2012 Theses Doctoral

Illuminating Art: A Philosophical Perspective on Students’ and Teachers’ Work in Art Education

Marini, Guillermo Jorge

This dissertation inquires about the situation of the arts in education by suggesting an alternative perspective on the way we see art. It does so through the illumination of three distinct yet complementary ways. First, this study explores what a primordial sense of art would look like. I argue that we can understand art as a knowing-making disposition where wondering with the artwork and relating with its inherent elements becomes one and the same activity. Second, this investigation proposes the notion of respiration as a lens that allows seeing art as a fact that assumes and surpasses similar and contrary interpretations of the artwork' meanings. Finally, this research proposes the notion of exercise in possibility as a way to further expand what art can look like in education. I claim that by developing resemblances of human life, art can operate as a standard of possibility. After characterizing each of these notions, I move on to refine their practical implications for students' and teachers' tasks.