2015 Conference
2015: The Digitization of the Christian Imagination
The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed an unprecedented wave of unlimited creative opportunities for artists in all fields. Does this democratization of digital tools result in better art, film, music and literature, or is true talent instead drowned out in the vast digital ocean of mass culture? This year’s conference addressed this question and explored challenges and opportunities of digital technology on the imaginative life of the Christian artist.
Watch Videos from this Conference
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FEATURED PRESENTERS:
Joshua Clayton
Joshua Clayton is a New York-based artist and academic. His new media-oriented practice shifts between material artifacts and ephemeral situations, digital and analog media; his interests range from semiotics to landscape, Cartesian space, and environmental phenomena. Originally from Detroit, Michigan, he studied art and design before moving to Tokyo in 2002 and New York in 2005. He has an advanced degree in interactive telecommunications and currently teaches at New York University.
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Jeff Jensen
As a TV Critic for Entertainment Weekly, Jeff Jensen became the authoritative blogging voice for the hit TV show “LOST.” Writing wildly popular recaps after each week’s episode, Jensen’s theories caught the attention of “LOST” co-creator Damon Lindelof, who recruited Jensen to be a co-writer for the Disney film “Tomorrowland, ”slated to be released in 2015. In addition, Jensen has won the Eisner Award for his graphic novel, Green River Killer: A True Detective Story.
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Brett McCracken
Brett McCracken is a Los Angeles-based writer, journalist, and public speaker. He is the author of “Hipster Christianity: When Church & Cool Collide” (Baker, 2010) and “Gray Matters: Navigating the Space Between Legalism & Liberty” (Baker, 2013). He has written for “The Wall Street Journal”, “The Washington Post”, “Huffington Post,” “CNN.com,” “The Princeton Theological Review,” “Mediascape,” “Books & Culture”, “Christianity Today,” “Relevant,” “IMAGE Journal,” “Converge” and “Q Ideas.”
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Karen Swallow Prior
Karen Swallon Prior is Professor of English at Liberty Baptist University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her books include “Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More - Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist” (Thomas Nelson 2014) and a literary and spiritual memoir, “Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me” (T. S. Poetry Press 2012). She is a contributing writer for “Christianity Today,” “The Atlantic,” “In Touch,” and “Think Christian.” Her writing has also appeared at “Comment,” “Relevant,” “Books and Culture,” ”Fieldnotes,” “The Well,” and “Salvo.”
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Stephen Proctor
As a visual worship leader, Stephen Proctor uses video projections as instruments of worship. He continues the tradition of illuminated manuscripts through cutting-edge technology and production, as he illuminates churches with light and movement, creating spaces for full-sensory worship.
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Dane Sanders
Focusing on the convergence of creativity and commerce in a digital age, Dane Sanders is a photographer, thinker, businessman, public speaker, and cultivator of good writing habits. Both he and his work have been featured in numerous photography publications.
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OVER THE RHINE in CONCERT
After 25 years as a band, Over The Rhine’s husband-and-wife duo, Linford Detweiler and Karin Berquist continue to produce smart, nuanced music dealing with love, doubt, and faith. According to Image Journal their 13 CDs are “lush, literate, and critically acclaimed,” and Paste Magazine has listed them among the 100 Best Living Songwriters.
http://overtherhine.com/?
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Symposium Exhibition
The Coded Image
Curated by Jeff Rau
Joshua Clayton
Featured Artists:
Josh Azzarella, Joshua Clayton, Adam Ferriss, Penelope Umbrico and Stephanie Washburn
The Coded Image features five artists wrestling with the increasing instability of images in the present information age. The distribution of electronic content inherently involves a destructive/reconstructive process that challenges the perceived stability and continuity that were early distinctives of photography. By employing a variety of innovative photographic, video, and new media techniques, these artists offer fresh perspectives on the heavily mediated and abstract nature of these information-images.