STAC students showcase synthetic theatre

Studies in Arts and Cultures (STAC) students were hoping to catch the eye of people passing by the Library's Thistle corridor display cases this week. Their synthetic theatre pieces have been on display since Feb. 28 and will remain until Saturday, March 4. Synthetic theatre is a 1920s futurist movement emphasizing very brief performances of a few minutes, a few words and a few gestures, while having a lasting impact on the audience. As a class, students developed a script, and then took still photos of themselves representing movement. With help from Tabitha Lewis in the Library's Makerspace, students printed their photos in 3D. Looking at the printed photos on a flat surface, they don’t resemble photographs. Held up to the light, however, the photos come alive and surprise the viewer with detail and motion. The display features work by STAC2P94 students Linlin Zhang, Mitchell Petruck, Jessica Sels, Nicole Boccia, Arijit Dasgupta and Jordan Tarrant. The exhibit was done with the support of Gavin Fearon (Dramatic Arts), Arnold McBay (Visual Arts) and STAC director Karin Di Bella.