PhD Oral Exam - Branka Marinkovic, Art Education

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

This research explores artistic thinking through the frameworks of embodied cognition and Material Engagement Theory, proposing that the thinking involved in artmaking is an emergent, dynamic process grounded in the interaction of brain, body, materials, and environment. Building on a model developed in previous research, the Artistic Thinking Model (ATM) is further elaborated and refined through participant-based research with professional artist-teachers.

The study conceptualizes the artmaking process as a dynamic system composed of interconnected elements: the artist, the artmaking subject, the materials, and the emerging artwork. Each element contributes affordances that structure the action-perception cycles underlying artistic cognition. The ATM identifies three complementary and reciprocal modes of embodied thinking within this system: visual, material, and qualitative thinking, which collectively support the construction of meaning in the material process of artmaking.

Through detailed analysis of participant artmaking processes, the research demonstrates how material affordances, extended cognition, enactive sense-making, and qualitative experience are woven together in the evolution of an artwork. The findings offer a model for understanding artistic thinking as a situated, embodied, and materially engaged process of meaning construction.

The study’s contributions extend both theoretical and pedagogical knowledge. It provides a framework for analyzing artistic cognition in studio practice and a method for developing pedagogical content that supports the reflective and embodied aspects of artistic learning. The research affirms the importance of recognizing artmaking as an emergent, dynamic, and materially grounded form of thinking, offering new insights into the nature of creativity, embodiment, and education in the arts.