Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/97177
ARTS Multimedia in the Visual Arts: Enhancing the Creative Voice ���I tell my students, let���s find the coolest thing in the world that we could possibly do and try it.��� ��� Betty Lark Ross, Visual Arts Department Chair When members of the advanced photo class began showing their end-of-year slide show in 1983, it was one of few ways that visual arts students at Latin could stretch their creativity through the use of multimedia. Today, nearly 30 years later, the landscape is vastly different. The opportunities for students to make use of multimedia in the visual arts are numerous and always growing. Students have easy access to technology and ways to display and present their work. Through classes in photography and digital imaging, video, graphic design, and independent study projects, they are exploring new and innovative ways to express themselves. View some of Bart���s time-lapse movies at www.latinschool.org/arts ���I tell my students, let���s find the coolest thing in the world that we could possibly do and try it,��� said Visual Arts Department Chair and photography and video teacher Betty Lark Ross. Ross spends much of her free time researching new ways to work with art and technology and encourages her students to do likewise. Whether it is 3D projection mapping, a fairly new video art form that makes buildings come alive through the use of light, color and motion, or a program at Montana State University that focuses on science filmmaking, Ross is always excited to pass on her finds to students. ���It doesn���t matter whether I fully know how to do something or understand it,��� she said. ���These kids are smart, and they will figure it out.��� The limitless possibilities are engaging and challenging students at a whole new level, she said. For junior Bart Bess, his initial interest in photography expanded as he discovered time-lapse photography and then learned how to translate his art to video. For the last six months, Bart has photographed change ��� an ice cube melting, the night sky transforming into dawn, clouds moving ��� in 15- or 30second increments for a prolonged period of time. The photographs in themselves are striking, but when he creates a video and speeds it up, it is remarkable. ���A camera can capture so much more than the human eye,��� he said. ���This allows me to see things in new ways, which is exciting,��� ���A camera can capture so much more than the human eye. This allows me to see things in new ways, which is exciting,��� 20 L AT I N M AGAZINE ��� Bart Bess