Ted Audio Collective

This archival episode of Design Matters originally came out in September of 2021.

I wanted the cutting and the needles to be completely precise because I was thinking about

a whole bunch of Henry VIII portrait in a certain way.

And I was thinking about what the word pervert meant in 1994 in my community, especially

when there was a beginning of a divide within our own community.

From the Ted Audio Collective, this is Design Matters with Debbie Milman.

For 17 years, Debbie Milman has been talking with designers and other creative people about

what they do, how they got to be, who they are, and what they're thinking about and

working on.

On this episode, Artis Catherine Obey talks about her photography and her self-portraits.

So what does the word pervert mean?

How do we deal with language?

You know, is this enough of a pervert for you?

Catherine Obey is one of the most preeminent artists of her generation and has made some

of the most indelible images of our time.

Her intimate photographic portraits of queer communities and Los Angeles and San Francisco

put her on the map in the early 1990s.

She also works in landscapes, both natural and urban.

Her black and white photos of empty freeways and strip malls hold up a haunting mirror

of contemporary America.

And once you see some of her self-portraits, I guarantee they will stay with you forever.

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