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Supervisor in the Doctoral School

dr hab. Robert Sochacki

Faculty of Graphics and Media Art, Department of Media Art, Transmedia Experimentation Studio

Faculty of Interior Architecture, Design and Stage Design; Stage Design Department, Stage Design Spaces Laboratory, course: Artistic Strategies

Biographical note

(1971) he currently teaches in the fields of Media Arts and Scenography. From 2015 to 2025, he served as an assistant professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. In his artistic explorations, he focuses on a conscious dialogue with the audience. He conducts workshops at various academic institutions, not only in Europe. He exhibits and carries out projects in public spaces in Europe, Africa, and South America. Since 2018, he has been organizing as a noks collective a series of workshops, academic conferences, and exhibitions under the common title Light as a Creative Tool. He received scholarships of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (2022, 2006) as well as the Minister of Science (2024).

Achievements

  1. Existing in various fields, pointing into the future. - European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk, Poland - 2024, and as a Coming back to a carrier bag performative video art - at Veranstaltung, Künstlerhaus, Factory - Vienna, Austria.
  2. Lichtung - „Rococo Madness! Fascination with Rococo in Silesia (18th–21th c.)” National Museum in Wroclaw (MNWr) - 2023 / work of art, digital file, purchased for the Collection of the National Museum in Wrocław, Poland
  3. wir sehen uns frei / we see us free / widzimy siebie wolnymi - an artistic project realised within the framework of a collective concept for an artwork - Festival of Lights - Lichtfest Leipzig 2022 - public space, Augustusplatz - Leipzig, Germany.
  4. large format screenings - Composition of 16 animations “Amber Forest” - Amber Museum  / work of art, digital file, purchased for the Collection of the Gdańsk Museum, Poland
  5. art installation - Domesticated - 2019 - #8 the festival of the light art NE TEMNO, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Supervision

Language of consultations
Polish, English

Characteristic of the projects and research in which the PhD student is to be subsumed

The studio serves as a space for transdisciplinary research and artistic activities, combining object-oriented art, socially engaged art, and contemporary philosophical reflection. Projects integrate theory and practice, exploring the relationships between matter, light, technology, and social context. Special emphasis is placed on media art and light art as creative tools. The studio fosters the development of individual methods of working, critical thinking about the role of the creator and the audience, and the search for forms that transcend conventional models of presentation and interaction. We pose ontological questions about the existence of the artwork, the relationships between the object and the audience, and what truly exists in the artistic experience. Artistic practice becomes a tool for examining presence, matter, and meaning in art, going beyond its merely representational dimension.

Characteristic of didactic cooperation between the supervisor and the PhD student

The doctoral candidate should have knowledge in contemporary art, media arts, and philosophy. Sensitivity to the social contexts of art is also important, as well as experience in creative, research, and educational work. Experience in group work, especially in interdisciplinary projects, will enable the candidate to develop individual working methods and critical thinking, while ensuring equality in the creative process.