Art HL Theme?

[laz3r]

So, I'm doing Art HL option A and I've been really worried on my theme. Should there really be one unifying theme? My teacher told us that themes aren't really strictly checked because some students from other schools have no unifying theme (as in, their pieces were all out there) and they got a pretty decent grade. Would it be better to have one unifying theme or should I take the risk of not thinking of one and explore lots of stuff? I have been thinking of abuse and war, but is it alright if it's kind of vague?

thanks in advance!

[Wide Eyed Wanderer]

The IB doesn't require you to have a theme, but it does require you to produce a 'coherent' body of work.

I picked a theme in the beginning of my course, but I'm a very fickle person in terms of my artwork, so after 3-4 works I started working with other subject matter. So don't worry about it. As I've noticed, even if you start with no theme, there will be topics you like working on more than others, so when you look back at your work, you'll be able to see patterns in your work.

I started with 'dance', then added 'celebration' and then there was too much political unrest in my country I couldn't help produce a piece in response. Then I made a piece on 'appearance and reality', one on the colour red and a self portrait. Not too much in common with themes, but when going over my final work with my teacher, I realized my work is very expressionist, and I use the three primary colours a lot. 3 of my pieces are only in red, blue and yellow. And a significant portion of every piece is red (I didn't plan this, but I'm just so fascinated by the multidimensional properties of red that it just happened).

So don't worry about not having a theme. Make sure plenty of studio work has a deeper meaning, and write about it in your investigation workbook. This gives you something to talk about in the interview ( what have you tried to imply, how it represents what you want it to, and why you chose that particular medium/style/symbol) and shows evidence of higher order thinking, and that you're able to represent ideas through your art. Examiners love ideas through art.

If you need any more help ( regarding how to go about the studio work creation process, or IWB or whatever), just PM me, I'll be happy to help

[Jaymi]

So, I'm doing Art HL option A and I've been really worried on my theme. Should there really be one unifying theme? My teacher told us that themes aren't really strictly checked because some students from other schools have no unifying theme (as in, their pieces were all out there) and they got a pretty decent grade. Would it be better to have one unifying theme or should I take the risk of not thinking of one and explore lots of stuff? I have been thinking of abuse and war, but is it alright if it's kind of vague?

thanks in advance!

They really don't require you to have a theme, but having a theme is actually quite nice sometimes=) so you don't get artists block I personally, have had 3 themes and they all transitioned from one to the other, so it kinda made sense because it showed i was growing as an artist.

And you can have an extremely broad theme if you're looking for one, like the one that you have right now? Abuse and War? I think thats a superb theme to go with

If you start getting uncomfortable with the theme, change it But don't forget to write WHY you changed your theme in your IWB. My themes were always personal, all about my culture and finding all about myself, now its changed to rediscovering myself because i lost myself. Don't forget, you CAN be se;f-centered in your art=) ALOT of major artists all use themselves as inspiration for their works. Like you can even use Abuse and War for youself=) I don't know you on a personal level but you could do a piece on the ongoing abuse of yourself because we have to keep changing for society; and you could also use war and connect it to that piece that we, as artists, are always at war with ourselves, whether we should express ourselves OR do something that society will accept. Just 2 ideas i decided to throw out there but i have lots hahaha =)

So, in a nutshell. No, you don't really need a theme, you can keep changing it, but it would be nice to have one

Good Luck with your decision~!!

[Leezandra Bejan]

I think that abuse and war is kinda' vague... i'm also taking hl art and i think you should look at a more broad theme... either go into abuse (which could mean any type of abuse) or social issues, humanity, something like that.

Good luck!!

[007imagine]

A theme kind of creates itself. You'll find that you naturally tend to do a certain style, subject matter...and these will evolve. Primary colors, watercolor/ink, and people are the most common threads in my portfolio, and that just came out of natural interest. I think my IWB and work reflects that changing thought process.

I wouldn't worry about conciously following a theme.

[drmar]

Agree with 007imagine... At the end, you will write a reflection on your work. If you focus on enhancing your skills, experimenting with different media, and producing works that are interesting to you, I think you will be astonished at the end to see that your works have several common elements - even if you did not plan it that way. If all your work focuses on one subject (e.g., war/violence), you might tend to produce repetitive or similar works that will not as easily show your growth as an artist. Also, if you pick a theme and tire of it along the way, your remaining time in IB Art will be sheer hell.