Originality of Student Work

All art work submitted for assessment should be made by the student

"Originality" in this case refers to authenticity, not creativity. The importance of the process and the crafting is integral to the work that is presented for the final exhibition, therefor IB Art students must make their art work themselves. When students enlist the help of technicians in building supports, plinths, frames and other structures they should state explicitly which parts were made by others.

In the case of designs for work not executed by the student, the design and plans may be considered as part of the work submitted but not the piece if it has been realized by someone other than the student. This applies to fashion design as well.

Artists like Jeff Koons or Murakami have huge production studios full of assistants executing the work as the master has instructed. Damien Hirst employs a posse of young artists in need of a job to paint the dots on his famous dot paintings..Andy Warhol ran an art factory, but IB Art students must make it themselves.

Discuss the difference approaches to art production with thought provoking ToK discussions on originality in Art and Authenticity and Nothing is Original and Art vs. Craft

Music and Sound

If the student is creating video work and including sound or music it must be copyright free ( and cited as such) or original ( created by student). There is plenty of easy to use software for students who want to create their own sound effects, but even most smartphones can record field sounds that can be used as original sound material. Examiners however, will not be assessing the sound component.  

When including sound in art pieces be sure to source and cite where it comes from and do not use copyright material. Remember, Original Sound is best! Go to Sound in Contemporary Art  for more on this topic, and the page on the controversial issues of Sound in IB Art 

Found Objects

Obviously, found objects are not made by the student but the resulting combination of objects ( Assemblage ) is an original art piece as is the concept. More about the The Ready Made here..

Exhibition labels

An  Exhibition Text is required for each piece submitted for exhibition, stating title, medium, size and intention/ background info for each piece.

TIP:The exhibition text is the ideal place to identify if objects are self made, found, purchased, appropriated etc.

For example in this piece that includes found object material I would write the following exhibition text, specifiying which part is mine and which part is found object:

Title: Door

Medium: Gouache over found 1950s book plate of Ghiberti's doors of the Baptistry

Size: 20 x 25 cm

Intention: I painted a free standing doorway and a cloud over a reproduction ( bookplate) of Lorenzo Ghiberti's bronze low relief. Door plays with ideas of flatness, perspective and illusionism inherent in the reproduction of artworks. The original text has been whited out to leave only the word DOOR.

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