One of the many things we love about CreativeMornings is the opportunity to explore different, interesting subjects through the lens of each month’s global theme. The concepts and conversations that our speakers come up with never fail to spark a new perspective.
For this month’s theme of Equality—presented by Adobe—we’ve asked Brandon Christopher of CANVASxDetroit to share a few things to get us ready for his talk.
CreativeMornings/Detroit: Don’t give it all away just yet but can you tell us in three words what you’ll be talking about on the 21st?
Brandon Christopher: No spoilers, friends!
CM/D: Why Detroit? What keeps you inspired here?
BC: Detroit is funky. Everywhere I go in Detroit, there is something funky to be found. Street art, community celebrations, people riding horses on the sidewalk, good ass music: all of it funky! How can you NOT be inspired by the funk?? I hope gentrification doesn’t wipe out the funk though!CM/D: What is your favorite project you’ve ever worked on? What would your dream project be?
BC: Every project is my favorite, while I’m doing it! My dream project is one that can leverage the power of art to positively impact people for generations. If I could work on a project that would live into the future the way the Great Pyramids of Egypt or the Sphinx has, that would be my dream!!
CM/D: What do you do when you feel stuck, creatively?
BC: When I feel stuck, I get in the car, turn on some music (probably jazz), and drive through the streets of Detroit. Note: Jazz is a perfect genre to listen to for inspiration, particularly improvisational jazz because through the act of improvisation, the musicians reject the notion and reality of being “stuck.” When a jazzwoman or man improvises, there are no mistakes, there is no getting stuck.
CM/D: If you were not working on your current endeavors, what might you be doing instead?
BC: Hmmmm, I’d probably be in graduate school trying to add more tools to my toolkit! I promised myself that I would earn my Ph.D!
CM/D: What’s your favorite animated gif?
BC: Recently, I discovered a hiphop artist that I enjoy, but after listening to a few songs I couldn’t tell if he was a parody rapper or just a goofball making fun music. So, I googled him and as it turns out, he’s kind of both. In fact, one of his fans turned a comedy video into a GIF that made me smile. I’ll include it on the last slide!
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You can hear Brandon share more of his story in person this week during his CreativeMornings talk at MOCAD. Doors open at 8:30 for coffee, snacks, and mingling, and the talk will begin at 9:00am. As always, the event is free - just be sure to grab a ticket!
Special thanks to our sponsors this month: Adobe, MailChimp, Shutterstock, Wix, Huge Detroit, Threespot, Kind Snacks, Anthology Coffee, and MOCAD.
