Film about Christine Sun Kim
As hearing people we probably rarely, if ever, consider that what are deemed ‘acceptable’ boundaries for sound can present as restricting limits to the deaf and hard of hearing. Deafness is one of the more isolating disabilities that a person can experience, where communicating with hearing people can be severely limited. So, it was really interesting to be introduced (and reminded) of the limits and barriers to communicating that deaf people can face in the hearing world. It was also good to be reminded that other artists/people have challenges they face that may not be apparent just by looking at them. I liked how Sun Kim’s practice drew attention to Sound, and the received boundaries to what’s acceptable/polite that surround it and probably apparent only to those who don’t/aren’t able to operate within those boundaries by the circumstance of their hearing ability. I’m supposing that Christine is profoundly deaf and the film made me think of my own experience as being partially deaf in one ear, which unlike Christine, only restricts my hearing in crowded busy environments. I relate to her somatic experience of sound as a physical entity by way of my love of sound systems and very loud bass that is not only heard but felt throughout the entire body
I am a Black woman of mixed race and suffer discrimination on both counts; like mine, Christine’s position is also intersectional, dealing with being Deaf, Asian and a woman so has race, gender and also disability to contend with. The film reminded me of the importance of remaining aware of others outside my positionality, who experience discriminations that are different from my own. It also challenged me to think about how I can broaden my approach to teaching and ensure I am mindful of ways I can be more inclusive.
In my teaching I can see how this resource could be easily integrated; I teach moving image, and regarding audio I think this film presents a really informative way to introduce different ways to think about using sound in audio and audio visual work, and also what that could mean in terms of inclusion regarding visibility of disabled artists alongside able-bodied artists; it could get students to start considering diversity and difference alongside challenging themselves to work with audio in ways they may not have considered previously.