Digital technologies radically expand the possibilities of contemporary life. However, at the heart of our complex and diverse technologic communities lies the simple truth of digital life: the either/or logic of binary code. The 2012 UND Arts and Culture Conference focuses on the ways in which contemporary public life is enriched by a multitude of creative activities and channels for human expression. At the same time, the conference hopes to draw attention to the powerful, and sometimes overlooked, influence digital technologies have on the choices we make when we create cultural objects and express our sense of self and community.

The 2012 UND Arts and Culture Conference includes a series of public events that showcase the relationship between the arts and contemporary public life. At the center of the conference is, Binary Inventions, an exhibition of a print portfolio made exclusively for theBinary Inventions conference. Housed at the Third Street Gallery in downtown Grand Forks, the exhibition invited 13 artists to digitally create a print that represents our contemporary digital condition. This year’s conference will also include showcases of digital creativity at the Empire Arts Center, including a recital focused on the integration of digital technologies and classical musical performance and a screening and discussion of mixed-media animations. In addition to artistic performances, the conference includes a series of talks and presentations by individuals working in various fields of digital cultural production, including artists and journalists, all of whom will sit down together for a panel discussion on the relationship between the arts and culture in a digital age.

In an effort to demonstrate the expansive modes of digital creativity in contemporary life, Binary Inventions has invited avariety of creative individuals to the University of North Dakota and the Grand Forks area to talk about their processes, perform and present their digitalworks, and converse with each other and the community about the relationship between the arts and culture in a digital age.  The conference’s participants are Erik Beehn, formerly of Los Angeles’ Gemni G.E.L. fine art publishing house; Andy Ihnatko, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and Macworld; Keith Kirchoff, pianist and electro-acoustic composer, Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter, the animation team that is Tiny Inventions; and Greg Wyshynski, editor of Yahoo! Sports’ hockey blog Puck Daddy. Thanks to the participation of these visiting artists, the conference provides a broad array of perspectives on digital creation and digital culture.