If Van Gogh Had Google Glass...

According to Google executives, Google Glass, a new type of high tech glasses, will be released to the public at the end of this year. By bringing heads up display-style views into our daily life, Google’s Glass project will enable users to interact simultaneously with their surroundings and the internet in a dynamic and instant way. An engineer who had the opportunity to try out the Google Glass released a video showcasing how she will use Google Glass in the future:

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The tech giant has set up a competition on Twitter and Google+ to explore potential ways to use the new product and give some lucky winners the shot at owning a pair of Google's glasses. "We're looking for bold, creative individuals who want to join us and be a part of shaping the future of Glass" writes Google. If you don’t think Google Glass will impact Arts Management, you sure might after reading the following 10 interesting ideas posted @Twitter #ifihadglass :

• I would use it to show people how I make it through life and do to work on my art,missing my right arm.
• I'd treat the world as my canvas; I'd share the art that is the human experience, and rejoice in music, travel, life and love!
• I would record the process start to finish as I make new pieces of art.
• I would show the galleries and art exhibits for others to see the art if they don’t have time, and the art scene in San Francisco.
• I'd give free guides to tourists explaining the history and meaning of obscure pieces of art.
• I would like to use google glass in Art museums to pull up all information and references for each artwork I viewed
• I would be excited to test potential uses for museums, immersive experiences and digital learning about art, culture, history.
• Analytics and Art. Figuring out what parts of the day my brain drops from memory, where its focusing, and why.
• Explore the combination of the virtual and the real through performance art. Collaborate with fellow artists through what I see.
• If I had glass, I would redesign the way that we shoot videos and take photography, helping viewers immerse themselves in art.

One of the most amazing impacts of Google Glass would be that Google Glass  has the ability to offer a new perspective for audiences to appreciate art—from an artist’s perspective. Google Glass enables an artist to record and show the whole process of making an artwork, offering opportunities for audiences to watch every minute change the artist makes in the work. Imagine if Van Gogh had recorded his process from start to finish when he was painting "Sunflower," how amazing it would be if his audience saw how he mixed colors, sketched on canvas, drew lines, or grabbed a painting brush. Everyone is likely to think as an artist if he/she could watch the birth of an artwork from an artist’s eye. I believe that by appreciating artworks from an artist’s perspective, audiences will be moved and surprised by details that cannot be seen from the final artwork, or noticed from curators’ words, since the power of art lies in the creation process more than the final “product”.

Jon Schwartz & The Kids Like Blues Band Program: How technology and music help children learn

“We’ve managed to incorporate tons of technology into our classroom. Over 90 % of my students have personal blogs. Through their individual blogs, the kids can keep their parents in the loop and show off their creative skills. I get instant email updates when they blog, and nothing is cooler than seeing one of my students post to their blog – over the weekend!- about guitars they wish they had! Oh how I can relate!”

------Jon Schwartz

Can you believe a six-year-old child is as proficient as you do in Photoshop and blogging? Yes! That is what’s happening at Garrison Elementary School located in Oceanside, California. Jon Schwartz, a blues guitarist and a second grade teacher, creatively uses the blues, blogs and Photoshop, as tools to educate kids. Jon’s teaching endeavors, creativity and energy seem highly relevant to arts engagement opportunities for organizations across the country.

“The Kids Like Blues”

The Kids Like Blues Band Program is about using blues music and lyrics as a springboard for teaching academic content standards in reading, writing, listening, speech, social studies, and the visual and performing arts. Based on a careful song selection, Jon chooses lyrics with the appropriate cadence, imagery, and kid-friendly content. Students then sing out the vocabulary given the rhythm, and in turn practice reading through repetitive and engaging activities. The kids themselves are encouraged to choreograph cool dance moves and motions to help them define and recall complicated vocabulary.

These activities provide children an encouraging and exciting environment that motivates them to learn new knowledge and unleash their creativities. Chuck Berry’s “Let it Rock” is one of the most popular tunes.

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Students who are learning English, have speech difficulties or other learning disabilities, and just plain shy kids seem to develop more confidence as they learn the songs since the material presented to them is an engaging group practice, rather than them needing to talk by themselves in front of the whole class.

See how a Japanese girl benefits from the project:

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Additionally, both high achieving and struggling students who have made tremendous gains tend to take leadership roles in their enthusiasm generating  creative opportunities, such as designing dance moves, coaching others, blogging the artworks.

See how children create artworks through Photoshop and Blogging:

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“Perhaps most importantly, my students’ self esteem is soaring and they are becoming passionate about lessons that would have otherwise been dull..”said Mr. Schwartz.  These strong emotional responses to the arts are exactly what arts educators wants to generate in the children, what arts organizations want to generate in their audience, and what art wants to generate in the human soul.  Mr. Schwartz’s model of creative participation and engagement can be translated to audience engagement models through online groups or onsite post-experience workshops. The opportunities abound for the arts to become as exciting to your audience as they are to these students.

Resource:

You will see all of the articles, TV features and 4 videos on their official website www.kidslikeblues.org