the enchanting music of sign language

Cristine Sun Kim: the enchanting music of sign language

 

The speaker would share a little bit about the history of american sign language (ASL). French sign language was brought to american during the early 1800s, and mixed with local sign then evolve into language that we know now as ASL.

As a deaf, the speaker must believe that sound wasn’t part of her life. She observes how people behave and respond to sound. She create sound that she term sound etiquette, such as for saying “don’t slam the door” and she does movement of it that make people understand. She thinks sound etiquette more than the average hearing person does. In deaf culture movement is equivalent to sound. She had been working as a painter, one day she visited museum, but she didn’t find visual art, it’s auditory. She started creating a new body of work and presented this for art community. She realizes that sound like money, power, control, social currency that disempower her and her artwork. She tries to communicate with individuals, they can help her to communicate with others (like borrowing sound).

With sound being her art medium, she delved into world music, she finds the similarities between music and ASL. For example musical not, cannot be fully expressed on paper same with concept in ASL, meaning the subtle changes can affect the entire meaning to both sign and sound.

ASL is divided into many different grammatical parameters, if we assign a different parameter to each finger as you play the piano such facial expression, body movement. All 10 fingers need to come down simulation to express a clear concept or idea in ASL. However nowdays we live in  audio centric world and just because ASL has no sound for it, automatically holds no social currency, we need to start thinking harder about what defines social currency and allow ASL to develop its form of currency without sound and this could be a step to lead a more inclusive society.