Deem Audio | The Sweet Flypaper Deem Audio

She is a MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow, and University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. In 2014 Willis received the NAACP Image Award for her co-authored book Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery (with Barbara Krauthamer) and in 2015 for the documentary Through a Lens Darkly, inspired by her book Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present. Willis is a creative hero of mine - not only for her own photography, but for her wide contributions to photo education, discourse and the cultural framing of photo history and visual literacy. We get to the heart of Willis’ work, inspirations, and the importance of capturing, retelling and representing the legacies of Black joy through photographic evidence and storytelling.

What a privilege it is to speak with interdisciplinary artist Mel Chin about his wide-ranging, often collaborative 40+ year practice. We get deep into many of Mel’s projects and what brings them all together - the balance of poetry and abstraction with urgent political ideas, and the importance of continuous creative evolution. We also get into some of Mel’s radical interventions on Melrose Place in the 90’s – keep an ear out for some nostalgia.

In this episode, Marquise speaks with Dean Milton S.F. Curry about his life’s work and the importance – and civic duty – of architecture and design on giving shape and energy to cultural and community engagement. Curry, who is currently the Dean (and Professor) at the University of Southern California's School of Architecture has lived a life dedicated to architecture and design, but with a focus on its connection to empathy and social responsibility.

In this episode, Marquise speaks with design legend Paola Antonelli, who has contributed her expertise to MoMA since 2014, serves as the Senior Curator of the Department of Architecture & Design and also Research and Development. We discuss her career and philosophy of design as power. For Antonelli, her “gift” as a creative is to lose herself in objects, in the process of understanding how they work, what’s behind them, and their purpose. Antonelli sees a responsibility in sharing this gift with the world to empower people to make better decisions and take control of their lives. She is the co-host of Design Emergency and received the Smithsonian Institute’s National Design Award in 2006, and in 2007 was named one of the “25 most incisive design visionaries” by Time Magazine.

In this week’s conversation, I speak with Sara Zewde, principal of Studio Zewde, the Harlem-based landscape architecture, urban design, and public art firm. Sara is Assistant Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Hebbert Award for Contribution to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT and the Silberburg Memorial Award for Urban Design. Sara was named the 2014 National Olmsted Scholar by the Landscape Architecture Foundation, a 2016 Artist-in-Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and in 2018, was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's inaugural "40 Under 40" list. Most recently, she was named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow. We explore her voluminous and wide-ranging design methodology - a practice that’s powered by site interpretation, cultural narrative, and a dedication to the craft of construction. Zewde’s philosophy centers on shaping the spaces she designs to reflect and respect their psychological impact on those who will inhabit them.

Deem Audio is an exploratory approach to audio interviews, oral histories, and storytelling. Deem will produce an ongoing series of distinct, five-episode podcast programs that highlight voices and interests within our community—and in some cases focus on specific topics that have especially resonated in print and in our forums.
This fall, we are introducing the Sweet Flypaper with our co-founder Marquise Stillwell (@quisenyc), who sat down with five authors, thinkers, designers and change-makers to discuss the power of design—across disciplines—in creating better conditions for the human experience.
Tune in to the first episode at the link in our bio.