The 2015 conference entitled The Digitization of Christian Imagination explored the challenges and opportunities of digital technology on the imaginative life of the Christian artist.
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? The 2015 conference addressed this question and explored challenges and opportunities of digital technology on the imaginative life of the Christian artist.
“The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.” -- Francis Schaeffer
Featured Presenters
In addition to founding Fast Track Creative, Dane Sanders is a photographer, author and public speaker. He has published two books: Fast Track Photographer and The Fast Track Photographer Business Plan. Dane is also the creator of the Photographer DNA (pDNA), the Business Stress Test (bST) and a host of other resources for photographers. His current projects include WeaveWriter.com the Better Together Community, Converge: The Business of Creativity Podcast and his personal blog. As an educator, Dane has been a guest lecturer at Brooks Institute, taught at Westmont College and Biola University and has taught numerous times at WPPI, Imaging USA, Photo Plus Expo as well international events throughout North America, South America, Europe & Asia. He has also been a featured speaker for such companies as Adobe, Random House & WHCC. His work has been featured in a number of books and publications including Rangefinder, Professional Photographer, Grace Ormonde Wedding Style and Photojojo. Dane, his wife Tami, along with their four children, make their home in Newport Beach, California.
Website: fasttrackcreative.com
Karen Swallow 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.”
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.”
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.
Stephen Proctor is an illuminator whose primary focus is designing & VJ-ing immersive experiences using projection & media. At the heart, Stephen is a curator of visual worship who seeks to unleash people’s imaginations through moments of wonder & astonishment. Not only does he love to create these experiences, but he loves to teach others about visual worship and how art can play a powerful role in today’s Church. Much of his work is done in collaboration with artists & authors such as GÜNGÖR, All Sons & Daughters, Beth Moore, Travis Cottrell, Glenn Packiam, Paul Baloche, Ian Cron, Stu G, Aaron Niequist & The Brilliance. You can also see Stephen’s work and hear him teach at various gatherings, such as Luminous Project, the late ECHO conference, National Worship Leaders Conference & SALT Nashville (a conference dedicated to visual worship).
Website:www.illuminate.us
Jeff Jensen is a TV Critic for Entertainment Weekly, who 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.
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.
overtherhine.com
Symposium Exhibition
The Coded Image
Curated by Jeff Rau
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.