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Unit 1: Inquiry, Practice, Experimentation and Revision

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What makes a strong inquiry for a Sustained Investigation, and how do guiding questions keep it generative all year?

Developing an inquiry: form a specific, generative question that can drive a sustained body of work, and break it into guiding questions that direct practice, experimentation and revision.
A focused answer on the AP Art and Design inquiry: how to write a specific, generative central question for the Sustained Investigation, why broad themes are not inquiries, and how to break the inquiry into guiding questions that direct each new experiment so the body of work develops rather than repeats.
10 min answer →

How do you document process and decisions so that a reader can see the thinking behind a body of work, not just the finished pieces?

Documenting process and decision-making: keep and select process images (sketches, tests, models, stages and failures) so the reader can trace the practice, experimentation and revision behind the work.
A focused answer on documenting the AP Art and Design process: which process works (sketches, tests, plans, models, in-progress stages, failures) to keep and photograph, when to submit detail images, and how process documentation provides the visible evidence of practice, experimentation and revision that the Sustained Investigation rewards.
9 min answer →

What do materials, processes and ideas mean in AP Art and Design, and how do you investigate all three rather than just making finished pictures?

Investigating materials, processes and ideas: distinguish the three, and investigate them through deliberate testing so that material and process choices serve the ideas behind the work.
A focused answer on the AP Art and Design triad of materials, processes and ideas: what each term means, how they differ, and how to investigate all three deliberately. Shows why testing materials and processes (not just producing finished pictures) is the evidence readers want, and how material choices should serve the ideas of the inquiry.
9 min answer →

What is the difference between practice, experimentation and revision, and how do you make all three visible in a Sustained Investigation?

Practice, experimentation and revision: distinguish the three modes of making, and structure a body of work so that the investigation visibly develops over time rather than repeating a single idea.
A focused answer on the AP Art and Design engine of making: practice (building skill through repetition), experimentation (trying new approaches and variables), and revision (responding to what you learn by reworking). Explains how to sequence a Sustained Investigation so a reader can see it develop, the single most rewarded quality in the 60 percent section.
10 min answer →

What are the skills and big ideas that hold AP Art and Design together, and how do they shape what you make all year?

Skill framework overview: identify the three course skills (inquiry and investigation; making through practice, experimentation and revision; communicating) and the three big ideas (investigate, make, present), and explain how they organize the portfolio.
A focused answer to the AP Art and Design framework: the three course skills (inquiry and investigation; making through practice, experimentation and revision; communicating ideas) and the three big ideas (investigate, make, present). Explains how the skills map onto the Sustained Investigation and Selected Works portfolios so you know what every assignment is training.
10 min answer →

What do the two Sustained Investigation written responses have to do, and why can weak writing cap an otherwise strong portfolio?

Sustained Investigation written evidence: answer the two prompts (identify the inquiry; describe development through practice, experimentation and revision) within the 600 character limit so the writing identifies materials, processes and ideas and unlocks the full score range.
A focused answer on the two Sustained Investigation written responses: prompt 1 (identify your inquiry) and prompt 2 (describe development through practice, experimentation and revision), each capped at 600 characters. Explains the decision rule that writing which fails to identify materials, processes and ideas can cap the portfolio at the lower score points, and how to write both prompts well.
10 min answer →

What makes 15 separate images read as one investigation, and how do you build visual relationships across a body of work?

Visual relationships in a body of work: create coherence across the Sustained Investigation so that the 15 images read as a connected, developing investigation rather than unrelated pieces, through recurring materials, processes, motifs and an evolving inquiry.
A focused answer on coherence in the AP Art and Design Sustained Investigation: how recurring materials, processes, motifs and a developing inquiry make 15 images read as one connected investigation. Explains the rubric criterion of evaluating visual relationships among materials, processes and ideas, and how to sequence images so development is legible.
9 min answer →