Folio and Interview guidelines

Introducing Yourself

You may wish to include an introductory page which informs us of:

• your name;
• contact details; and
• course/s to which you are applying.

If you have a resume you could include it here, giving details of your academic history, any relevant employment, any awards or prizes you have received and any other professionally relevant information.

Folio Contents

You will need to present a folio of works to the panel. The works should be selected carefully to showcase your technical skills, your perceptual sophistication and your conceptual interests.

The panel will be interested in a broad range of creative work that demonstrates an exploration of both ideas and materials.

The contents of your folio should include

• up to 15 and no less than 10 major pieces of work that best demonstrates your achievements to date
• a selection of drawings, sketchbooks, and back-up journals that demonstrate your developmental and working process. These should number no more than 15 collectively.

It is preferable for your work to be presented in a single portfolio, no larger than A2 size.

The selection panel will prefer to see original work, however oversized or 3-dimensional works that are difficult to carry should be photographed and presented as good quality prints or transparencies.
Multimedia projects can be presented on cd-rom but please ensure that the cd can be accessed on a range of computer platforms. Large life drawings should be presented in a folio, not rolled.

Major Work

The panel are keen to view works that demonstrate your intelligence, curiosity, innovation and imagination and will be looking for work that showcases attributes that relate to the studios for which you are applying, even if it's not in the same medium.

• For painting, printmedia and photomedia, related mediums such as collages, montages and assemblage will be of interest.
• For sculpture, ceramics, metals & jewellery and glass, the panel would look for strong conceptual and perceptual skills in 3-dimensional media.
• In design and multimedia areas, the panel are looking for works which demonstrate your 2D and 3D thinking and creativity. Your conceptual and developmental work undertaken for the completion of one major project may also be presented. This would include a copy of the project outline or brief, the initial rough ideas and sketches, further refinement and evaluation of concepts, working drawings or tests and experiments.

Drawing and Developmental Work

It is important to include material such as life drawing, journals or sketch books that demonstrate an investigative process.
Finished drawings may include works that derive from a perceptual, conceptual, representational, decorative or imaginative approach, and may be executed in one or a variety of methods and mediums.

Presentation

Prepare your folio to be viewed with ease. You should be able to walk into the interview room, place the folio on the table and, if applicable, any large works against a wall, and do so within a few minutes.

Labels should never be fixed or pasted on the work's surface or to the face of the mountboard and should not interfere with the work on display.

What will the panel be looking for?

The panel will be assessing the folio and asking you questions to establish if you will benefit from studying at Monash. They will be seeking evidence that you are open to intellectual and artistic challenge, and that your work demonstrates that you have a curiosity towards creative experimentation and visual exploration.

The panel will be looking for attributes including evidence of:

• Technical and perceptual skills, including drawing capabilities
• Visual literacy (visual thinking and communication)
• Creativity and conceptual abilities
• Spatial understanding and ability
• Originality and independent thinking
• Awareness of art & design historical discourse and engagement with contemporary practice*
• Motivation toward the fine and visual arts*
• Design process capability*
• Presentation skills*
• Computer skills*

*where applicable to the course of your choice

Interview Questions

Interview questions will depend on the examples of work presented, and the panel will be keen to hear what motivates your interest and practice in design, multimedia or visual arts.

For example:

• Which artists/designers are you currently interested in, and which galleries do you visit on a regular basis?
• Do you read art or design journals? If so, which ones?
• Are you interested in film or music, and if you read, which titles have you enjoyed this year?
• Do you read poetry, go to the theatre, watch television, read comics or surf the internet? Do any of these activities inform or inspire your practice and if so how?
• Are you flexible, versatile, and able to work with others?
• Are you curious, inquisitive, do you display developed observation skills?
• Do you have a broadly based socio-cultural awareness

To answer effectively, you should be able to cite examples in relation to the particular works under discussion.

Preparation

The panel will endeavour to keep the interview as relaxed and informal as is possible - therefore there is no need to rehearse - just be yourself. What will interest the panel is that your folio and interview can demonstrate that you have the ability to commit yourself to an intensive program of teaching and study, and the potential to utilise what Monash offers for your personal, intellectual, professional and artistic development.

Examples of Work/Supporting Work

Your folio could include examples of the following:

• Still life drawings;
• Figure drawings;
• Photography and digital imaging;
• Renderings of design development work or ideas from the imagination;
• Experimental and applied topography;
• Web design;
• Digital video;
• Creation of objects in a variety of materials, eg. wood, metal or found objects;
• Fine art pieces;
• Craft pieces;
• Design/visual journal;

We look forward to viewing your folio.