Unit 4: Images, Mediation and Modernity
Art Appreciation · Semester 1 Plan · Unit 4 of 5 · ← Unit 3 | Unit 5 →
What this unit does
This unit works through the course’s main theorists, in teaching order: Berger (a reproduction is not a neutral copy), Benjamin (aura, introduced through ukiyo-e — “a print is already many”), Steyerl (the poor image, defended and then made in the lab), Sontag (photographing as an act on the world), Greenberg (avant-garde and kitsch), and Danto (the artworld, with Warhol and Duchamp). Your A4 is the second synthesis constellation of the year, building on the work you began in lesson 01. The unit’s last lesson sets the retrospective brief as break homework, which belongs to Unit 5’s End of Term.
Dates and span
- Weeks 13–17: Mon 2026-11-23 to Wed 2026-12-23. 20 sessions (7 + 4 + 6 + 3).
- Week 13: G12 out Thu 2026-11-26 and Fri 2026-11-27 (IB Training + Seniors); content is front-loaded into days 1–3 of lesson 10.
- Tue 2026-12-01 falls before the UC application deadline; G12 carries a reduced load, and nothing beyond two postings is assessed in lesson 10.
- G11 Juniors Days Wed 2026-12-02 to Fri 2026-12-04: no class.
- Foreign Culture Day Fri 2026-12-11 falls on lesson 12 day 1; nothing is graded.
- End-of-Semester Activity Tue 2026-12-22; only LB8 is due.
- Christmas break begins Thu 2026-12-24. The late-work cutoff is around 2027-01-01, so A4 is the last thing submitted this semester. These dates may shift when the school publishes the calendar for that period.
Lessons
- Lesson 10: Berger and the Reproduction — 7 days across two split weeks; four contexts, caption exercise, Godard on day 7; LB6, LB7.
- Lesson 11: Aura and the Poor Image — 4 days; ukiyo-e, Benjamin, Steyerl, degradation lab; CS5.
- Lesson 12: Photography and After — 6 days; claim to truth, Sontag, Greenberg; A4 sits day 5, review in-lesson day 6.
- Lesson 13: The Artworld and the Brief — 3 days; Danto, Warhol/Duchamp/pluralism; retrospective announced + break homework; LB8.
Assessment
| Item | Date | What |
|---|---|---|
| LB6 | Wed 2026-11-25 | Seminar posting: what the painting lost and gained by reproduction |
| LB7 | Tue 2026-12-01 | Posting from the floating-world session |
| CS5 | Wed 2026-12-09 | Poor-image lab: degrade an image on purpose, describe exactly what changed |
| A4 sits | Tue 2026-12-15 | Unit 4 synthesis constellation — argues across the whole unit |
| LB8 | Tue 2026-12-22 | Posting on the End-of-Semester Activity day |
| Retrospective announced | Wed 2026-12-23 | Brief doubles as break homework |
Full detail in the full register.