bernd-klug_babil-iraq-hr.jpg Loading Video . . . Austrian musician and sound artist, Bernd Klug offers an interactive art piece in response to Genesis 11:1-9. Genesis 11:1-9 Confusion of Tongues By Bernd Klug Credits: Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2016 Sound Installation Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link This piece is based on the story of the Tower of Babel, from Genesis 11:1–9, in which the confusion of tongues frustrated the construction of this spectacularly high edifice, scattering its people over the world. I aimed to decode this text (and the passages leading up to it, describing Noah’s settling and ancestry) through different internet-based, real time translation programs in order to investigate the seemingly open and direct worldwide information exchange of modern communication. I also wanted to juxtapose the ongoing conflict among various interpretations of Bible texts with the cultural ignorance which has long plagued religious movements (as in the Middle East, where Babel and most of the Old Testament were located and which remains a similarly diverse and problematic area in recent inter-religious/cultural dialogues between East and West). Although I am a native born Austrian, I wrote this piece from an English-speaking perspective, the “native language” for our western internet realm. I used the New International Translation, commonly used in the US, and recorded a speech translation into each language, and then tried to re-translate it in real time with this software back to English. Each of the audio files is a recording of this process, using languages which relate to the place (Arabic), the historical translations of the story (Greek, Latin, and Hebrew), my own mother tongue (German), and the world’s most common languages (Chinese, Spanish and Hindi). This decision was also based on the narrow possibilities free translation programs provide and is in no way meant to be judgmental or prioritizing already established power dynamics, but rather to point to the limited accessibility of global understanding and the dangers of cultural appropriation. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Bernd Klug – sound art / double bass (US/AT) http://klug.klingt.org Bernd Klug is an Austrian born, Brooklyn-based sound artist and double bassist. In sound installations and solo concerts, his music encounters our everyday circumstances as found forms and questions our perceptions of sound and social space. His installations make use of acoustic phenomena like feedback, room frequencies and electromagnetic waves and explore strings, wood, metal and other materials as audiovisual components. Recently Klug has shown his works in solo exhibitions at Harvestworks (NYC 2013), Art Now at Monmouth University (NJ, 2014, ce.ins_0006) and the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC (2015) as well as collaborations with Daniel Lercher at mo.ë (Vienna 2014) and ‘Bearing’ with Johanna Tiedtke at Galerie Freihausgasse (Villach, AT April 2015) and group shows, such as, Groundswell 2015 (Olana, NY) and Klangmanifeste (Vienna 2012). His solo double bass work (cupreous donkey and the CD ‘Cold Commodities’ Innova 902) focuses on the world inside and around the double bass: the bow, the body, and room frequencies lay the groundwork for a radical reduction of both the composerperformer’s role and the traditional musical narrative. He has played solo concerts at CTSwaM Fridman Gallery, Share Issue Project Room, Biegungen Ausland (Berlin), CoCART - Tarun (PL), CNMAT (Berkeley) and Radiokulturhaus and the Porgy and Bess in Vienna. As an improviser and bassist, he has collaborated with Burkhard Stangl, Keiko Uenishi, Shelley Hirsch, Radu Malfatti, Franz Hautzinger, Butch Morris, Bernhard Lang, John Butcher, Gust Burns, Danielle Dahl, Mimu Merz, Daniel Lercher, Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø, Laurie Amat, Brendan Landis, Lucio Menegon, Kjetil Hanssen, ctrl, OENCZkekvist and Ritornell. His most recent bands include the experimental techno noise band T-Shit (w/ Bernhard Hammer and Sixtus Preiss) and the dramatic chamber duo Rash (with Meaghan Burke, cello). His compositional cycle “sine tempore” is a series of works experimenting with sound designs in non-dramatic contexts. Together with New Yorker cellist Meaghan Burke, he is an organizer of the Transit Festival, which provides a platform for connecting experimental music with different musical genres, audiences, places and countries. Bernd Klug is a Wave Farm Artist In Residence 2015 and was recently awarded the award for interdisciplinary arts 2015 from the Carinthian government, AT and the “New Austrian Sound of Music” prize for 201415. His compositions received commissions by New Music USA and the BKA (Austrian Federal Chancellery). He was granted an educational scholarship at Harvestworks (NYC) in 201213, and received the BM:UKK Startstipendium (federal Austrian grant for artists) in 2011. He graduated from Bard College’s MFA program (Music/Sound) in 2015 and holds a BA in bass performance (popular, contemporary, and classical music and music education) from the Vienna University for Music and Performing Arts. Website Bernd Klug About the Artist Bernd Klug Other Works By There are two ways to listen to this piece: A) In private, on a computer. Click play on the language you feel most unfamiliar with, start another track as soon as you understand a word and so on. (Don’t stop the different tracks or play them separately, they are supposed to overlay each other.) B) As a public performance for 8 people with smartphones. At a public space or Christian church, do not announce the piece at the moment before the performance. Each person chooses one language (so that all of them are chosen) Load the homepage. Spread out so that you can just still hear each other Arabic starts Each subsequent person else hits play as soon as you hear a familiar word CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

creation_redemption_carmichael-braun.jpg Loading Video . . . New York artist Charis J. Carmichael Braun juxtaposes biblical concepts of Creation and Redemption in her vivid illumination. Isaiah 44:24 Deuteronomy 4:32 Isaiah 43:1 Creation/Redemption By Charis Carmichael Braun Credits: Artist Location: New York City Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2010 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link This work is a conceptual color study for a series of larger works visualizing Christian doctrines. The series seeks to juxtapose concepts that, from a quasi-Lutheran point of view, encourage the combination of ideas that seem or can be construed to be antithetical, such as “life” and “death.” Based on the concepts of Creation and Redemption , this image is the first in the series. This work was created for and shown in the Solus Christus Juried Art Exhibition (April 2010) at the dedication of the Chapel of the Christ at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota. Other images developed in this context may include: Decay/Resurrection Judgment/Eternal Life Passion/Ascension Incarnation/Paradise Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Charis J. Carmichael Braun grew up in New Ulm, MN . After a year as an exchange student in Switzerland (Gruezi, mittenand!) , she earned her BA from Bethany Lutheran College and her MFA from the New York Academy of Art. She received a Juror's Award for her work in Representational Art in the 21st Century , University of Hawaii at Hilo, HI in 2015 and was chosen as a Sing For Hope Piano Artist in 2016. She has been published in PoetsArtists, The Huffington Post , and LINEA: The Artist's Voice . As an arts administrator , she has focused on communications and publicity, having worked for the Edward Hopper House in Nyack, NY; The League Residency at Vyt (Art Students League of New York), and the New York Academy of Art. She has managed two galleries in New York City, and has served on the boards of two greater New York City not-for-profits: as a founding member of Spark and Echo Arts , and as President of the Alumni Association of the New York Academy of Art. With her husband Andrew Braun, a woodworker, Charis lives and works in the Hudson Valley, New York. Website Charis Carmichael Braun About the Artist Charis Carmichael Braun Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . The photo and video included in this blog post are the beginning of a major part of creating this multimedia book of hours, a part I’m calling 365 Contemplations. The book of hours is intended to be a deeply personal book, tailored to the concerns of an individual. While I have my own concerns, I’m interested in creating a more interactive project that both reflects my own musings and creations and those of the larger community I inhabit. Find the complete progression of the work linked below. Proverbs 8:6-11 Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Part 2 By Lauren Ferebee Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2016 2016 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link June 20, 2016 In Proverbs 8, Wisdom says: Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. (vv. 1-5) Part One: The Practical Aspect In Which I Update You On Progress (And Reflect on Answers) The photo and video included in this blog post are the beginning of a major part of creating this multimedia book of hours, a part I’m calling 365 Contemplations. The book of hours is intended to be a deeply personal book, tailored to the concerns of an individual. While I have my own concerns, I’m interested in creating a more interactive project that both reflects my own musings and creations and those of the larger community I inhabit. To that end, over the last few weeks I’ve begun inviting friends, colleagues, and strangers to email me with a concern that they are experiencing in their lives (if you have one, please reach out to me at laurenbeth.ferebee@gmail.com) and I am committing to creating a handmade artistic contemplation and mailing it to them. For me, in addition to creating the online performative components of this project, I’m keenly aware that the books of hours are artifacts of faith. I wanted to create things that can be held, looked at, felt, experienced on a tangible level. In asking people to trust me with their concerns and in offering them a response, I’m putting myself in the proverbial place of wisdom in Proverbs 8, and taking an active role in examining the questions I put forth in my first blog entry. I often find myself wanting to be the seeker of wisdom (and that is certainly a role I am taking in this project), and yet I also find that I desire to “know what I know.” What insights, common sense, successes belong to me? What wisdom do I already have within me? This update also includes a video of me fashioning this first contemplation. For me, creating it was, in itself, a contemplative act. I felt keenly aware of the length of time it took to make this piece and the uncomfortability at the imperfect act of making it, particularly while filming the process. It was an exercise in patience. I look forward to updating you in the fall with more contemplations and plans for a performance or theatrical experience that will tie these pieces together (I won’t reveal too much about my thoughts on that front right now, they are too raw.) Part Two: The Personal Aspect In Which I Share (some of) My Non-Linear Thoughts in the Interest of Vulnerability March 20, 2016 Reading: A Book of Hours , Thomas Merton time as a sacrament time as an artistic medium in itself hours, days, seasons becoming a point of nothing “compassionate time” – moments of potentiality how to use and create moments of potentiality for others? Sunday – we are charged to repair, to heal, to build the world what is it we can find to love in one another? dawn, day, dusk, dark the question is: how to become worthy again 1. to complete step by step the small & everyday tasks of living that signal to others & to your mind the prevailing sense of all rightness laundry cooking taking out the trash writing schedule out making coffee cleaning sorting receipts filing nails showering & maybe shaving legs/armpits taking pills 2. to indulge your profound anxiety & sadness and feed it treats until you no longer know that it is there sweets reading meditation movies music watching/listening to anything that sounds friendly 3. to indulge your profound anxiety & sadness by letting it run the show do not do anything imagine other people speaking to you the way you speak to yourself do nothing or hurt those peole speaking to you into speaking to you the way you speak to yourself be satisfied by their agreement 4. make sure it externally appears that you are happy & successful 5. behave successfully and find small ways to self destruct tear at your cuticles pick at your scabs keep acting like you don’t know anything forget to do daily things until you are too sad & self-defeated to do anything these are all the ways that I have tried and failed to become wise. so this is how I come to you . May 5, 2016 Reading: Poets on the Psalms , ed. Lynn Domina implicit in the act of contemplation is moving beyond oneself into the experience of others’ suffering. “The present moment is so painful that the only way we can bear to inhabit it is to visit it in a work of art.” – Poets on the Psalms I have lived most of my life believing that eventually everyone will discover what is wrong with me. the holiness of mud May 15, 2016 consciousness – an idea When we are at some young point in our lives we become entirely, fully conscious of who we are & as we grow older our consciousness slowly dies. It is this kind of surrender that propels us toward death (thanatos) . the question is how to maintain consciousness. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Lauren Ferebee is a Texan native and a multidisciplinary artist whose primary mediums are playwriting and installation/video art. Most recently, her play The Reckless Season was selected for Stage West’s Southwest Playwriting Competition Festival of New Works, and her alternative screwball comedy Sexual Geography was a finalist for the Reva Shiner Comedy Award at the Bloomington Playwrights’ Project. In 2014, she was a juried fellow at Saltonstall Arts Colony, a semifinalist for the Shakespeare’s Sister fellowship and the first theatre-artist-in-residence at HUB-BUB in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where in addition to writing, she did community-based theatre work. Her most recent work includes Sexual Geography (developed at HUB-BUB), The Reckless Season (The Spartanburg Little Theatre/HUB-BUB), Somewhere Safer (FringeNYC 2013, Inkwell finalist), and Blood Quantum (At Hand Theatre & WET Productions). Three of her short plays, jericho, jericho , Bob Baker’s End of the World and The Pirate King are published online at indietheaternow.com , where Somewhere Safer is also published as part of the 2013 Fringe Collection. She is a member of playwriting collective Lather, Rinse, Repeat, and studied playwriting, screenwriting and television writing at Primary Stages/ESPA. Lauren also has regional and NYC credits as an actress on stage and in film, and from 2007-2010 was co-artistic director of a site-specific classical theatre company, Rebellious Subjects Theatre. She especially enjoys acting in and teaching Shakespeare and working on new plays. She holds a BFA in drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Website Lauren Ferebee About the Artist Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Part 1 Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Part 3 while in a foreign land Wonders of the Deep Artist in Residence 2016: Lauren Ferebee Lauren Ferebee Other Works By Follow the previous development of Lauren's 2016 Artist in Residence project by reading her first , third and final post. Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Lancelot Schaubert recontextualized Luke 15 in this short story so that modern readers might more immediately understand the implications of this well-known tale. Luke 15:3-7 Posh Girls By Lancelot Schaubert Credits: Illumination Representation Image by Lancelot Shaubert with Ai on Midjourney Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2022 Short Story Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Wanted to repurpose this classic tale so that it would be more identifiable to New Yorkers. I don't know that I succeeded, but it certainly felt true when I wrote it on vacation in Cape Cod with some friends. It's based off some tourists I met there. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Lancelot has sold work to The New Haven Review (The Institute Library), The Anglican Theological Review, TOR (MacMillan), McSweeney's, The Poet's Market, Writer's Digest, and many, many similar markets. (His favorite, a rather risqué piece, illuminated bankroll management by prison inmates in the World Series Edition of Poker Pro). Publisher's Weekly called his debut novel BELL HAMMERS "a hoot." He has lectured on these at academic conferences, graduate classes, and nerd conventions in Nashville, Portland, Baltimore, Tarrytown, NYC, Joplin, and elsewhere. The Missouri Tourism Bureau, WRKR, Flying Treasure, 9art, The Brooklyn Film Festival, NYC Indie Film Fest, Spiva Center for the Arts, The Institute of the North in Alaska, and the Chicago Museum of Photography have all worked with him as a film producer and director in various capacities. Website Lancelot Schaubert About the Artist Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 3 Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 2 Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert - Part 1 As Waters Cover Artist in Residence 2019: Lancelot Schaubert Dragonsmaw Daily | 1 Dragonsmaw Daily | 2 Dragonsmaw Daily | 3 Watchtower Stripped to the Bonemeal Metaphysical Insurance Claim 0075A: The Delphic Oracle Philadelphia Bloodlines Lancelot Schaubert Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art A wealthy NYC heiress had two daughters — Rosario and Evangeline — around the time she retired from running POSH View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . A wealthy NYC heiress had two daughters — Rosario and Evangeline — around the time she retired from running POSH Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Satirist Shelly Williams brings us an unexpected response to Philemon 1:4-7. Philemon 1:4-7 Trend Watch By Shelly Williams Credits: Curated by: Jonathon Roberts 2015 Satire Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link In these verses, Paul is reminding Philemon of his identity, who he loves, who loves him, and how he is being prayed for. As the letter continues, Paul will be pointing back to these accepted realities in order to encourage Philemon to expand his circle of love and acceptance. The audio pieces I create with the Cheney Cutler character play around with the absurdities of daily life. In this case, I decided to run with this concept: Celebrate who you are and what's around you as you move boldly into the future. Background sounds used in this piece were recorded in New York City and Spokane, WA. The additional sound of frying food was provided by Zabuhailo with the Creative Commons License . Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Shelly Williams was raised in Washington state and studied art at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA. After graduating in 2005, she moved to Minneapolis where she worked for a grassroots social service agency and joined the artist cooperative at Highpoint Center for Printmaking. She returned to the Northwest several years later, joining the Saranac Artist Cooperative. Shelly loves to playfully interpret and misinterpret her surroundings. Her artistic practice incorporates walking, chronicling community interactions, writing, and photography. Her current project involves making audio recordings as the Cheney Cutler character, who delivers the news and other absurdities. Shelly lives, works and records in New York City. Website Shelly Williams About the Artist Shelly Williams Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Ruth Forman brings us her beautiful poem in response to the theme of "Harvest" from Psalm 1:3. Psalms 1:3 Her Work as Worship By Ruth Forman Credits: Curated by: Emily Ruth Hazel 2013 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link In the teachings of my faith, the Baha’i Faith, work done in the spirit of service is considered worship to God. Psalms 1:3 instantly reminded me of one of Baha’u’llah’s Hidden Words: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” -Psalms 1:3 “O MY SERVANTS! Ye are the trees of My garden; ye must give forth goodly and wondrous fruits, that ye yourselves and others may profit therefrom. Thus it is incumbent on every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lies the secret of wealth, O men of understanding! For results depend upon means, and the grace of God shall be all-sufficient unto you. Trees that yield no fruit have been and will ever be for the fire.” -Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, No. P80 This poem is both a prayer and a meditation/reflection. A prayer for my life work to feed and sustain others. It is also a reflection that for women around the world, so much of our work naturally sustains others. If work in the spirit of service is worship, may our souls also be fed. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Ruth Forman is the author of three award-winning books: poetry collections We Are the Young Magicians (Beacon, 1993) and Renaissance, (Beacon, 1997) and children’s book, Young Cornrows Callin Out the Moon (Children’s Book Press, 2007). She is the recipient of the Barnard New Women Poets Prize, The Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award, The Durfee Artist Fellowship, the National Council of Teachers of English Notable Book Award, and recognition by The American Library Association. She provides writing workshops at schools and universities across the country and abroad, and has presented in forums such as the United Nations, the PBS series The United States of Poetry and National Public Radio. Ruth is a former teacher of creative writing with the University of Southern California and June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and an eleven-year faculty member with the VONA-Voices writing program. Also an MFA graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, she frequently collaborates on film, music, dance, theatre, art and media projects. Her latest collection is Prayers Like Shoes (2009) on Whit Press. When not writing and teaching, she practices a passion for martial arts: classical Yang family style tai chi chuan, tai chi sword, bo staff and karate. Ms. Forman currently lives in Washington, D C. ruthforman.com Photo by Christine Bennett . Website Ruth Forman About the Artist Ruth Forman Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art Whatsoever she doeth shall be full quenching ripe View Full Written Work "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." - Psalms 1:3 Her Work as Worship Whatsoever she doeth shall be full quenching ripe as if God harvested Himself this work planted this thought cultivated these hands her work always sustenance for someone and an offering may her soul also be fed. -Ruth Forman Close Loading Video . . . Whatsoever she doeth shall be full quenching ripe Download Full Written Work

Jason Da Silva 7652 900X600 Loading Video . . . Portrait photographer Annie Levy unifies her experiences photographing filmmaker Jason DaSilva with a powerful verse in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 Jason DaSilva portrait By Annie Levy Credits: Artist Location: New York City Curated by: Jonathon + Emily 2011 Photography Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link When Annie Levy photographed Jason DaSilva, he spoke of a short film, When I Walk, that he had just completed for the Tribeca Film Festival. He shared with her that after working as a filmmaker for ten years, he made the decision to focus the lens on his own experience with having primary-progressive MS. When I Walk is about his journey as a 30-year-old film director living with a complex disease amidst complex circumstances. His personal narrative is the anchor point in a film that weaves together interviews, incidents in the life of a young filmmaker and current information about multiple sclerosis. Annie then created a portrait of Jason through her lens. When thinking about making Jason’s portrait, Annie connects her experience to a passage in Deuteronomy (30:19-20): “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. She says, “I have read this passage of Scripture so many times that I had almost missed the irony that when actually told that there is a CHOICE of life and death, God has to exhort: choose LIFE. In some strange way I almost imagine Him standing behind me, the chooser, not raising His voice but rather in that same whisper that Elijah heard, saying moment by moment, choose life… so that you and your children may LIVE.” Learn more about Jason's work at www.wheniwalk.com . Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Annie Levy is a creative director and writer/photographer who conceives, creates and exhibits projects, telling stories to transform the way we see things. As a result of her work and enthusiasm about her subjects, she is frequently asked to speak at conferences and present to groups, using her projects to discuss such topics as Visual Messaging, Health Care Design, Images and Aging, as well as concepts related to overall project development and design. Included in her speaking engagements/presentations are the New York Times Company Foundation's program for journalists at the International Longevity Center, the Cleveland Clinic Patient Empathy & Innovation Summit, John A. Hartford Communications Conferences, and the American Society on Aging's National Conference. She has been the keynote speaker for Center for Health Design's Environments and Aging Conference, lectured at Sarah Lawrence College in the Health Care Advocacy Department and has conducted a Grand Rounds presentation at Mount Sinai School of Medicine's Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, NYC. Annie spoke at the Cleveland Clinic Patient Empathy and Innovation Summit as well as at the Joint Commission Ambulatory Care Conference in 2015. Most recently, in November 2016, she spoke at Google's Ignite Healthcare. She has her BFA from NYU Film School. Website Annie Levy About the Artist Annie Levy Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Filmmaker Tien Chi Fu chose the passage Ezekiel 47:9 to reflect on for his film centering on Spark and Echo Arts' Summer 2012 theme, "Water," and its ability to refresh us -- both literally and metaphorically. Ezekiel 47:9 Into the Living Water By Tien Chi Fu Credits: Curated by: The Leiser Brothers 2012 Film Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link This short is made to honor the Lord our God, His creation, and the Holy Spirit. We, as humans, tend to do many things on our own resulting in our lives becoming separate to the way of the Lord. The water indicates life and the Holy Spirit both in the Bible and in this short. The characters in this film are both close to water yet away from the Lord. The diver walks past the East River everyday and he teaches people how to dive, but he is so used to his everyday life and he no longer remembers what it's like to be under the sea of God's abundant love. The dancer encounters so many failures in his life and he considers the water his enemy. He is so far away from the Lord that he is close to death -- humanity's destination. Somehow God is still doing his amazing work among us. At that very moment, they are both touched by that love that would not let us go. They start to remember God's wonderful creation and His immeasurable love. Our lives will only flourish when we come back and submit our lives to the Lord. We should follow God all the way into the water and testify of His wonderful creation. There will be no issues, obstacles or defeats. Our God is a faithful God. When we dwell in His life, we will be refreshed and able to witness His wonders. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Tien Chi Fu is a New York based writer/director/cinematographer. Tien was born in Taipei. His father is a playwright and greatly influenced Tien’s work. Tien grew up in a Christian family but not until age 20 did he receive Jesus Christ as his savior and get baptized. Tien attended Sun Yat-Sen University majoring in Theatre Arts; here he spent two years learning theatre techniques with a focus on acting and directing. In his sophomore year, he formed a Drama Club and produced a traditional Chinese crosstalk play with several friends. The many dominant drama theories he learned then became the foundation of his creative works. Following that, he moved to the United States because his true passion is in film. He took a gap year to work full time to save for tuition. He then got his associate degree in Radio/TV in Pennsylvania and got into New York University’s Film & TV department. His black & white film All Tomorrow’s Films is a story of Adam and Eve mingled with the transition between the analog and the digital era. He is now working on his thesis film “George Goforth and the Greatest Generation”. Website Tien Chi Fu About the Artist The Long Trip Tien Chi Fu Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Poet Phil Memmer's poem "How Many Shapes Must a God Take?" is a response to Exodus 3:2-4 and the theme of “stranger”. Exodus 3:2-4 How Many Shapes Must a God Take? By Phillip Memmer Credits: Location: Upstate New York Curated by: Hayan Charara 2014 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link The offer to work with the Spark and Echo project came at an interesting, complicated time for me… I had not completed a poem in well over a year and a half, and while I was reasonably sure about what sort of poems I wanted to try to write next, I was completely baffled by how to go about it. In my last two books, I had written dozens of poems that used Biblical characters, or addressed a god figure through psalms, in order to explore my own spiritual concerns. At some point in early 2013, it occurred to me that I’d done enough talking to and about god: it was time for me to allow him/her to speak. I identify as an agnostic, but I was raised in an evangelical Protestant family. Oddly enough, though, I spend far more time pondering the nature of the divine now than I ever did in my church-at-least-twice-a-week youth. The Creator is the ultimate “Stranger” when one does not hold a particular faith. This particular tension is what gave rise to “How Many Shapes Must a God Take?” In my own spiritual history, god needed to vanish in order for me to seek him; she needed to be silent if I was to cup a hand to my ear. And while this poem was written more or less in the order it now appears on the page, and took its initial impulse from the “Burning Bush” story in Exodus (along with images from other religious and mythological traditions), I believe I somehow understood its conclusion before I reached it. Upon completing the poem, I felt “the surprise of remembering something I didn’t know I knew,” as Robert Frost once said. I also realized something I hadn’t previously understood about these new poems: that they are not simply poems in which “god speaks”… they are poems in which “god speaks to me.” And while that sounds dangerously like talking to oneself, I hope they move beyond that and speak to others as well. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Philip Memmer is the author of four books of poems, most recently The Storehouses of the Snow: Psalms, Parables and Dreams (Lost Horse Press, 2012). His previous collections include Lucifer: A Hagiography, winner of the 2008 Idaho Prize for Poetry from Lost Horse Press, and Threat of Pleasure (Word Press, 2008), winner of the 2008 Adirondack Literary Award for Poetry. His poems have appeared in such journals as Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Poetry London, Southern Poetry Review, and Epoch, and in several anthologies. His work has also been featured in the Library of Congress’ Poetry 180 project, and in Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry syndicated column. He lives in a rural village in upstate New York, and works as Executive Director of the Arts Branch of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse, where he founded the YMCA’s Downtown Writers Center in 2001. He also serves as Associate Editor for Tiger Bark Press. Website Phillip Memmer About the Artist Phillip Memmer Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art How many shapes must a god take to attract your notice? I tried them all View Full Written Work How Many Shapes Must a God Take? by Phillip Memmer Exodus 3:2-4 How many shapes must a god take to attract your notice? I tried them all–- I came as sunlight through clouds, as a moon full and unobstructed, as fire and various things afire. I came as a man bent with age, a woman hardened by war. I came to you as each sort of animal, and as trees, and the lily, and the rose. As a mountain I came to you, as the sea, as stars over vast distances arranged in suggestive shapes. Nothing worked-– though I came to you with three faces, with one hundred hands, a woman’s frown upon the body of a lion, an elephant’s smile on the body of a man. Though I came as wealth and as famine, as thunder and as drought, nothing–-nothing lifted your gaze, though you claimed to seek me. And I despaired… And in my despair I ripped out my hundred arms, tore off my thousand masks, let cool my fires beyond counting. I came to you as darkness and silence. …And you, so enamored of absence: now you see me. Now at last you hear. Close Loading Video . . . How many shapes must a god take to attract your notice? I tried them all Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Author A.J. Kandathil crafted this short story inspired by the theme of "Lies" from Genesis 29:20-25, the story in which Jacob marries Leah. Genesis 29:20-25 Leah Wrestles with God By AJ Kandathil Credits: Curated by: Emily Ruth Hazel 2013 Short Story Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link When I chose “lies” as the theme I’d be working with, it took some time to settle on a certain passage, as the Bible is littered with liars. There’s the moment when Abraham denies that Sarah is his wife because he fears the consequences, then there’s the lying serpent, and of course there’s also Peter’s famed denial of Christ, just to name a few. But I decided to focus on the story of Jacob, Laban, and Leah because Jacob was someone God undeniably favored, despite his tendency to use and deceive people (and, therefore, to be used and deceived). Although I chose to tell the story from the perspective of Jacob’s first wife, Leah, I can identify with Jacob as well—with his propensity for twisting God’s arm, with the ambition that defines him. In the Bible’s account, the story belongs to Jacob, and he is—by many measures—a hero. But what of the people who became little more than detritus on his journey to father the nations? What of the wife he didn’t love? Though the traditional American ideal of the biblical “hero” can lean toward the simplistic, I prefer the ancient Greek notion of the hero, one that’s much more troubled, and thankfully, much more human. The Greek hero has the capability to hurt those he’s meant to protect, and even those he loves. In the often told story of Jacob’s wrestling match with God, we know the outcome. Jacob wrestles with God for His blessing, and he gets it, though he walks away with a limp that will last the rest of his life. But what isn’t often talked about is the fact that Jacob got to wrestle with God. The very notion suggests an equality between partners, an occasion for an intimate fight, as one sometimes engages in with a beloved. Can you imagine it? Having that kind of access? Much of the women’s inner lives in the Bible are excluded from scripture. Even if we don’t know much about Leah other than her role in the master narrative, God knows the smallest details of Leah’s life—her secrets, her disappointments, her triumphs. In some ways, Leah’s whole life may have been a wrestling match with God. Who’s to say? So this is my imagined account of it, told from Leah’s point of view. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection A.J. Kandathil is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in Burner Magazine, Newfound Journal, Hippocampus, and The Tottenville Review. She currently writes about the cross-sections between literature and television for Ploughshares , and she is at work on her first book. You can find her on Twitter at @ajkandathil. Website AJ Kandathil About the Artist AJ Kandathil Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art If I could, I'd wrestle with God over one truth in my life: my father had to lie to get me a husband. View Full Written Work LEAH WRESTLES WITH GOD by A.J. Kandathil If I could, I’d wrestle with God over one truth in my life: my father had to lie to get me a husband. My father, Laban as he was known, thought if he got his nephew Jacob drunk enough, if it was late enough, and if my face was veiled enough, Laban could fool him into mistaking one daughter for the other. That’s who I was then—the other daughter. I was older, but Rachel had the kind of beauty that put her ahead of me in every way. For seven years, I’d watched my sister steal secret moments with Jacob. You could feel the spark between them all the way on the other side of our fields. Jacob had always been kind to me, but it was a selfish kindness, a tool to get what he was after. And that was my sister. I was jealous—of course I was. Snaring men had always been so easy for Rachel. I never felt anything but invisible in her company, and I knew I wasn’t beautiful enough to catch Jacob’s eye. I’d also always known that my father was shrewd—just as shrewd as Jacob turned out to be. There wasn’t any ceremony. There were no vows. This was what marriage was: an agreement between two men. When Laban came to me the night of the feast, even I was shocked at his cunning. His plan to exchange my sister for me under cover of darkness seemed like a curse. Had I waited so long to be married only to be yoked to a man who was fooled into my bed? “Jacob didn’t work seven years for me,” I said as my father led me away from the crowd. “He worked for Rachel.” Unaware, my sister threaded her way through the dense clot of guests. She was happy; she still thought this night was for her . Only from a distance could I see how this ignorance adulterated her impenetrable beauty. The party was loud and lit by fire, a blazing star in an empty expanse of farmland. That was our home—open space that stretched beyond our ability to see it, with enough secret spaces to hide so no one could hear you laugh or cry. My father didn’t flinch at my words. Instead, he waved his arm in dismissal. “He won’t even know it’s you until morning, and by then it will be too late,” he said. The farther we got from the feast, the more we hurried. It was already late, and Jacob was waiting in his tent. I’d need to be inside it before my father told Rachel what he’d done.Wait one week, he’d tell his daughter to quell her anger. Let your older sister have one week, then you can marry him, too. Laban had me by the wrist, and I could feel my fingers swelling beneath his grasp. What was he going to do? Throw me at the feet of his nephew? I couldn’t stand the humiliation of it. I might not have been beautiful, but I still had my good sense. I stopped just short of the tent where Jacob had intended to spend the night with my sister. Laban’s arm petrified like a piece of stone. Even though I looked for his eyes in the dark, I couldn’t find them. I wouldn’t ask him if he knew what he was doing. Of course he did. After a minute of silence, he loosened his grip. My father turned toward me and rested his hand on my back, just as he used to do when I was a girl and afraid of the deepest part of the water on the far end of our land. Even then, he’d pushed. “Don’t you want to be married?” Laban asked me. Before he’d been urgent. Now he sounded weary. He’d asked those words, but they didn’t form a true question. If I didn’t marry Jacob, then I’d either never wed, or I’d be wed to an outsider who might take me away. This was the only home I knew, and I didn’t want to leave it. In that brief moment, I saw my father’s deceit for what it might have been—a kindness to me, his eldest daughter, who had always been overlooked. Even he thought of me as the other sister. I’d never find a husband like Jacob on my own, and my father knew it. It was this kindness, even in its deceitful cradle, that undid the tangles of my integrity. This action, for better or worse, would hold our family together. I took a timid step toward Jacob’s tent, and I touched my father’s cloak. “Don’t do this,” I almost said. Almost. The truth was–I did want to be married. But to take what belonged to my sister? That was cruel, even though I’d been forced to share everything with Rachel since the day she was born. She was tireless with her own desire. “If I don’t have that blanket, I’ll just die ,” she’d say during the colder season, or “If I don’t get that apple, I’ll just die .” Rachel had ways of getting what she wanted. That was something she’d learned from our father. “Hurry, now. Hurry.” Laban’s words covered me just like the veil he placed over my head. So I stepped into Jacob’s tent and waited for him to turn toward me. I don’t need to tell you how my heart pounded. I was sure everyone at the feast could feel its vibrations. When Jacob reached for me, I smiled beneath my veil as I reached back. For one week, just one week, I wouldn’t have to share. My wedding night was the best and worst night of my life. I felt beautiful. I felt worthy. Most of all, I felt like myself. A miracle occurred: I was not my sister, and for once, Jacob could not tell the difference. For a moment, I was happy. But by dawn of the next day, the rest of my life began. Just before Jacob opened his eyes, he sighed and rubbed his head. I could tell he had a bad hangover. When he opened his eyes and the previous night’s haze dissipated, he looked confused. Was I Leah and not Rachel, his beloved for whom he’d slaved for seven years? How had he ended up in the wrong tent? I watched the realization of truth creep over him, like a sunrise over the mountains. Laban, his own flesh and blood, had played a dirty trick on him. I was the dirty trick. Jacob didn’t say a word, and he didn’t even try to hide his disappointment. The recognition was devastating for us both. From that morning forward, I started to pay the price of being seen . Before, Jacob had just disregarded me, and now he looked at me with contempt. He couldn’t see who I was. He could only see who I wasn’t. And Rachel’s wrath was even worse. She was used to getting her way, as the pretty ones always are. Do you think I wanted this? I wanted to scream at her. For my husband to be in love with you? But she would never understand that I was the kind of girl who had to take what she could get. After that night, our lives became a jumble of lies and second-bests. Seven days later, Laban came through on his word and gave his second daughter to be Jacob’s second wife. This time, there was no party. The damage had already been done, and no one wanted to celebrate what had occurred at the hands of two liars. Even though I’d had no choice, I’d become my father’s accomplice. I lost the nerve to look anyone in the eye. We all flirted with bitterness. Around our supper table there was never any talk of the twelve tribes or fathering any nations. How could any of that come from a family like ours? We were known by our strife. Our misunderstandings. Disappointments. Loneliness. Attempts at forgiveness. Don’t do this , I almost whispered to my father on that night before the irreversible occurred. It would have changed the course of history, but I wasn’t worried about that. Instead I was haunted by the quiet devastations that constructed my life. I’d never been romantic, but I wanted to be loved, and not just by my husband. By my father, too. For years after our wedding night, Jacob was outraged to be so deceived by my father, but he should have seen it coming. When Jacob lied to his own father to secure his older brother’s birthright so many years before, our crooked story began. Lies beget lies, and liars keep company with their own. Still, a cheater is always surprised when he gets cheated. And some of us just get caught up in the chaos, wondering whether the truth ever mattered. God might not lie, but His people do. Close Loading Video . . . If I could, I'd wrestle with God over one truth in my life: my father had to lie to get me a husband. Download Full Written Work

Bernard Lee The Fruits Of Mercy Loading Video . . . Artist Bernard Lee's work cultivates the thriving that results from shared mercy as encouraged Jude 1:22. Jude 1:22 The Fruits of Mercy By Bernard Lee Credits: Curated by: Michael Markham 2017 Acrylic Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Doubt comes in many different forms: in a brief moment, a season of life or even longer. For believers in particular, even a moment of sin is an expression of doubt in the goodness of God's will for us. We are all in need of receiving mercy in these moments ourselves. Because we remember that we were first the recipients of mercy, so too should we pass on God's mercy so that others may thrive. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Bernard Lee is a Los Angeles based illustrator and a former Art Director and Designer at Scientific American . His past collaborations as an Art Director and his own illustration work have been featured in numerous annuals including the Society of Illustrators, SI-LA and American Illustration. Bernard now works as an illustrator primarily in the field of editorial and publishing. His work can be seen at www.bernardleeart.com . Website Bernard Lee About the Artist Bernard Lee Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

ddu_image2.jpg ddu_image1-resized.jpg ddu_image2.jpg ddu_image3-resized.jpg ddu_image4-resized.jpg ddu_image5-resized.jpg ddu_image6-resized.jpg ddu_image7.jpg ddu_image8-resized.jpg Loading Video . . . Photographer Daniel Du brings us this beautiful set of photographs in response to the theme of "poverty" and Philippians 4:19. Philippians 4:19 Decay and Provision By Daniel Du Credits: Artist Location: New York City Curated by: Brian Dang 2014 16 x24 inches Photography, C Prints (8) Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Walking through the streets of New York, there is a pervasive amount of decay and waste. There is a sense of temporality and fragility in the human structures that cross our paths. Looking closer, there is evidence of the passage of time and the stratification of generations of cultures one on top of another in the peeling of layers and in the accumulation of debris. In this photo series, I look to decay for renewal. Is renewal evident as time wears objects from order to chaos? I think the answer lies in perspective, in the viewer's vantage point. Whether it's how light changes, how compositions are rearranged, or how points-of-view are juxtaposed together, there is room to reflect on all the layers behind the veneer of what we see within a wider context. Looking this way shows evidence of sustainability that transcends these structures and materials. This series reveals an enduring renewal through the passage of time. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Daniel Du is photographer living and working in New York City. Born in Shishou, China, Daniel got his BFA at the University of Texas. Daniel is currently an artist in residence with Transform Arts and is a member of the Long Island City Artists Collective. Website Daniel Du About the Artist Daniel Du Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work