CHRISTINE SUN KIM: Unvoiced Communication
Christine Sun Kim (signed CK) is a powerhouse. I first learned about her work through this video by the selby from 2011. CK has since made significant strides in her practice and she is one of the most prolific and well known contemporary Deaf artists working right now. One of the (many) things I am learning from her work, is UNVOICED COMMUNICATION - she creates space for non-spoken sound - not necessarily silence, but rather communication and the conveyance of feeling, memory and message, without spoken words. This for me is a space I feel most comfortable in, and is likely why learning sign language has been one the most transformative learning experiences for me. I have often wished that I had been offered sign language, along side or even instead of, written or spoke languages, which are cumbersome, tiring and often confusing for me. I want to linger on these 3 projects, and consider the ways CK, both in solo and collaborative works, with both hearing and Deaf artists, uses unvoiced communication in performance, lectures and hand-drawn posters.
THIS/ feedback: seeing voice the seven-tone color spectrum, NYC 2013
Christine Sun Kim in conjunction with the Center for Experimental Lectures Feedback: (4-6 of 6)
Seeing Voice The Seven-Tone Color Spectrum, Recess in Soho 41 Grand Street, New York, NY 10013 Sun Kim, in collaboration with the Center for Experimental Lectures, will initiate a conversation led by seven presenters, all of whom will give a lecture without using audible voice. This is the final event in Feedback, Sun Kim’s six-part Session at Recess. Throughout Feedback, Sun Kim, Deaf since birth, has performed auditory investigations that initiate a slippage of audio into visual. Using non-vocal methods of dialogue to form collaborative vision with visitors to Recess and a cast of collaborators, the artist has created multiple aural perceptions through the use of bodies in motion, microphones, delay pedals, and more. For the final iteration of Feedback, Isaac Newton's alignment of the color wheel and the octave will serve as a point of departure for conversations that do not privilege audible voice. Each of the seven presenters is assigned a particular color/note. Some presenters will use their assigned color/note as a place to begin research while others will focus on topics in and around individual voice. Each presenter will engage his or her own specific interests and varied backgrounds. Coming from a variety of disciplines, presenters will offer research-based lectures that critically engage the notion of transmuted, embodied voice. They will employ projected images, laptops, tablets, the physical body, and other communicative tools that do not require their vocal chords. Visitors are free to come and go as they please.
Part 1: Christine Sun Kim (green) (with introductions by Maia Murphy and Gordon Hall)
Part 2: Eugenie Tsai and Tom Finkelpearl (indigo)
Part 3: Jesse Prinz (orange)
Part 4: Corrine Fitzpatrick (blue) (with introductions by Maia Murphy and Gordon Hall)
Part 5: Stephen Lichty (violet)
Part 6: R. Lyon (red)
Part 7: Marc Handelman (yellow)
this / nap disturbance, 2016
Photo: Christine Sun Kim
Live, Frieze London
Carroll / Fletcher Gallery
6 - 9 October 2016
“Whenever I’m at home and someone is asleep, I am expected to be quiet and that makes my “quiet noises” very “loud”. When that person is awake, my “quiet noises” become “quieter” all of a sudden. For Frieze, I produced a score of sounds I am conscious of; these specific sounds range from polite to not-so-polite. They were then conveyed by a group of performers making sounds with controlled/choreographed movements while utilizing domestic items. For example, each performer would tip-toe just quietly enough to be considered “polite” and gradually stomp louder and louder, registering it as “impolite”.”
Performers: Stephen Collins, Brian Duffy, Vilma Jackson, Ace Mahbaz, Ruth Montgomery & Lucas Odahara
