This study was undertaken to answer the question, “In a cross-section of the featured creative entrepreneurs from Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design, what kind, if any, of art education did these full time, handmade-craft business owners receive in EC-12 schooling and how has it affected their adult lives as successful craft business owners? In what ways, if at all, does it appear their formal art education led to their successful creative ventures in their adult years?” In order to answer this question, a survey was conducted of a cross-section of the participants featured in the book (Levine & Heimerl, 2008) and film (Levine, 2009) Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design about their art educational backgrounds, including what amount of art instruction they received in EC-12 schooling, as well as in informal or community settings. Based on the survey results, four representative participants were interviewed. Their responses were then constructed into narratives so as to portray holistic portraits of their individual paths through art instruction to entrepreneurship. In doing this it was revealed that while EC-12 can be attributed with furthering the participants’ interest in art, and giving them a grounding in many technical skills still used in their daily lives, in most cases, formal art education alone has not seemed to provide enough training on its own to promote the participants’ future successes as creative business owners. It is only through the blending of the sum total of their formal, familial, and informal art education that successful outcomes have been found. / text

This thesis uses autoethnographic research of the Mexican American art community in Austin, Texas to demonstrate how edgewalkers, people to move between multiple cultural worlds yet retain their own identity, become informal art educators through the process of transculturation. The work describes this cyclical and on-going process that includes curiosity, knowledge gathering, and awareness of self and others and the summation of these elements, which leads to transculturation. For this research, four informal art educators practicing in Austin were interviewed. Each of the collaborators practices art in different media including visual art, curating of exhibitions, performance, and graphic design. The descriptions and analysis of the researcher’s experiences along with those of the informal art educators reveal a third landscape, or an alternative space and identity, where multiple cultural worlds overlap into bicultural, bilingual and/or biconceptual environments. This thesis demonstrates how informal art education, made possible through transcultural experiences, is an effective tool in art education and culturally responsive instruction. / text

A Tese na [da] Caixa Preta aborda o princípio de uma entidade exemplificadora de si mesma no dispositivo de arquivamento de uma escritura. Uma coleção de obras de arte contemporâneas brasileiras foi formada com o objetivo de lastrear a mediação e ação culturais tendo como base a realização de exposições e experiências envolvendo o sistema das artes entre seus aspectos formais e informais. Objetivos: Exemplificar a literalidade do papel dos sistemas artísticos formais e informais para obtenção de uma consistência entre a origem simbólica da linguagem e as variações surgidas na repetição [diferência termo de Derrida] conforme a lei do acontecimento [também de acordo com Jacques Derrida] e do poder retrospectivo de um dispositivo arquivante de uma escritura Métodos: Exercício de papéis diferentes e experimentais nesse sistema das artes: entre o pesquisador, colecionador, curador, artista, espectador, leitor e por último, o escritor [aquele que redige a própria experiência como o dispositivo que irá arquivar todos os resultados obtidos durante o processo]. Resultados: A coleção formada foi transformada em lastro conceitual para várias instalações e exposições artísticas. Os resultados da mediação e ação cultural entre os circuitos formal e informal do sistema das artes foram documentados, além da escritura de uma tese, em um DVD com o mesmo título: A Tese na [da] Caixa Preta que mostra [como matéria de prova], em três vídeos, as imagens das experiências citadas. / The thesis in [of] the black box is based on the principle of an entity that exemplifies itself in an archive scriptural system. Several Brazilian Contemporary Art pieces were acquired to form a collection which was used for cultural action and mediation purposes such as exhibitions and experiences involving the Brazilian art system in its formal and informal aspects. Objectives: To exemplify the literality role within the formal and informal art systems in order to have a consistency between the symbolic origin of language and the variations that appear in repetition [differance term used by Derrida] according the event law [in Jacques Derridas philosophy perspective] and the retrospective power of archival device of scripture. Results: The formal art collection was transformed into conceptual ballast for several artistic installations and exhibitions. The results of the cultural actions and mediation within the formal and informal circuits of the Brazilian art system were documented, beyond the thesis writing process [thesis scripture], in a DVD with the same title: The thesis in [of] the black box that shows [as a matter of proof], in three videos, the images of the above mentioned experiences.

A Tese na [da] Caixa Preta aborda o princípio de uma entidade exemplificadora de si mesma no dispositivo de arquivamento de uma escritura. Uma coleção de obras de arte contemporâneas brasileiras foi formada com o objetivo de lastrear a mediação e ação culturais tendo como base a realização de exposições e experiências envolvendo o sistema das artes entre seus aspectos formais e informais. Objetivos: Exemplificar a literalidade do papel dos sistemas artísticos formais e informais para obtenção de uma consistência entre a origem simbólica da linguagem e as variações surgidas na repetição [diferência termo de Derrida] conforme a lei do acontecimento [também de acordo com Jacques Derrida] e do poder retrospectivo de um dispositivo arquivante de uma escritura Métodos: Exercício de papéis diferentes e experimentais nesse sistema das artes: entre o pesquisador, colecionador, curador, artista, espectador, leitor e por último, o escritor [aquele que redige a própria experiência como o dispositivo que irá arquivar todos os resultados obtidos durante o processo]. Resultados: A coleção formada foi transformada em lastro conceitual para várias instalações e exposições artísticas. Os resultados da mediação e ação cultural entre os circuitos formal e informal do sistema das artes foram documentados, além da escritura de uma tese, em um DVD com o mesmo título: A Tese na [da] Caixa Preta que mostra [como matéria de prova], em três vídeos, as imagens das experiências citadas. / The thesis in [of] the black box is based on the principle of an entity that exemplifies itself in an archive scriptural system. Several Brazilian Contemporary Art pieces were acquired to form a collection which was used for cultural action and mediation purposes such as exhibitions and experiences involving the Brazilian art system in its formal and informal aspects. Objectives: To exemplify the literality role within the formal and informal art systems in order to have a consistency between the symbolic origin of language and the variations that appear in repetition [differance term used by Derrida] according the event law [in Jacques Derridas philosophy perspective] and the retrospective power of archival device of scripture. Results: The formal art collection was transformed into conceptual ballast for several artistic installations and exhibitions. The results of the cultural actions and mediation within the formal and informal circuits of the Brazilian art system were documented, beyond the thesis writing process [thesis scripture], in a DVD with the same title: The thesis in [of] the black box that shows [as a matter of proof], in three videos, the images of the above mentioned experiences.

L’objectif de cette Thèse est de collecter, d’analyser et de faire connaître le contenu des archives internationales et familiales inédites, rendant compte, par leur diversité, des activités protéiformes de Michel Tapié de Céleyran (1909-1987). Inventant sa profession d’entrepreneur d’art en conciliant plusieurs activités : critique d’art, éditeur, conseiller artistique, courtier et collectionneur, il a mis en relation des galeries internationales en organisant, à travers le monde des expositions de ses artistes. Il a contribué aux destinées internationales de plus de cent-quatre-vingt artistes dont certains noms brillent, dans la constellation Tapié, plus que d’autres : Dubuffet,Mathieu, Pollock, Riopelle, Sam Francis, Tapiès, Saura, Fontana, De Kooning.Soucieux de se créer une position pour l’actualité et pour l’histoire, il inventa « Un Art Autre », un véritable système théorique et marchand s’appuyant sur des méthodes de communication qu’il sut créer avec l’aide de ses amis artistes de combat : l’édition au service de son autopromotion, la fabrication de l’événement à partir des expositions itinérantes relayées par la presse, en France, en Espagne, aux États- Unis, en Italie, au Japon et en Iran.« Il Profeta » est le surnom que lui attribuent les artistes italiens, séduits par la personnalité de Michel Tapié qui est venu en Italie apporter la parole de l’art Informel dont il inventa l’appellation. / The aim of this PhD thesis is to collect, analyse and promote the content ofunpublished international and family archives, highlighting the diversity of MichelTapié de Céleyran (1909-1987)’s activities. Tapié invented his own trade as an artentrepreneur, mixing several occupations: art critic, publisher, art councillor, trader and collector. He also connected together international galleries, organising exhibitions of his own artists, worldwide. He took part in the international fate of more than 180 artists, forming Tapié’s constellation, in which some names still shine more that others, such as Dubuffet, Mathieu, Pollock, Riopelle, Sam Francis, Tapiès, Saura, Fontana, De Kooning.Paying close attention to his own status in the current events and in history, Tapié invented « An Art of an Other Kind », which is a true theoretical and tradingsystem. Thus, he relied on communication methods that he created with the help ofhis battle friends: publishing for self promotion, creating a buzz based on travelling exhibitions, with media coverage in France, Spain, United States, Italy, Japan and Iran.« Il Profeta » was the nickname attributed to him by Italian artists, seduced by Michel Tapié’s personality, who came to Italy and brought in the Informal art’s word, which he invented the designation.

Jean Degottex, né en 1918 et décédé en 1988, est un peintre qui a exercé des années 1938 jusqu'à sa mort, soit pendant cinquante ans. Se tournant assez tôt dans sa pratique vers une peinture gestuelle, il est vite remarqué pour cela par André Breton qui y voit la mise en pratique de l'automatisme qu'il recherchait dans l'écriture. Il n'a cependant jamais adhéré au surréalisme tout en étant sensible à certains de ses aspects. La poésie en particulier est une de ses sources d'inspiration majeure. Curieux de l'Orient et de ses calligraphies, il montre un intérêt plus particulier pour l'Asie. Après une rupture importante au milieu des années 60, il reprend son travail en se focalisant tour à tour sur le cercle, la déchirure ou encore la ligne afin de mettre en évidence les caractéristiques plastiques de la matière : la toile, le papier, le bois sont ainsi ouverts, écorchés, disséqués et montrés tels quels, afin de ne rien cacher des processus à l’œuvre dans le travail du peintre. Sensible aux climats sociaux de son temps, la peinture est pour lui une façon de militer. A partir de la biographie du peintre, basée sur ses propres archives, ce travail met en évidence ses contacts, ses réseaux et sa place en France et dans le Monde. L'analyse s'arrête sur ses outils et ses méthodes de travail et montre également l'importance du temps et de la chronologie car elle éclaire la logique interne à l’œuvre, permettant de passer d’une pièce ou d'une série (appelée Suite chez Degottex) à la suivante. / Jean Degottex, was born in 1918 and died in 1988. He worked from 1938 to his death, during fifty years. Early using gestural painting, he is recognized by André Breton for that, who is seeing in this manner the perfect automatism in painting, the same automatism he was seeking in writing. Degottex never subscribed to Surrealism, but he was receptive to some of its aspects. Poesy is one of his major sources of inspiration. Interested in East and its calligraphies, he showed a special interest for Asia. After an important break in his work in the middle of the Sixties, he went back to his work by making a focus on the circle, the rip or the line, with the will to show all the plastic characteritics of the material. Canvas, paper or wood are opened, skinned, dissected and shown as is, with the desire to hide nothing of the processes at work in the painter's work. Sensitive to the social climate of his time, painting was for him a way to militate. From his biography, based on his own archives, this work highlights his contacts, his networks and his place in France and in the World. The analysis put an emphasis on his tools and working methods, and also shows the importance of time and chronology, as it sheds light on the painter's work internal logic, moving from a piece or a series (called Suites by Degottex) to the next one.

1 Abstract A monograph on Jan Kotík (1916-2002) introduces both his art and theoretical work, it deals with a historical and cultural context of the now-defunct Czechoslovakia. Kotík's - an artist's, theoretician's, published author's, educator's - artwork enjoys a prominent position in the context of Czech art of the second half of 20th century. An art-historical assessment of artwork was based on Kotik's artwork inventory and on all the documentation on Kotik's life and art work archived in the Documentation Department of the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the CR and in private archives in the CR and Berlin. The study is based on a method of organic combination of biographical data and art-historical data with quotation of Kotik's theoretical texts. An evolution of artist's work is demonstrated chronologically with the context to Czech and world art. The monograph includes chapters: "Father Pravoslav's Art Studio and Study Years", "Art Group 42", "Possibilities of Applied Art", "Painting-Object", "Stay in Berlin", "Returns".