Christine Sun Kim: The enchanting music of sign language
كريستين سون كيم: موسيقى لغة الإشارة الساحرة
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.
"p" هو الرمز الموسيقي المفضل لدي.
and you notice a "p" in the score,
"p" في النوتة،
بنعومة أكثر،
بنعومة الى أبعد حد.
upon thousands of p's there may be,
of American Sign Language, ASL,
to America during the early 1800s,
mixed with local signs,
لغة الإشارة المحلية،
we know today as ASL.
لغة الإشارات الأمريكية.
that sound wasn't a part of my life.
that that wasn't the case at all.
صحيحاً على الإطلاق.
in a world of sound,
in a foreign country,
customs, behaviors and norms
ومعاييره دون تفكير
behave and respond to sound.
وكيف يستجيبون له.
and amplify sound.
وأيضاً مضخمات الصوت.
I've learned that I create sound,
إحداث صوتٍ،
you're eating from the potato-chip bag!"
رقائق البطاطا! "
your utensils on the plate."
I term "sound etiquette."
in eager nervous anticipation
already contain sound
على الصوت
movement is equivalent to sound.
with my thumb sticking up like that
مع إبهامي عالق
I stick to four lines on paper.
خطوطٍ في رسوماتي.
to travel to Berlin, Germany,
برلين، ألمانيا،
I had been working as a painter.
different museums and gallery spaces,
مختلفة،
and this struck me ...
وهذا إذهلني كثيراً..
distance me from art?
have to be the case at all.
just experienced through the ears.
taught regarding sound,
to the art community,
of support and attention I received.
that sound was your thing,
شيء خاص بكم،
disempower me and my artwork,
around spoken language.
my literal voice to communicate,
it's as if I don't have a voice at all.
على الإطلاقِ.
who can support me as an equal
كشخص مثلهم
relevancy in society today.
على الصلات داخل المجتمع.
different ASL interpreters.
الإشارة الأمريكية.
my voice and identity.
a temporary form of currency,
بشكل مؤقت،
with a very high interest rate.
fade off into oblivion
any form of social currency.
الاجتماعي.
the similarities between music and ASL.
الموسيقى ولغة الإشارة.
and expressed on paper.
الورق بعد الاستماع إليها.
for a concept in ASL.
الإشارة الأمريكية.
and highly inflected --
a piano metaphor,
understanding of how ASL works.
الإشارات الأمريكية.
many different grammatical parameters.
نحوية مختلفة.
to each finger as you play the piano --
عند عزف البيانو--
في آن واحد.
to come down simultaneously
في الوقت نفسه
واضح أو فكرة .
were to change the chord,
different meaning.
in regards to pitch, tone and volume.
يتعلق بالحدة والنغمة وقوة الصوت.
different grammatical parameters,
النحوية،
النظر إلى
النظر إلى.
through a musical lens?"
منظور موسيقي؟"
and repeat it over and over,
like a piece of visual music.
for "all night."
represented in this drawing.
about three different kinds of nights:
من الليالي:
a lot more musicality than the other two.
أفضل من الكلمات الأخرى.
is expressed in ASL
can express the changes in time.
التغييرات الحاصلة مع الوقت.
and in front of the body,
قريبة من الجسم،
and the past is to your back.
أما الماضي فبالإشارة للخلف.
is "a long time ago."
and dramatic notion to it,
of four beats per measure.
لكل قياس.
is "at the same time."
"في نفس الوقت".
وتعني هذه اليد اليسرى.
across the head and the chest.
a hand shape called the "flash claw."
in both the head and the chest,
or at the same time.
in International [Sign].
الدولية.
،كملا حظة،
around the world.
to demonstrate is this --
الإشارة الأمريكية.
are very similar,
لحد كبير،
how ASL is alive and thriving,
الإشارات نابعة بالحياة ومزدهرة،
about what defines social currency
طريقة تعريف الرواج الاجتماعي
its own form of currency --
الخاص من الرواج--
to lead to a more inclusive society.
على مجتمع شامل.
to be deaf to learn ASL,
لغة الإشارات،
to learn music.
to have the same experience.
to open your ears,
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