Unit 1: Origins and Ancestral Memory
Art Appreciation · Semester 1 Plan · Unit 1 of 5 · next: Unit 2 →
What this unit does
This unit sets up the course’s method: Warburg’s atlas — thematic and non-linear, grouping images by resemblance rather than date. You start from the earliest images (Chauvet, Lascaux), move through Neolithic settlement and ritual objects (asking what an object does, not just what it depicts), and end by building your first board — the course in miniature. The same move returns at larger scale in A4 and the End-of-Term retrospective.
The darkroom session on day three shows how an image is something light did to a surface, not just a picture on a screen. This idea carries into Unit 4 in December.
Key theorist: Aby Warburg. Key material: cave imagery, Neolithic figures, ritual objects.
Dates and span
- Weeks 1–3: Tue 2026-09-01 to Fri 2026-09-18. 14 sessions (3 + 6 + 5), no holidays.
These dates may shift when the school publishes the calendar for this period.
Lessons
- Lesson 01: Opening the Atlas — 3 days; the atlas method, looking before explaining, then the darkroom; CS1.
- Lesson 02: What Survives, and Why — 6 days; Lascaux and Chauvet, argued from the wall. A panel reading may be added; this will be confirmed in class. LB1.
- Lesson 03: The First Board — 5 days; Neolithic and ritual objects, constellation workshop, then the A1 board build and justification.
Assessment
| Item | Date | What |
|---|---|---|
| CS1 | Fri 2026-09-04 | Darkroom reflection, written in the room |
| LB1 | Fri 2026-09-11 | Seminar posting: take a position and move it |
| A1 sits | Fri 2026-09-18 | Unit 1 board and justification — every adjacency justified |
Full detail in the full register.