Here is my inspire submission for this creation. You can find the original blog post here.

I’ve always loved hearing the personal stories that inspire or influence art. Some people might argue that you should appreciate the piece on its own and not just because there’s a great meaning behind it. I can understand this, and definitely agree that pieces should be considered outside of their creator, but I also think sharing such personal things through art should be celebrated.

Imran’s mash-up of breast cancer related news and talk show clips with Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” was a really interesting and creative combination to begin with; one I would never think of myself. But then, as part of his process, he discussed his personal experience of his mother having breast cancer. I think that took the piece to the next level and not only showed how much love he has for his mother, but also how he’s able to channel that into creative pieces like this audio mash-up.

This inspires me to draw from my own life experiences and express it through art. A lot of this class has been riffing on The Wire, which is fun, but I think sometimes we forget that we can make our art discuss more personal and significant things. Plus, it’s very bold of any person to share something like this with a whole bunch of strangers.