SCHOOL OF FINE ART Interview Assessment Criteria How will admissions staff assess my interview?
Painting & Printmaking, Fine Art Photography and Sculpture & Environmental Art Interview Assessment Criteria 1. Course awareness, Why GSA/Glasgow, why this course? 2. Ability to describe ideas and to talk about your work 3. Range and application of Practical Skills 4. How you inform yourself about visual art and wider cultural influences 5. Range of Approaches to Work 6. Independent/personal work Admissions staff will score you against each of the criteria above and if your total score is over the threshold, you will be invited for interview.
1. Ability to describe ideas and to talk about your work As one question, this can seem quite overwhelming so break it down: What are the ideas behind my work? How do I describe the visual qualities of my work? It is so crucial that you are POSITIVE in answering this questions and do not let low self-confidence take over here. No one wants to here you say I don t think my work is that great or I just draw and that s it. You need to be able to talk at length about both your ideas and the way you make your work.
2. Course awareness, Why GSA/Glasgow, why this course? You will be asked this at a Fine Art interview so prepare yourself for the question. The simplest way to think about this is to again, break it down into four distinct questions: What can I tell admissions staff about the course? Why do I want to study at GSA? Why do I want to study in Glasgow? Why do I want to study this particular course? Think deeply about your answers to this. If you don t know everything about the course content, then get researching! Answer the questions really honestly.
3. Range and application of practical skills Admissions staff wanted to see this in the 25 slides of your e-folio hopefully you found it difficult to squeeze your best work into 25 slides! Now is your chance to show admissions staff everything you have made to date. Display clearly how wide a range of work you have made and all of the different materials, methods and experiments you have tried in putting your portfolio together. It is vital that you show work that you think is not so successful and be willing to talk about why you think they are not as successful as other pieces.
4. How you inform yourself about visual art and wider cultural influences This covers a wide range of topics, including: Exhibitions you have been to Artists/Designers/Architects you are inspire by and why What you do in your spare time Magazines/newspapers/books/films/music you like Have you travelled or spent time anywhere other than Glasgow/Scotland? What your personal interests are You will need to be able to express your opinions about work you like (or dislike) by other artists and how visiting exhibitions motivates you.
5. Range of approaches to work You should already know by now how important experimentation is in your portfolio. Admissions staff need to see that you have tried as many different approaches as possible. Have you tried: Painting Drawing Printmaking Sculpture Model making Murals Environmental Art Photography Video/Film Sound
6. Independent/Personal Work Staff will be interested to know which work you have made independently and which work you made in school. This helps them see where your personal interests lay as opposed to meeting a brief for an exam. Keep EVERY piece of work you make, even if you think it is not good. Work that has mistakes in it is often the most interesting work and can be the biggest point of discussion at an interview. Being willing to share work that you think is unsuccessful shows confidence and maturity in terms of how you approach being creative and will be a big part of your experience at GSA if you choose to study here.