Important note:

You will receive notification of the results of the 2020 entrance examination by post from around 15 July 2020. If your address has changed in the meantime, please send your new address to the following email address: volker.tesch@uol.de.

Enquiries about the results of the entrance examination will not be answered by telephone, email/letter etc. In accordance with § 6 of the regulations on proof of special artistic aptitude for studying the subject of Art and Media in the two-subject Bachelor's degree programme at the University of Oldenburg, you can inspect your examination documents here on site as soon as you have received the notification.

It is necessary to make an appointment in advance. If necessary, please contact Mr Tesch by email. From 20.07.20-12.08.20 it is not possible to make an appointment/inspect your documents for organisational reasons.

Admissions regulations for the Bachelor's degree programme in Art and Media

Dear applicant! (The application deadline has passed)

We are delighted that you are interested in the Bachelor’s degree programme in ‘Art and Media’ at the Institute of Art and Visual Culture. Admission to the Bachelor’s degree programme in ‘Art and Media’ requires an entrance examination. To give you an idea of the specific focus of the Oldenburg degree programme, we would like to briefly introduce it here and also provide you with some guidance on your application and the entrance examination.

We are interested in art within its context. How is art communicated when it is discussed or written about, exhibited or depicted? Where do we encounter art? In what ways is it embedded in social, political, historical or economic contexts?

Which media do we use, and how do we use them? What significance do media have for our perception of reality?

By ‘visual culture’, we mean forms of visual presentation that encompass far more than just art – such as architecture, illustration, advertising and web design; in other words, practices that are an integral part of everyday life and academia. Here, for example, we are interested in how images and media shape our perception and conception of bodies, gender and social order.

Accordingly, the practical part of the entrance examination is not only about conceiving and realising your own forms of artistic expression – such as photographs or drawings – but also about collecting, selecting and organising images you encounter in everyday life – whether on the internet, in your home, on the tram or on a leaflet – from a specific perspective, and to make a selection of them, order them, and present them alongside your own work.

Theory and practice in art and visual culture are not mutually exclusive; rather, they are interdependent and interpenetrate one another. That is why it is important to us, in the theoretical part of the examination, to see how you reflect on artistic positions, how you articulate aesthetic experiences in words, and how you arrive at well-reasoned arguments.

In both the practical and theoretical parts of the examination, we assess candidates according to the admissions regulations (PDF) based on three criteria: ability to articulate, independence and capacity for reflection.

(Further information on the Institute’s teaching and research areas)

The entrance examination therefore consists of a practical and a theoretical task, which you, as an applicant, must complete independently and submit the results to us by post (see address below).

Current notice regarding the coronavirus crisis:

We would like to inform you, dear applicants, that the tasks for the 2020 entrance examination were developed and finalised BEFORE the coronavirus pandemic and that, for legal reasons, they cannot be changed. We therefore ask you – as with all the tasks, in fact – to approach Theoretical Task No. 1 (attending a film screening) as creatively as possible; we would also like to remind you once again that the selection must include only one of the three tasks.

PRACTICAL TASK

1st image: Unknown: Marble Fruits

2nd image: VALIE EXPORT: Body Configuration with Red Hand

3. Image: Anonymous: View of the 0.10 exhibition in Petrograd

Select one of the three linked images.

Create a collection of at least ten images based on one of these images. At least five of these images must be your own work. You may usethe following artistic techniques: drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, sculpture, object art, installation, photography, film, performance. Three-dimensional works and performances must be documented either photographically or on film in the form of an accompanying DVD (max. 3 mins). The remaining parts of the image collection may be taken, for example, from films, print and online media, your everyday life or the art world.

The collection should not exceed A4 size.

Works created by the applicant must be labelled on the reverse with the following details: Name, title (or: ‘Untitled’), year of creation, size of the original, technique (e.g. acrylic on canvas, pencil over ballpoint pen, video, analogue photography, etc.).

Images not created by you must be labelled on the reverse with the following details : name, title, size of the original (if this differs from the reproduction), source/location (e.g. URL, flea market or ‘private’).

THEORY ASSIGNMENT

Choose one of the following three tasks and write an essay on it. The theoretical assignment must be submitted in A4 format with a maximum of 8,000 characters including spaces (equivalent to approx. 3 pages).

1. Attend a film screening – at a museum, a film festival or at the cinema. Write a review of it. This must include the following aspects: a) your critical reflection on the film, b) an examination of the context of the screening (e.g. venue, atmosphere, audience reactions).

2. Write an essay on a work of art which, in your opinion, deals with the theme of politics.

3. In this case, is a statement by an artist. In your opinion,what understanding of art isexpressed in this statement? What artistic approach might resultfrom this understanding of art ?

Important to note:

The examination papers (theoretical and practical),
the application form (here) and
the tabular CV

must each be submitted in duplicate (reproductions/copies). Please do not send originals, as we are unfortunately unable to return the examination papers.

We do not require your A-level certificate; you must present this to the Admissions office when you enrol!

Your application must be submitted by 1 June – as per the postmark – (please do not send by registered post!) of the admission year to:

Examining Board for the Entrance Examination in Art and Media (BA)
School III - School of Linguistics and Cultural Studies
University of Oldenburg
Ammerländer Heerstr. 114–118
26129 Oldenburg