Foundry Dance
Matt and Heidi Hoy created the video called Foundry Dance. Matt is a student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. His mother, Heidi, is an artist and teacher. In addition to being a student Matt has started a film production company called Great Goggin Productions. Not only is this a really beautiful and well-done film this piece could also be used as a tool in the classroom. This video breaks down the process of bronze sculpting. Instead of a time consuming in class demonstration a teacher could show a video like this. Not only would it be time efficient but also I think it would be far more exciting and interesting for students. I think Heidi and Matt did a really important thing in creating this video. Heidi asked Matt to help make a video about the bronze process. Instead of a step-by-step instructional video Matt, in collaboration with his mother, created art. Now their art can be used to teach a larger body of students.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zImOP-VieN4
500 Years of Women in Art
I think this video is a good example of a video that could teach students a lot in a small amount of time. In my high school art classes there normally wasn't a lot of time for art history to be incorporated. I think it is really important, however, for students to understand what has been created and done before them. Videos like this and the previous one would be really simple and quick ways to add a large amount of value to classroom time.
Teaching through Video
I think art classes (primarily high school) could really be enhanced with class blogs with helpful and inspiring videos like the two above. Teachers could create their own in addition to using ones they found. Learning from these videos would save time and allow students to have more work time during class time, allowing them to ask questions relevant to their own projects. Websites like Smartteacher.org gives teachers a place to find and share great videos for teaching.
The Foundry Dance video was great! I love the idea of filming your process to then show students. There are cameras that you can set up to take pictures on a timer, so they take one every minute. It would be interesting to do a large class project with your students and photograph it being made. You could then turn it into an animation to go along with the final art piece.
Video is really relevant today. Having a place where students can visit to see videos that will inspire them will be a great resource in the classroom.
Now make sure to embed videos onto your site!