Honors in the Arts Cohort 2013-14

TIFFANY DHARMA | Evoke

BS Computer Science

This digital media experience integrates two forms of unexpected story-telling: the narrative of data analytics and the unspoken story created by a museum's physical space.

Inspired by academic sources, interviews with curators, and user research in art museums worldwide,Evoke is a digital installation that facilitates the personal discovery of art by capturing the state of mind and feeling of a viewer at a given moment. Built on the principles of human-computer interaction design, the application surveys the viewer and measures biological signals like their EEG brainwaves to recommend pieces that may evoke new or existing connections to art. With the potential of being both educational and entertaining, this experience makes art discovery accessible and collective, regardless of a person’s prior knowledge of art history.

CAITLIN FONG | Strength & Grace: A Reflection of Leadership in a Student Arts Organization

BA Political Science, Minor in Communication

In an effort to examine the relationship between organizational theory and performing arts administration, this capstone project uses the experience of the Executive Producer of Ram’s Head Theatrical Society as a case study to reflect on issues at the heart of arts management and student leadership. Including concepts such as group development, emotion, motivation, and power dynamics, the reflective piece combines personal narrative and research in organizational behavior to follow the collaborative process of producing student theater and a few of the challenges in managing creative people and work during a time of transition and upheaval.

DAVID GRUNZWEIG | Transcending Identity Through Collective Improvisation

BS Electrical Engineering

This project explored the means to utilize electronics and jazz theory in improvisation to express the tension between the actual self and the socially constructed identities we operate within.

This project explored the means to utilize electronics and jazz theory in improvisation to express the tension between the actual self and the socially constructed identities we operate within. Within the project I examined and interpreted jazz standards by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Joe Henderson and others with a goal of adding aspects of modern electronic music, ambient music, and minimalist classical music. Each track of the album represents a part of my journey from the US Naval Academy to Stanford and examines the process of shedding my hyper-masculine identity and actualizing a new identity. Whether it is joy, sorrow, contemplation, or nostalgia, I hope the music I have created inspires and helps others who are struggling to find themselves.

ANDREA HINTON | 40

BS Chemistry

The fictional novel 40 explores ethics in the modern-day doctor-patient relationship.

RAYMOND JEONG | CLO-SE

BS English

This short narrative film portrays four interrelated characters who all eventually drive or ride one specific car.

This short narrative film portrays four interrelated characters who all eventually drive or ride one specific car. Its runtime is approximately thirty minutes. To date, it is the longest film that Raymond has ever made, a huge jump from the fifteen of his first film Eulogy (which, to him, is the worst film ever made in the history of worst films). At first, CLO-SE is a film that seems to be composed of four mini-films, but it is a film like Magnolia or Crash. It all makes sense in the end, and the end makes sense if you have seen it all.

MAIA KAZIN | Elephant

BA Anthropology, Minor in Theater and Performance Studies

Through the grounding discipline of anthropology and the immersive medium of theater, Elephant shares a story of South African township life.

LAKSHMI PRATHIVADI | Despite Distance

BS Management Science and Engineering, Minor in Creative Writing

Set within a two-day Indian wedding, the novel Despite Distance borrows Management Science and Engineering concepts of network and decision analysis to help narrate the story of six main characters (including non-resident Indians) as they wrestle with various decisions impacting themselves and those around them.

Set in a two-day Indian wedding in South India, the novel Despite Distance borrows Management Science and Engineering concepts of network and decision analysis to help narrate the story of six main characters (including non-resident Indians) as they wrestle with various decisions and influence each other’s decisions about life, love, marriage, education, and career. Indian-American teenager Payal understands the importance of relationships and tries to bridge the gap between her mother Nisha and her grandmother Pushpa. Samantha and Vaibhav try to convince those around them of their decision to marry each other, in spite of their cultural differences. Despite their varying upbringings, Vaishu and Sanjay try to find a common ground as they enter into a new relationship. By using multiple perspectives, this novel shows the interconnectivity of these characters.

ANNIE REMPEL | Fragmentation

BA Human Biology

Investigating how the sharing and creating of visual art can inspire healing, these artistic interpretations reflect how illness narratives of those affected by Huntington’s disease can be strengthened by creative expression.

ALEX SIMON | Everything Looks the Same

BA English, Minor in Film and Media Studies

Everything Looks the Same explores the social and cultural factors that make relationship and gender violence so common in the United States, following five people whose stories interweave.

Everything Looks the Same explores the social and cultural factors that make relationship and gender violence so common in the United States, following five people whose stories interweave. It takes a look at the daily implications of gendered inequality on all parts of the spectrum, from verbal microaggressions to domestic violence, and asks what it means to be a man or woman in America. The film is an invitation to more deeply examine the culture that we live in, and consider what parts of it we need to change.

Photography: Alexis Lucio and Harrison Truong