Teaching short films and music video as Black art: A metaphysical approach

This article is an outcome of a pedagogical presentation that outlines ways to teach short experimental films and, specifically, music video art made by Black filmmakers. I provide some brief historical context for Black short/experimental film in the digital age, offer teaching case studies and learning objectives and conclude with a discussion of a ‘metaphysical approach’, which emphasizes spiritual aesthetic elements in works that exist beyond the limitations of racial representation. I also identify some of the pedagogical possibilities of using the framework of ‘music video as Black art’, alongside a metaphysical approach, which I describe as an interpretative and pedagogical perspective that explores the otherworldly possibilities of bodies, space and aesthetics.