IB Internal Asessment - Exhibition

Internal assessment details HL - The Exhibition
Part 3: Exhibition  Weighting: 40%  
EXAMPLES FROM IB 1, 2

Students at SL and HL submit for assessment a selection of resolved artworks for their exhibition. The selected pieces should show evidence of their technical accomplishment during the visual arts course and an understanding of the use of materials, ideas and practices to realize their intentions. Students also evidence the decision-making process which underpins the selection of this connected and cohesive body of work for an audience in the form of a curatorial rationale.

During the course students will have learned the skills and techniques necessary to produce their own independent artwork in a variety of media. In order to prepare for assessment in this component, students will select the required number of pieces to best match the task requirements and demonstrate their highest achievement. Students at SL select 4–7 artworks for submission while students at HL select 8–11 artworks for submission.

The final presentation of the work is assessed in the context of the presentation as a whole (including the accompanying text) by the teacher against the task assessment criteria.

Task details
 

For the exhibition task students at HL should select and present their own original resolved artworks which best evidences:

1. technical competence
2. appropriate use of materials, techniques, processes
3. resolution, communicating the stated intentions of the pieces
4. cohesiveness
5. breadth and depth
6. consideration for the overall experience of the viewer (through exhibition, display or presentation).

Students will be assessed on their technical accomplishment, the conceptual strength of their work and the resolution of their stated intentions. To support their selected resolved artworks, students at SL and HL should also submit:

1. exhibition text which states the title, medium, size and a brief outline of the original intentions of each selected artwork
2. two photographs of their overall exhibition. While the photographs will not be used to assess individual artworks, they may give the moderator insight into how a student has considered the overall experience of the viewer in their exhibition. Only the selected artworks submitted for assessment should appear in the exhibition photographs.

Students at HL should also develop a curatorial rationale which accompanies their original artworks (700 words maximum). This rationale explains the intentions of the student and how they have considered the presentation of work using curatorial methodologies, as well as considering the potential relationship between the artworks and the viewer.  


Structuring the exhibition

It is expected that work developed for the exhibition will overlap or have grown from initial or in-depth investigations within part 1: comparative study and part 2: process portfolio.

Work developed for the exhibition will have been carefully supported and facilitated by both teacher-directed learning activities and independent studies by the student. In preparing for this task students will need to have engaged with a variety of skills, techniques and processes that will have enabled them to manipulate materials, media, techniques and processes in order to discover strengths and work towards technical excellence.

Art-making forms

Having worked within a range of art-making forms for part 2: process portfolio, students at both SL and HL may submit work created in any art-making form for part 3: exhibition. The submitted pieces should be selected by the student from their total body of resolved works and should represent their most successful achievements against the assessment criteria. They should be presented in a manner suitable for an audience.

Exhibition text (500 characters maximum per artwork)

Each submitted artwork should be supported by exhibition text which outlines the title, medium and size of the artwork. The exhibition text should also include a brief outline of the original intentions of the work (500 characters maximum per artwork). The exhibition text should contain reference to any sources which have influenced the individual piece. Students should indicate if objects are self-made, found or purchased within the "medium" section of the exhibition text, where applicable. Where students are deliberately appropriating another artist’s image as a valid part of their art-making intentions, the exhibition text must acknowledge the source of the original image.

Collective pieces
Students are required to submit individual artworks for assessment. Where students wish to submit portions of work in the form of one collective piece (such as diptych, triptych, polyptych or series), this must be clearly stated as part of the title of the submitted piece in the exhibition text, presented in parentheses. For example: Title of the piece (diptych). The requirements for capturing and submitting collective pieces is the same as with other standard submissions, however students deciding to submit collective pieces need to be aware that there is a compromise in the size an image can be viewed when submitted as part of a collective piece which may prevent examiners from taking details that cannot be seen into account. Collective piecesthat are presented without the appropriate exhibition text will be considered as distinct artworks and could lead to a student exceeding the maximum number of pieces.

Structuring the curatorial rationale

The curatorial rationale requires SL and HL students to explain why specific artworks have been chosen and presented in a particular format. It provides students with an opportunity to explain any challenges, triumphs, innovations or issues that have impacted upon the selection and presentation of the artworks. Students should use the curatorial rationale to explain the context in which particular artworks were made and presented in order to connect the work with the viewer. In addition to this, students at HL should also explain how the arrangement and presentation of artworks contributes to the audience’s ability to interpret and understand the intentions and meanings within the artworks exhibited.

HL students may find the following questions helpful when approaching this task. This structure is for guidance only and is neither prescriptive nor restrictive.

1. What is the vision for presenting this body of work?
2. How have particular issues, motifs or ideas been explored, or particular materials or techniques used?
3. What themes can be identified in the work, or what experiences have influenced it?
4. How does the way you have exhibited your artwork contribute to the meanings you are trying to convey to an audience?
5. What strategies did you use to develop a relationship between the artwork and the viewer, for example, visual impact?
6. How does the way you have arranged and presented your artworks support the relationship and connection between the artworks presented?
7. What do you intend your audience to feel, think, experience, understand, see, learn, consider from the work you have selected for exhibition?

Formal requirements of the task—HL
 

1. HL students submit a curatorial rationale that does not exceed 700 words.
2. HL students submit 8–11 artworks.
3. HL students submit exhibition text (stating the title, medium and size) for each selected artwork.
HL students may submit two photographs of their overall exhibition. They will not be assessed or used to assess the individual artworks.

 Submitting assessment work

Students may choose to capture and submit individual artworks for assessment in a variety of ways, depending on the nature of the artwork and the resources available. The work should ideally be captured in whatever electronic means is most appropriate for the selected art-making form. A two-dimensional artwork, for example, might be best captured through a still photograph, while a three-dimensional artwork might be best captured through a short video recording. Lens-based, electronic or screen-based artwork such as animation, however, might call for more unusual file types. Please note that time-based submissions such as these are limited to a maximum duration of five minutes.  

Unless it is impossible, schools are advised to submit two photographs of each student’s overall exhibition. These exhibition photographs provide an understanding of the context of the exhibition and the size and scope of the works. While the photographs will not be used to assess individual artworks, they may give the moderator insight into how a student has considered the overall experience of the viewer in their exhibition. Only the selected artworks submitted for assessment should appear in the exhibition photographs.

The procedure for submitting work for assessment can be found in the Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme. Students are required to indicate the number of artworks submitted. Where submitted materials exceed the prescribed limits examiners are instructed to base their assessment solely on the materials that appear within the limits.