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Project One:

Project 1: Developing a Plan

Working with a framework:

This unit provides a flexible, self-directed framework that allows you to develop your own creative practice and research interests while working towards clearly defined outcomes. (OCA PAR Handbook 2026)

 

The framework consists of:

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  • Ten projects and assignments that are completed according to your Project Plan. Each project is supported by tutorials, formative feedback, or group activities to guide your progress.

  • A Project Plan, developed in Project One, which outlines your practical work, identifies whether you will complete a Critical Review or Dissertation, and establishes a realistic study schedule across the ten projects.

  • Shared Stage Three PDF resources designed to support different aspects of your learning, including:

  •  Reflect, Propose and Plan – developing your Project Plan.

  • Creative Strategies – supporting creative practice.

  • Critical Strategies – developing research and academic writing.

  • Locating Your Practice – connecting your practice, research, and overall project.

  • Case Studies that demonstrate how practitioners approach creative practice and research.

  • Additional discipline-specific resources and activities that provide further support relevant to your area of study.

Research Task: Critical Strategies

Critical strategies are used to interpret and evaluate a subject. Using various processes enables more in-depth analysis rather than purely descriptive analysis.

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Common critical strategies include:

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Formal Analysis - Examines visual elements such as:

  • Composition, colour, light, texture, perspective

 

Contextual Analysis - Considers:

  • Historical circumstances, social influences, political conditions or cultural awareness. 

 

Semiotic Analysis - Investigates:

  • Signs and symbols, visual language

 

We should also consider 

  • Viewer experience, perception and memorability.

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Applying one or more of these critical strategies will provide a more comprehensive commentary on the chosen item.

Exercise: Create a Glossary

Developing a personal glossary supports academic literacy and disciplinary understanding and may include terms such as:


Term                    Definition


Aesthetic               The visual qualities and artistic characteristics of an image
Archive                  A collection of documents, photographs, or records preserved for study
Context                 The circumstances that influence the production and interpretation of a work
Discourse              Systems of ideas and language that shape understanding
Ethics                    Moral considerations within research and practice
Gaze                     The act of looking and associated power relationships
Narrative              The story or sequence of meaning conveyed through images
Representation    The depiction or construction of people, places, or ideas
Semiotics             The study of signs and meaning
Visual Culture      The study of visual images and their societal impact


Maintaining and expanding this glossary throughout the course will strengthen academic writing and critical engagement.

Research Task: Viewing Case Studies

Les Monaghan - Relative Poverty
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Case Study placeholder - Les Monaghan

Case Study placeholder - Yayoi Kasuma

Case Study placeholder - H.R.Gieger

Exercise: Case study interview

Ask yourself questions from the Case Studies that you found interesting, or use the questions below. Use them as a reflective tool to think about how you discuss your own strategies and approaches, and how you frame your creative practice.

  • How do you describe and locate your practice?

  • What are the characteristics of your personal creative voice?

  • What kinds of projects are you interested in?

  • Describe your creative strategies or working process?

  • When is a piece of work successful?

  • What kinds of learning or creative challenges do you respond to?

  • How do audiences or feedback shape your approach?

  • What are your motivations and ambitions?

You may want to extend this exercise by interviewing another OCA student. Ask each other these or other questions, and use the responses as a starting point for a conversation. Document your responses.

Case Study placeholder - David Tate (Functional Furniture Artist)

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David Tate Interview Placeholder

Case Study placeholder - OCA Artist Fine Art Photography PAR 3.1

Research Task: Beginning to Locate your Practice

Introduction:

  • This resource assists and deepens my awareness and practice.

  • The first section providing an overview of the main themes.

  • The second, practical ways to explore the themes through activities.

The aims of the resource are to: 

  • introduce a spectrum of approaches to reflective thinking and practice spanning analytical, personal, critical, and creative processes

  • consider the scholarship underpinning good reflective practice to drive independent and professional practice. 

Exercise: Reflect Propose Plan 

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Group Activities

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