In this section, you are asked to demonstrate your personal commitment to a specific visual idea or mode of working. To do this, you should present an aspect of your work or a specific project in which you have invested considerable time, effort, and thought. It is important to define your concentration early in the year so that the work you submit will have the focus and direction required for a concentration. You may not submit slides of the same work that you are submitting for Section III. Submitting slides of the same work for Section II and Section III may negatively affect your score.

A concentration is a body of related works that:

• are based on your individual interest in a particular idea expressed visually;
• are focused on a process of investigation, growth, and discovery;
• show the development of a visual language appropriate for your subject;
• are unified by an underlying idea that has visual coherence; and
• grow out of a coherent plan of action or investigation.

A concentration is NOT:

• a variety of works produced as solutions to class projects;
• a collection of works with differing intents;
• a group project or collaboration;
• a collection of works derived solely from other people's photographs;
• a body of work that simply investigates a medium, without a strong underlying visual idea; or
• a project that merely takes a long time to complete.

Examples of Concentrations

The list of possible concentration topics is infinite. The examples of concentrations below are intended only to provide a sense of range and should NOT necessarily be considered "better" ideas than your own.

• Design and execution of a children's book
• Development of a series of identity products (logo, letterhead, signage, etc.) for imaginary businesses
• A series of political cartoons using current events and images
• A series of works that begin with representational interpretations and evolve into abstraction
• An exploration of pattern and designs found in nature and/or culture
• A series of landscapes based upon personal experience of a particular place in which composition and light are used to intensify artistic expression
• Abstractions developed from cells and other microscopic images
• Interpretive portraiture or figure studies that emphasize dramatic composition or abstraction
• A personal or family history communicated through symbols or imagery
• A series of fabric designs, apparel designs, or weavings used to express particular themes
• The use of multiple modules to create compositions that reflect psychological or narrative events

Presenting Your Concentration

All concentrations must be submitted in slide form. Twelve slides are required; some of them may be details.

Don't use the top 2 rows. Insert slides in sheet as shown here.

Each slide should be labeled on the mount with a dot in the lower left corner, the dimensions of the work, the medium, and the section in which it belongs.

In most cases, you will probably have completed more than 12 works for your concentration; if so, choose the 12 that best represent your process of investigation. Your choice of slides should present your concentration as clearly as possible. In preparing your Section II slides, give some thought to the sequence of the slides in the slide sheet. You should organize them to best show the development of your concentration. In most cases, this would be chronological.

Commentary

A written commentary describing what your concentration is and how it evolved must accompany the work in this section. Responses should be legible and concise (extra sheets should not be attached; commentaries that exceed the allotted space will not be read). The commentary is not graded, but it does help in the evaluation process. The commentary consists of responses to the following:

1. Briefly define the nature of your concentration project.
2. Briefly describe the development of your concentration and the sources of your ideas. You may refer to specific slides as examples.
3. What medium or media did you use?