Objectives
Offering a balance between practical teaching and theory-based classes, the primary aim of the undergraduate Licence degree in Mixed-Media Arts is to teach students to master two key skills.
On the one hand, this skills-base is practical and is concerned with the acquisition of expertise, via concrete trialling of the different mediums available to mixed-media artists today. On the other hand, the programme teaches theoretical skills, in order to give meaning and direction to artistic production, not only within the context of contemporary artistic productions, but also within the context of a wide range of artistic styles and cultural and historical contexts.
Practical teaching
In the practice-based course units, the programme enables students to acquire fundamental skills, as well as the opportunity for greater exploration of particular techniques (including sculpture, engraving, painting, infographics, photography, video, silk-screen printing, and performance). The programme is particularly attentive to more recent technological innovations, attaching great importance to the teaching of ICT for creative purposes. Together, these specialised skills will enable each student to construct his or her identity as a mixed-media artist across the three years of study.
Theory
In terms of theory, the undergraduate programme aims at the acquisition of a solid and comprehensive general culture on the part of students, in both aesthetics and art history. Particular importance is placed on contemporary art, in order to raise students’ awareness of the current questions and issues surrounding mixed-media artistic creations. The programme favours a multidisciplinary perspective, embracing the history, theory and practice of other art forms and presenting multiple approaches to artistic activity (including literary, anthropological, sociological, and psychoanalytical).
Moreover, ever mindful of the current economic, artistic and cultural climates, the undergraduate Licence in Mixed-Media Arts is concerned with current occurrences in the art world, and those who are making them happen. The programme continues to develop partnerships with external institutions, companies and associations. Throughout the undergraduate Licence, and particularly in the third and final year of study, these partnerships enable students to become acquainted with the professional art world via internships, educational initiatives, exhibitions, and other artistic displays. The student association supports these cultural activities, forming an enduring link for students between being in education and becoming a professional.
This drive towards real openness to the outside world is completed by the acquisition of a foreign language, and by participation in the Erasmus exchange programme.
Training content
Three years of study
A certain number of course units are consistent over the three years of study, and have been designed with the continuous development of learning and knowledge in mind.
Practice-based course units include the practical application of graphic art (expressive two-dimensional practice), the practical application of mixed-media approaches (where three-dimensionality comes into play), and fundamental drawing skills. As for the practical application of digital skills, this is the subject of a specific course unit, carried out in small groups and using dedicated equipment.
Methodology-based course units support theoretical learning, and enable students to reflect critically on the evolution of his or her skills, the relevant use of iconic documentary sources, and the development of a research project in mixed-media arts.
Theory-based course units include units on art history, the understanding of contemporary art, aesthetics and artistic theory, which build a solid foundation of references that are essential for critical artistic thought.
First year of undergraduate study (Licence 1)
This first year has been devised to open students’ minds to the creative tools available, to artistic and conceptual debates surrounding art, to key artistic events, and to art history.
The year starts with an induction week, including a workshop with an artist that is based on a specific event.
Underpinned by skills and techniques taken from drawing, the graphic art unit tackles themes of space and the object, exploring the expressive capacities of different tools. The mixed-media art unit is then the three-dimensional pursuit of this technical and expressive understanding of materials and volumes, still on the themes of space and the object. Together, these two course units respond to precise frames of reference, linking these practical applications to the names of specific artists and contemporary movements. In the infographics unit, students are introduced to the handling of images, to digital creation, and to animation. The methodological approach not only sets this learning within the particular context of the university’s documentary resources, but also within the context of the Internet: students are guided in the correct utilisation of these tools, in their employment and their reproduction. Students are also offered support to develop their writing skills.
Students study art history across the three years of this undergraduate Licence. This is tackled chronologically, looking first at Renaissance art and the classical and baroque periods.
Similarly, the contemporary art unit begins with the great and founding ruptures of the 20th century, and then follows on from this, aiming to be as comprehensive as possible.
In aesthetics and the art philosophy, students study the most fundamental themes (imitation, judgement), taking the analysis of artists’ writings and works as a starting point.
In the first semester, the student personal professional project unit, known as ‘PPE’, is concerned with artistic events that are taking place. Identifying exhibitions, art spaces, and artistic events makes students aware of the range of local and national artistic displays to be explored, and initiates their understanding of the artistic network which is very important when it comes to entering employment.
In the second semester, a window onto the so-called ‘neighbouring’ art forms encourages students to broaden their artistic vision. These include cinema, literature, theatre, architecture, and design.
A foreign language unit, which is then compulsory in subsequent semesters, gives students the confidence to envisage a potential international exchange, or the use of documentary sources in a foreign language.
Second year of undergraduate study (Licence 2)
The exploratory dimension of the second year of undergraduate study (L2), which is so central to this pathway, draws on new course units.
In L2, drawing and graphic art figure once more, this time with a focus on the body and face.
In the mixed-media unit, questions of the meaning of objects produced, and how these objects are used, take on greater importance, as does their positioning within the context of contemporary artistic production. Students practise more complex digital skills, including multimedia creation, website creation and 3D models.
There is a broader choice of workshops in this second year, including engraving, silk-screen printing, sculpture, photography, video, infographics, painting, and performance. This really enables students to construct and assert their identity as a mixed-media artist.
The methodological approach focuses on truly artistic material – images and works of art – and identifies the different theoretical approaches that can be applied to these in order to induce a pertinent response and legitimate utilisation.
An ever more exploratory approach continues to be taken with regard to units focussing on art history and contemporary art and aesthetics. Meanwhile, there is a distinctive broadening of approaches towards the human sciences, which introduces a somewhat different perspective with regard to artistic objects (including an increasingly anthropological approach in the second semester). Looking at the theory that underlies other art forms (including photography, architecture, cinema, theatre and design) opens the programme up to other languages and other vocabularies, demonstrating the obvious commitment to an interdisciplinary approach.
At the same time, students continue to reflect on their personal professional project and begin to construct and develop the idea, bit by bit. The student personal professional project course unit (PPE) is concerned with the key actors and drivers in the world of culture and the arts. This unit guides and supports students as they familiarise themselves with the surrounding world. The continued learning of a modern foreign language reinforces this evolution towards professional entry.
Third year of undergraduate study (Licence 3)
The course units offered in the third year of undergraduate study (L3) enable students to assert their identities as mixed-media artists, and consolidates their command of the theory that underpins a given disciplinary field.
The continued practical application of skills in graphic art, mixed-media art and drawing serve to develop this process of identity construction. Students are expected to display a certain level of maturity, and an ability to detach themselves from pedagogical contact in the strict sense of the term. Students are by now capable of upholding a personal project; of defending it’s principles; of assuming responsibility for it.
Moreover, a certain number of workshops aimed at preparing students for professional entry are accompanied by an internship. Students will be able continue to develop their choice of direction following graduation, and can thus test out a particular field or domain. The focus of these workshops may include didactics, artistic practices, social action, graphic edition, scenography and the use of space, and so on.
The methodological units devote an important amount of time to the mastering of oral skills and argumentation skills. Art history units are brought to their conclusion, linking the art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries with contemporary art.
The unit on aesthetics departs from the fundamentals, in order to tackle a particular question or issue that is of current relevance. The focus on human sciences is increasingly concerned with sociological and psychoanalytical approaches.
By the end of this undergraduate Licence, students are expected to have gained fluency in a modern foreign language, which is the final flourish on the veritable range of knowledge and skills acquired.
Entry capacity
The entry capacity of this programme is limited to 120 students.
Access condition
Find information regarding enrolment procedures and the supporting documents to be provided, according to your profile and your level of studies :
Identifier ROME
- B1101 : Création en arts plastiques
- G1202 : Animation d'activités culturelles ou ludiques
- K2105 : Enseignement artistique
- K2107 : Enseignement général du second degré
- K2109 : Enseignement technique et professionnel
Career pathways
Once the undergraduate Licence is completed and validated, students can put the following to good use:
- the acquisition of fundamental knowledge of the different fields of multi-modal art;
- a deeper understanding of one or several specific techniques;
- proven skills in the field of new technologies;
- a level of general culture in art history, aesthetics, human sciences, and an awareness of the debates and theoretical issues hinging on mixed-media artistic practice;
- an awareness of key artistic occurrences and their drivers, as well as the economics of the art world.
The balance between theory and practice, which is maintained throughout the programme, is motivated by three key objectives:
- to prepare students for recruitment competitions for the teaching of art;
- to provide the tools and methods needed to tackle the practical and theoretical aspects of research in the arts, and the different professions in culture and the arts;
- in light of these objectives, the undergraduate Licence programme aims to develop the technical, artistic, editorial and cultural expertise of the students.