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Project of the Month September 2003
The Digital Art School: Educating in the Understanding of Art on the Web
Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, the art museum of North Denmark, has made its art collection available to the Digital School of Art. The Digital School of Art is the only one of its kind in Denmark, combining images with the analysis of imagery and history of art etc.
By Naia Bang / Texthuset Aalborg
- When lecturing in Arts – including locations other than the Nørresundby Upper Secondary, the High School of Nørresundby – I always found it a nuisance having to search various American databases for suitable pedagogical material on art uploaded to the Web. We were in need of a well-functioning Danish database, explains senior master Lars Brix Frandsen.
So together with Steen Hestehave, his colleague at the Nørresundby Gymnasium, he conceived the idea of creating a database with Danish art and information on each work of art related to the analysis of imagery and art history. Together the two are already running the Imagine IT company, which is targeting all levels within the educational sector offering lecturing and guidance in using electronic media in teaching.
Steen Hestehave and Lars Brix Frandsen approached the Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum with the concept, and the museum was keenly interested in a cooperation. This was the kick-off to the ”Digital School of Art”, which is a project under the umbrella of the Digital North Denmark.
Aase Bak who is the keeper of the museum is taking, Steen Hestehave, project manager at an operative level, and Lars Brix Frandsen, both of the Imagine IT Company, on a guided tour at Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, which now has 108 works of art uploaded on the educating site www.dendigitalebilledskole.dk
Photos: PF Anne Mette Welling
108 Works of Art
From the approx 1.500 items of the permanent art collection of the Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum the museum picked 108 works from the 20th century to be used in the ”Digital School of Art”.
- First and foremost we needed the permission to photograph and reproduce the works of art, and this is quite an extensive process. The paintings and sculptures are under the copyright act, so the museum had to make an agreement with Copy-Dan, the Danish joint collecting society, and in several cases we had to approach the artists - or their descendants, and ask for their permission to photograph the works of art, explains Steen Hestehave, who is the operative project manager of the ”Digital School of Art”.
Next all works of art are photographed in a very high resolution and uploaded to the Website www.dendigitalebilledskole.dk. Here you can view all the works of art in a miniature format and read about them under the ”Picture base” item. And to view the work of art in a larger scale, just click it. Now you can study all the details of the work of art.
Create Your Own Museum
”What is good Art in your Opinion?”, is the question posed by the ”Digital School of Art” in the ”Pick Your Choice” item. Here the students can select what is good art in their eyes among the 108 items on the Web site. The works selected by the students could make the base for his or her own mini-museum. And it could become an exercise asking the students to articulate arguments behind their choice of items.
- The ”Pick Your Choice” feature is addressing students in the final classes of the primary/lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools and others who might benefit from it. In general, however, the ”Digital School of Art is aimed at upper secondary classes and their equivalent out-of-school educations, points out Steen Hestehave.
When reading about each item certain words will appear in a blue font type. When hovering the cursor on the word, a tiny fact box will pop up to explain the item. In some places you can carry on clicking your way to an entire screen with a description.
Submit Yourself to the Test
Once the students have had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with concepts such as expressionism, dark painters, Cobra etc., it is time for them to perform their own image analysis. In the ”Learn by yourself” item the student will embark on an in-depth introduction to composing a painting; colours, points, lines and more. Then it's time for a minor test. The students are asked to word their experience with a series of paintings and then select one painting for an in-depth and thorough analysis.
- We are offering an actual quiz, which is assuming that you have been over a major part of the material on the site – and here others with an artistic interest can have a good time, too, testing their knowledge, reports Steen Hestehave, and he elaborates:
- The ”Digital School of Art” holds more than 50 different exercises. Plus a variety of material for teachers of Danish – such as Essays. And for teachers of English we have prepared an essay, too. And obviously teachers will have access to prepare their own assignments and exercises based on the material on www.dendigitalebilledskole.dk. A teacher's guide for the Digital School of Art will offer inspiring ideas for putting the material to use.
Steen Hestehave (leftmost) and Lars Brix Frandsen are pleased with the successful rendering of the paintings in such a high image quality.
Photos: PF Anne Mette Welling
Positive Reception
The works of art in the ”Digital School of Art” represent a wide selection of Danish – and some foreign – 20th century art. So Upper secondary schools from all of Denmark can benefit from visiting the ”Digital School of Art” on the Web.
The Web page was launched on August 1rst and already now positive feedback is streaming in from the students. They are pleased to work with exercises on the Web site – and with the sharpness and true colours of the digital version of the paintings.
One item, ”3 Artists” remains to be completed. This is an interview on videotape with three – preferably North Danish – artists, sharing with us their way with art, - about inspiration, choice of colour and style – and the thoughts and mind of the artist when creating a work of art. The museum of art is currently making contact to three artists, and the video presentations will be available on the Web page this autumn.
Making Museum Visits Attractive
Now one could fear that the upper secondary schools would save a visit to the Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum and replace it with a ”virtual visit” at ”The Digital School of Art”. But there is no risk of that, is the judgment of the initiators behind ”The Digital School of Art”.
- We know that the students will make a lot of a visit to the museum of art if they have studied the items prior to their visit. They experience the joy of recognizing the works in real life, states Lars Brix Frandsen. And at the Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum Aase Bak is pleased with the result.
- This is really excellent! Now we plan to have info stands distributed on the museum for the visitors to access ”The Digital School of Art” and read about the work of art while they are here. So it will be interesting to see if the Digital School of Art can ”capture” people who are normally not art enthusiasts – such as young people, says Aase Bak.
Read more about the ”Digital School of Art” project on the Web site of the Digital North Denmark: www.thedigitalnorthdenmark.dk- or visit the Digital School of Art on: www.dendigitalebilledskole.dk
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