Theses and dissertations

This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students. 

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Why Do We See Beauty?

Description

It is the marvel of a sunset on the most ordinary day that can change life forever. In this Honors Project, I attempt to explore my innate fascination with beauty and the results of this relationship. This creative project aims to explore the five pillars that are responsible for the…

It is the marvel of a sunset on the most ordinary day that can change life forever. In this Honors Project, I attempt to explore my innate fascination with beauty and the results of this relationship. This creative project aims to explore the five pillars that are responsible for the book of poems, Why Do We See Beauty?: The Human Event, the Tao Te Ching, Philosophy, Buddhism, and my relationship with God. These pillars have intertwined consistently throughout the past few years and the entire book of poems is a product of my engagement, integration, and synthesis with these components of my life. The creative project, Why Do We See Beauty?, consists of fifty-one poems that center around spirituality, truth, and the mystery of God; whether implicitly or explicitly stated, the poetry serves as a medium to wrestle with the truth in my life. Through a breakdown of these five pillars of my poetry and then the communication of key themes, texts, and ideas that are grounded in it, I hope to share my art from the past few years. What started in The Human Event during my first year at Barrett has evolved into an undergraduate creative project that shows how The Human Event became personal.
ContributorsOrtiz III, Rafael (Author) / Alcantara, Christiane (Thesis director) / deLusé, Stephanie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor)
Created2023-05

Historical Metallurgy of Pattern-Welding Processes

Description
The purpose of this creative project is twofold: Firstly, to study various pattern-welding processes that have been used throughout history, and secondly, to attempt to create a piece or several pieces of art using the processes studied. Pattern-welding traditionally refers to the practice of creating forged laminates composed of alternating…

The purpose of this creative project is twofold: Firstly, to study various pattern-welding processes that have been used throughout history, and secondly, to attempt to create a piece or several pieces of art using the processes studied. Pattern-welding traditionally refers to the practice of creating forged laminates composed of alternating layers of two or more compositionally distinct metals. This term is typically used to specifically refer to these techniques when they are used for the creation of blades, with laminates made of high-phosphorus iron, low-phosphorus mild steel, and/or wrought iron, which was historically done to give the final weapon allegedly better mechanical properties (Thiele et al., 2015). This technique, while supposedly creating mechanically superior weapons in terms of durability and strength, also results in a unique, incredibly aesthetic visual effect. As the laminated billet of metals is twisted, deformed, etched, and polished, the different layers of metals become visible, resulting in a range of patterns depending on the deformation techniques used, and it was this aesthetic value that truly led to the widespread use of pattern-welding. Metals worked in this manner are colloquially known today as Damascus, although the process is technically distinct from true Damascus steel. For the purposes of this creative project, I will extend the concept of pattern-welding beyond strictly using iron and steel used to create swords, and include the similar artistic technique known as mokume-gane. Mokume-gane, which directly translates into English as “wood-grain metal” (Binnion, 2011), also involves forging alternating layers of different metals into a billet, but uses softer metals, historically silver, gold, copper, and alloys of the above. Mokume-gane, which has only relatively recently been used in the West, is the technique that I used to create my art pieces for this creative project.
ContributorsFox, Matthew Davis (Author) / Misquadace, Wanesia (Thesis director) / Burt, Donald (Committee member) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05