Christine Sun Kim: The enchanting music of sign language
Christine Sun Kim: A encantadora música da língua de sinais
Through visual art, composition and performance, Christine Sun Kim explores ways of transmuting sound and silence. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
meu símbolo musical favorito.
is my favorite musical symbol.
and you notice a "p" in the score,
e percebemos um "p" na partitura,
upon thousands of p's there may be,
de p's possam existir,
o silêncio completo.
definição de silêncio:
sobre a história
of American Sign Language, ASL,
da minha própria história.
to America during the early 1800s,
para América no início dos anos 1800,
mixed with local signs,
se misturou com sinais locais,
we know today as ASL.
conhecemos com ASL.
de cerca de 200 anos.
that sound wasn't a part of my life.
não fazia parte da minha vida.
that that wasn't the case at all.
in a world of sound,
vivendo em um mundo de som,
in a foreign country,
em um país estrangeiro,
customs, behaviors and norms
costumes, comportamentos e normas
behave and respond to sound.
se comportam e reagem ao som.
and amplify sound.
alto-falantes e amplificadores.
I've learned that I create sound,
que eu também crio som
está comendo batatas fritas no pacote!"
you're eating from the potato-chip bag!"
your utensils on the plate."
I term "sound etiquette."
eu chamo de "etiqueta de som".
in eager nervous anticipation
numa antecipação nervosa
already contain sound
movement is equivalent to sound.
movimento equivale a som.
with my thumb sticking up like that
com o dedão para cima
I stick to four lines on paper.
de viajar para Berlim, Alemanha,
to travel to Berlin, Germany,
I had been working as a painter.
different museums and gallery spaces,
diferentes museus e galerias,
and this struck me ...
e isso me impressionou...
o meu território na arte.
distance me from art?
have to be the case at all.
uma experiência auditiva.
just experienced through the ears.
taught regarding sound,
to the art community,
para a comunidade artística,
of support and attention I received.
e atenção que recebi.
that sound was your thing,
que som fosse algo seu,
disempower me and my artwork,
a mim e ao meu trabalho,
around spoken language.
em torno da língua falada.
my literal voice to communicate,
minha voz para me comunicar,
se eu não tivesse voz.
it's as if I don't have a voice at all.
who can support me as an equal
que me tratem de igual para igual
relevancy in society today.
na sociedade de hoje.
e em instituições,
different ASL interpreters.
my voice and identity.
minha voz e identidade.
a temporary form of currency,
temporária de aceitação,
with a very high interest rate.
com elevada taxa de juros.
fade off into oblivion
any form of social currency.
como meu novo meio de arte,
the similarities between music and ASL.
as semelhanças entre música e ASL.
and expressed on paper.
e expressa no papel.
for a concept in ASL.
and highly inflected --
uma metáfora de piano,
a piano metaphor,
understanding of how ASL works.
uma melhor compreensão
many different grammatical parameters.
gramaticais diferentes.
to each finger as you play the piano --
diferente a cada dedo,
movimentos do corpo,
e assim por diante,
pressionar simultaneamente
to come down simultaneously
ou ideia claros na ASL.
were to change the chord,
completamente diferente.
different meaning.
in regards to pitch, tone and volume.
em relação a tom, timbre e volume.
different grammatical parameters,
de vários parâmetros gramaticais,
por uma lente musical?"
through a musical lens?"
e o repetisse várias vezes,
and repeat it over and over,
like a piece of visual music.
for "all night."
se aplica a "noite toda."
represented in this drawing.
representada nesse desenho.
about three different kinds of nights:
a lot more musicality than the other two.
is expressed in ASL
o tempo é expressado na ASL
can express the changes in time.
pode expressar mudanças no tempo.
e em frente ao corpo,
and in front of the body,
e o passado às suas costas
and the past is to your back.
is "a long time ago."
é "muito tempo atrás."
and dramatic notion to it,
de quatro batidas por compasso.
of four beats per measure.
as palavras "tempo comum,"
is "at the same time."
automaticamente é "ao mesmo tempo."
LH: mão esquerda.
across the head and the chest.
na cabeça e no peito.
a hand shape called the "flash claw."
in both the head and the chest,
or at the same time.
na Língua de Sinais Internacional
in International [Sign].
como uma nota
para ajudar a comunicação
around the world.
pelo mundo.
to demonstrate is this --
de demonstrar é esse.
are very similar,
how ASL is alive and thriving,
about what defines social currency
sobre o que define moeda social
sua própria forma de moeda,
its own form of currency --
to lead to a more inclusive society.
para uma sociedade mais inclusiva.
pra aprender ASL,
to be deaf to learn ASL,
to learn music.
vocês tivessem a mesma experiência.
to have the same experience.
to open your ears,
a abrir seus ouvidos,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Christine Sun Kim - Sound artist, composerThrough visual art, composition and performance, Christine Sun Kim explores ways of transmuting sound and silence.
Why you should listen
Christine Sun Kim uses the medium of sound through technology and conceptualism in art, as it enables her to have the most direct connection to society at large.
She rationalizes and reframes her relationship with sound and spoken languages by using audience’s voice as her own, conducting a group of people to sing with facial movements (rather than sound), composing visual scores with sign language and musical symbols. These attempts are made to raise questions on ownership of sound, explore oral languages as social currency, deconstruct preconceived ideas about silence, and above all, unlearn sound etiquette.
As part of her practice, Kim borrows other people’s voices in order to have one and she does it by collaborating with artists such as Devonté Hynes, Thomas Benno Mader, Wolfgang Müller and Alison O’Daniel. Selected exhibitions and performances include: Sound Live Tokyo, Tokyo; White Space, Beijing; LEAP, Berlin; Carroll / Fletcher, London; nyMusikk, Oslo; Andquestionmark, Stockholm; Southern Exposure, San Francisco; Recess Activities, New York; Calder Foundation, New York; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Additionally, she was a recipient of Artist Residency at Whitney Museum, Haverford College, Southern Exposure, Arnolfini, University of Texas’ Visual Arts Center and Fellowship at TED and MIT Media Lab.
Christine Sun Kim | Speaker | TED.com