personal meaning to me, and manipulated them in a range of ways.

9. Cornelia Hesse-Honegger A squash bug Coreus marginatus
Figure 1
Joachim Froese
Rhopography#36, 2003.
3 Silver Gelatin Prints
36 x 86 cm
Figure 2
Cornelia Hesse-Honegger
A squash bug
Coreus marginatus
from Polesskoje, Ukraine,1990.
Watercolour 42 x 29.7 cm
Figure 3
Juan Sánchez Cotán
Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber, 1602.
Oil on canvas
68.9 x cm
The key artists have each expressed a personal viewpoint by using or manipulating humble, found objects. Froese uses photography to present imagined narratives as truth. In contrast, Hesse-Honegger’s work objectively illustrates insects, to point out the harm of radiation. Juan Sánchez Cotán’s oil painting practice was innovative for his time because his subject matter was humble food. These three works are linked by the artists’ close observation of objects and an illusion of realism. I’m interested in the way artists represent objects realistically. Froese is directly influenced by Sánchez Cotán’s still life images and he uses insects, which is a link to Cornelia Hesse-Honegger’s practice.
© Cornelia Hesse-Honegger/Pro Litteris. Copyright Agency, 2018

10. Key artist 1 Joachim Froese
Rhopography series 1999–2003
Contemporary context
The ancient Greek word rhopos, means trivial and commonplace (Schama, 2010, p. 123).
Focus — presentation of truth through the medium of photography.
He manipulates the found objects to convey his personal view that every photograph is made from the subjective view of the photographer, even if it is documenting an event.
Black borders around each print and the sharp focus are visual clues that signify truth (Froese, n.d.).
Joachim Froese’s Rhopography series uses a contemporary lens to reinterpret the historical genre of still-life painting. The title Rhopography references the humble subject matter of Froese’s photographs. His focus is the presentation of truth through the medium of photography. He manipulates found objects to convey his personal view that every photograph is made from the subjective view of the photographer, even if it is documenting an event.

11. Joachim Froese Rhopography#36, 2003 3 Silver Gelatin Prints 36 x 86 cm
Froese composes his black and white photographs into narratives like a storyboard. He doesn’t crop or digitally edit his images. Instead he uses traditional darkroom (analogue) techniques which leave visual clues that ‘signify truth’. These clues ‘include black borders around each print and the sharp focus’ (Froese, n.d.).
Due to these devices, the audience is challenged to consider the existence of a scene like the one depicted in Rhopography #36 (figure 1). This is a triptych in which the ‘action’ mostly occurs within the narrow depth of field along the front of the picture plane. The dark background, mouldy grapes and the blurry, scurrying insect suggest a secretive and dirty setting, like behind the fridge.
Joachim Froese Rhopography#36, Silver Gelatin Prints 36 x 86 cm

12. Joachim Froese Rhopography#36, 2003
Froese is working in miniature with decomposing grapes and an unidentifiable insect which the audience knows is very small. These tiny objects are presented in large scale, thereby challenging audience expectations because we expect insects and grapes to be tiny and insignificant.
My experimentation has been influenced by Froese’s practice because I used photography, similar subject matter and compositional arrangements.
Joachim Froese
Rhopography#36, 2003
3 Silver Gelatin Prints
36 x 86 cm
Things we might normally regard as rubbish that needs to be swept up into the bin have been arranged as a theatrical still-life (Daw, 2000).

13. Key artist 2 Cornelia Hesse-Honegger
Cultural context Focus is the impact of radioactive pollutants on the environment. The stimulus was the catastrophic explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear powerplant in Ukraine in She ‘made over 300 detailed drawings of damaged or malformed insect bodies, wings, feelers, asymmetric body sections, black spots and ulcers’ (Hesse-Honegger, 2008). She uses found objects to make the public aware of her personal viewpoint about the impact of radiation fall-out on the environment.
Cornelia Hesse-Honegger’s work can be read through a cultural context as a response to the impact of nuclear energy.
The focus of her practice is the impact of radioactive pollutants on insects. She made extensive studies of insects in affected areas between the late 1980s until She “made over 300 detailed drawings of damaged or malformed insect bodies, wings, feelers, asymmetric body sections, black spots and ulcers” (Hesse-Honegger, 2008). She uses found objects (insects) to express her personal viewpoint about the danger of nuclear power. Her work challenges audiences to question the safety of nuclear power because the insects make us wonder what the impact could be on human beings.

14. Cornelia Hesse-Honegger A squash bug Coreus marginatus
Stippling with black ink adds shadows, a sense of form, texture and pattern, showcasing her ‘technical mastery’ (Fitzgerald, 1997).
Cornelia Hesse-Honegger
A squash bug
Coreus marginatus
from Polesskoje, Ukraine. 1990
Watercolour
Hesse-Honegger uses a binocular microscope to observe her subjects then makes detailed watercolour sketches (Hesse-Honegger, n.d.). Figure 2 is an example of her illustrations. This insect has a malformed left antenna. Contours outlining the legs are visible in the image but have not had colour, tone or texture applied, whereas the body, head and antennae are complete. This signifies to the viewer that the legs are less important to the researcher than the more resolved part of the drawing and is in keeping with the genre of scientific illustration. In scientific illustration realism is important because the drawing is an official record.
My experimentation has been influenced by Hesse-Honegger’s practice through her use of the insects, and the ideas of beauty and disgust they represent for me.
© Cornelia Hesse-Honegger/Pro Litteris. Copyright Agency, 2018

15. Key artist 3 Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560–1627)
Cultural context One of the earliest still-life painters. He influenced later still-life painters so is historically significant. This style of still life is called bodegones. Focus — he gave up painting to become a monk so it is likely that his personal viewpoint is a rejection of material possessions in favour of a simple lifestyle (The San Diego Museum of Art, n.d.).
Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560–1627) was a Spanish artist whose still-life paintings, called bodegones, depict an austerity and simplicity which may be attributed to his strong religious beliefs. He gave up painting to become a monk so it is likely that his personal viewpoint is a rejection of material possessions in favour of a simple lifestyle. This simplicity is evident in the empty space around the objects in the painting.

16. Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber (1602)
Sánchez Cotán used oil on canvas and meticulous application of paint, creating an illusion of reality. Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber, (figure 3) painted in 1602, contains fruit and vegetables treated as interesting objects. This means the audience sees them as textured and coloured forms rather than ingredients for a meal. Each component of the image has been thoughtfully placed to dissect the painting in a curve. The curve is emphasised by the solid black shape behind it. Sánchez Cotán used tone on each object to suggest three-dimensional form, adding to the effect of realism which he was aiming for.
My experimentation was influenced by Sánchez Cotán’s practice of arranging objects in front of a dark recess.
Juan Sánchez Cotán
Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber (1602)
Oil on canvas

17. Experimental research
Personal context
My home
A range of media, techniques and processes including:
digital photos
Photoshop
observational drawings
ink
pencil
liquid graphite
charcoal
oil paints
a range of different sized papers
I carried out my research through a personal context. A dead cockroach from my house provided a personal challenge for me. I also worked with food that was in my fridge and pantry. All my experiments reflect my home. I mainly used two-dimensional media and processes. I used real objects and arranged them to make a bodegone and I placed the actual dead cockroach in a variety of situations.

18. My experimentation in response to Joachim Froese’s practice
I used photography to create close-up images of dead insects and old food and I suggested a story through the arrangement of the photographs. I experimented with ways of organising the compositions including using 2, 3 and 4 panels. I tried colour and black and white as Froese does.

19. Experimentation (continued)
I used photography to create close-up images of dead insects and old food and I suggested a story through the arrangement of the photographs. I experimented with ways of organising the compositions including using 2, 3 and 4 panels. I tried colour and black and white as Froese does.

20. My experimentation in response to Joachim Froese’s practice
This experiment has dramatic lighting. It also has added interest from the reflections on the black bench. The ambiguous forms are potatoes that had started to grow, and they invite viewers to look more closely to identify them.
I used digital technology but Joachim Froese uses analogue technology. I experimented with Froese’s technique of arranging the imagery into thirds both vertically and horizontally, to try to make it more interesting. Froese’s work is much more dramatic due to his intense use of dark tone.
Cockroach and potatoes
Digital photography.

21. My experimentation in response to Joachim Froese’s practice
This is a contact sheet of some of my photos.

22. My experimentation in response to Cornelia Hesse-Honegger’s practice
I experimented with scale the way Hesse-Honegger does. She scales up the tiny bugs into large drawings to emphasise her viewpoint about the enormity of the impact of radioactive leaks on the environment. I made A4 and larger drawings to enhance the sense of disgust I feel toward cockroaches but found the drawings were also alarmingly attractive. Like her work , my cockroach was flawed. It was missing two legs.

23. My experimentation in response to Cornelia Hesse-Honegger’s practice
In experimenting with media and techniques, I made drawings using watercolour washes and ink. In these I was interested in trying to see an object (a cockroach) that is normally considered disgusting, through a lens of beauty. This contradicts the frightening subject matter.
Watercolour drawings A4
Photograph of cockroach using torch light.
Inspired my watercolour drawings

24. My experimentation in response to Cornelia Hesse-Honegger’s practice
Drawing a very small insect without a microscope resulted in some generalising instead of close observation. I aimed in my drawings for an emotional response and I achieved this by emphasising the spiky, scary legs.
My drawings are not as precise or as objective as Cornelia Hesse-Honegger’s.
Contour drawings using pencil, pen and ink and marker pen A4

25. My experimentation in response to Cornelia Hesse-Honegger’s practice
These are larger drawings showing my diverse approaches.
Experimentation using tonal media A3

26. My experimentation in response to Juan Sánchez Cotán’s practice
Oil paints on paper A3
Arranging food in box.
Tonal drawing of composition. Charcoal and gesso. A3 size.
Painting with cockroach
added and re-photographed
I set up an arrangement of food in response to Juan Sánchez Cotán’s sparse still-life.
I made a charcoal drawing and a painting of it. I tried to capture the shadows and light and the emptiness of the arrangement.
The box creates a frame for the arrangement and limits depth.
This work could be developed by using other contemporary objects.
I sat the cockroach on the painting and then photographed it, which is a multidisciplinary, contemporary way of working.

27. Conclusion In conclusion, it is apparent that there are many ways that artists can use and manipulate found objects to express their personal views.
In conclusion, it is apparent that there are many ways that artists can use and manipulate found objects to express their personal views.

28. Reflective statement
I made drawings, painting and photographs of objects through a personal lens. I learnt why artists make artworks and what types of personal stimulus an artist can respond to. I learnt that even though the subject of the artwork might be a very simple everyday object, the artist might be communicating a much more complex personal viewpoint. My contemporary approaches were digital technology, framing and cropping and placing the subjects in unusual positions, reinterpreting traditional subjects through the contemporary lens.
This investigative process has led me to make drawings, painting and photography using a range of materials and processes relevant to the artists. This has taught me a great deal about why artists make artworks and what types of personal stimulus an artist can respond to. It has shown me that even though the subject of the artwork might be a very simple everyday object, the artist might be communicating a much more complex idea.

29. References
Daw, R. (2000, December). Rhopography. Artlink (20:4). Retrieved February 15 , 2018, from
Fitzgerald, C. (1997). heteroptera: Carlow Visualise. Retrieved February 20, 2018, from
Froese, J. (n.d.). Rhopography Retrieved February 15, 2018, from Joachim Froese:
Hesse-Honegger, C. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2018, from Cornelia Hesse-Honegger:
Hesse-Honegger, C. (2008, April 18). Malformation of True Bug (Heteroptera): a Phenotype Field Study of the Possible Influence of Artificial Low-Level Radioactivity. Chemistry and Biodiversity, Vol. 5(4), pp doi:doi: /cbdv
Schama, S. (2010). Hang-Ups: essays on painting (Mostly). Random House
The Yorck Project. (2002). Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber. Retrieved April 23, 2019 from Wikimedia Commons: