Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection

Whispers from Above is a creative project that aims to normalize the conversation and validate the emotional experience of grief, through the use of art therapies. Art therapy can be expressive in which someone creates their own work, such as visual art, poetry, performance, music, movement, etc. Art therapy can also be receptive in which someone analyzes and understands someone else's artwork. This project was released on SoundCloud in order to make grief resources more accessible to all and to build an online community.<br/><br/>Whispers from Above worked with twelve poets, fifteen artists, six different interviewees, and multiple musicians to create a month of grief support. The finale piece of Whispers from Above was devised from the twenty-nine poems used within this month-long healing journey. All the individual poems were woven into a single devised poem to be presented as the final piece symbolizing that no one is alone in grief.<br/><br/>Whispers from Above is creative community exploration of grief, loss, and death in which we hope contributors, and listeners find solace and support. This series will exist on SoundCloud after March 27th, 2021 with a monthly release of a poem or interview accompanied by art, and music.

Theatrical lighting design currently struggles to keep pace with the cutting edge of technology. Theatre equipment needs to be durable, repairable, and intuitive far more than it needs to concern itself with high data throughput or formal network connections. Because of this, current signal protocols, of which DMX512 is the most common, use physical interfaces and signal protocols differing from a standard ethernet connection. Very few lighting fixtures have an RJ-45 port to accept an ethernet connection, requiring signal conversion at some point within the signal flow for compatibility. The natural solution to this scenario is simple and already implemented: electronic boxes which accept a cable input, convert the signal and offer an output in a new protocol. Contributing to this system flow solution, I propose a design of a converter box with modular ports and configurations. Using a central embedded computer running driving firmware, the user can adapt the box to the networking needs of a given production.

This presentation explores the processes of writing and producing the original musical "Subplots," debuted in August 2022. Through composition and music direction lenses, this presentation outlines the creative journey from conception to performance, highlighting the process of collaborating with a librettist, performers, and production team members. This thesis was completed under the direction of Dr. Jody Rockmaker and Dr. Alex Temple; all materials are copyrighted by Anthony Procopio and Sara Matin.