Christine Sun Kim: The enchanting music of sign language
Christine Sun Kim: A música encantada da língua gestual
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.
is my favorite musical symbol.
é o meu símbolo musical preferido.
and you notice a "p" in the score,
e vemos um "p" na partitura,
upon thousands of p's there may be,
e milhares de "p"
of American Sign Language, ASL,
to America during the early 1800s,
na América no início do século XIX,
mixed with local signs,
misturou-se com os sinais locais,
we know today as ASL.
conhecida hoje por ASL.
de mais 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.
que não era nada verdade.
in a world of sound,
que vive num mundo de sons,
in a foreign country,
customs, behaviors and norms
hábitos, comportamentos e normas,
behave and respond to sound.
e reagem aos sons.
and amplify sound.
e amplificam o som.
I've learned that I create sound,
you're eating from the potato-chip bag!"
quando comes batatas fritas!"
your utensils on the plate."
I term "sound etiquette."
a "etiqueta dos sons".
in eager nervous anticipation
numa antecipação ansiosa,
already contain sound
movement is equivalent to sound.
o movimento é equivalente ao som.
with my thumb sticking up like that
com o meu polegar assim
I stick to four lines on paper.
eu só traço quatro linhas no papel.
to travel to Berlin, Germany,
de ir a Berlim, na Alemanha.
I had been working as a painter.
different museums and gallery spaces,
e galerias de arte
de um lado para o outro,
and this struck me ...
foi uma coisa que me chocou,
no meu território artístico.
distance me from art?
have to be the case at all.
just experienced through the ears.
que só é percecionada pelos ouvidos,
taught regarding sound,
em relação ao som,
to the art community,
à comunidade artística,
of support and attention I received.
de apoio e atenção que recebi.
that sound was your thing,
que o som era uma coisa vossa,
disempower me and my artwork,
a mim e ao meu trabalho artístico,
around spoken language.
em torno da língua falada.
my literal voice to communicate,
para comunicar,
it's as if I don't have a voice at all.
se eu não tivesse voz nenhuma.
who can support me as an equal
que me apoiem em pé de igualdade
relevancy in society today.
relevância na sociedade de hoje.
different ASL interpreters.
intérpretes diferentes de ASL.
my voice and identity.
e a minha identidade.
a temporary form of currency,
temporal de valor.
with a very high interest rate.
com uma taxa de juro muito alta.
fade off into oblivion
any form of social currency.
qualquer tipo de valor social.
the similarities between music and ASL.
entre a música e a ASL.
and expressed on paper.
e totalmente expressa no papel.
for a concept in ASL.
and highly inflected --
e com muitas inflexões,
a piano metaphor,
uma metáfora de piano
understanding of how ASL works.
como funciona a ASL.
many different grammatical parameters.
gramaticais diferentes.
to each finger as you play the piano --
a cada dedo, quando tocamos piano,
um movimento corporal,
uma só tecla de cada vez.
to come down simultaneously
a trabalhar em simultâneo
ou uma ideia na ASL.
were to change the chord,
altere o acorde,
different meaning.
totalmente diferente.
in regards to pitch, tone and volume.
à altura, ao tom e ao volume.
different grammatical parameters,
diferentes parâmetros gramaticais,
through a musical lens?"
com lentes musicais?
and repeat it over and over,
e o repetisse vezes sem conta,
like a piece of visual music.
de música visual.
for "all night."
com "toda a noite".
represented in this drawing.
representada neste desenho.
about three different kinds of nights:
em três tipos diferentes de noites.
a lot more musicality than the other two.
musicalidade do que as outras duas.
is expressed in ASL
tempo na ASL
can express the changes in time.
pode exprimir as variações no tempo.
duas horas são duas mãos,
and in front of the body,
e em frente do corpo,
and the past is to your back.
e o passado fica atrás.
is "a long time ago."
"há muito tempo".
and dramatic notion to it,
of four beats per measure.
de quatro tempos por compasso.
a expressão "tempo comum",
is "at the same time."
é "ao mesmo tempo".
LH: mão esquerda.
across the head and the chest.
a hand shape called the "flash claw."
duma mão chamada "flash claw"
in both the head and the chest,
na cabeça e no peito,
or at the same time.
ou "ao mesmo tempo".
in International [Sign].
em língua gestual internacional.
que ajuda a comunicação
around the world.
de todo o mundo.
to demonstrate is this --
queria ensinar-vos é esta.
are very similar,
são muito semelhantes,
significados muito diferentes.
how ASL is alive and thriving,
é viva e pujante,
about what defines social currency
no que é que define o valor social
its own form of currency --
a sua forma de valor,
to lead to a more inclusive society.
a uma sociedade mais inclusiva.
to be deaf to learn ASL,
para aprender a ASL,
to learn music.
para aprender música.
to have the same experience.
a mesma experiência.
to open your ears,
a abrir os 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