The enchanting music of sign language | Christine Sun Kim | Summary and Q&A

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The enchanting music of sign language | Christine Sun Kim

TL;DR

This content is about the artist's journey of reclaiming sound as an art medium and the similarities between American Sign Language and music.

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Key Insights

  • 🎵 American Sign Language (ASL) evolved from French sign language mixed with local signs over the past 200 years. It has a rich history and is a visual language.
  • 🎵 The Deaf experience in a hearing world can be likened to living in a foreign country, blindly following its rules and customs. Deaf individuals learn about sound etiquette by watching how hearing people behave and respond to sound.
  • 🎨 Sound can be a powerful tool for artistic expression, as shown by the artist's exploration of sound as a medium in their artwork. Sound is like social currency, and reclaiming ownership of it can empower the artist and their work.
  • 🗣 Individuals who rely on American Sign Language (ASL) for communication often need support from interpreters to be heard and maintain social currency. Interpreters become their voice and hold value in society.
  • 🎹 ASL and music have similarities in their expressive nature. Both ASL and music rely on the manipulation of different parameters, such as handshapes, facial expressions, and pitch, to convey meaning. ASL can be viewed as visual music. ⏰ Time is expressed visually in ASL, with distance from the body indicating past, present, and future. ASL is a living language that is alive and thriving, just like music.
  • 🔊 ASL faces challenges in an audio-centric world. Social currency often relies on sound, excluding ASL. It is important to redefine social currency and promote inclusivity by recognizing and valuing ASL as its own form of currency.
  • 👂 Opening ourselves to ASL and experiencing its visual language can lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Deaf culture. Learning ASL does not require being Deaf, just as learning music does not require being hearing.

Transcript

Interpreter: Piano, "p," is my favorite musical symbol. It means to play softly. If you're playing a musical instrument and you notice a "p" in the score, you need to play softer. Two p's -- even softer. Four p's -- extremely soft. This is my drawing of a p-tree, which demonstrates no matter how many thousands upon thousands of p's there may be, yo... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: What does the musical symbol "p" mean?

The musical symbol "p" means to play softly. When you see a "p" in the score, it indicates that you should play with a softer volume.

Q: How does the number of "p's" in a score affect the volume of the music?

The number of "p's" in a score indicates the level of softness that should be applied. Two p's mean to play even softer, and four p's mean to play extremely soft. However, even with thousands upon thousands of p's, complete silence cannot be reached.

Q: What is the history of American Sign Language (ASL)?

ASL has a history of about 200 years. French sign language was brought to America in the early 1800s and, over time, mixed with local signs and evolved into the language known as ASL today.

Q: How does the speaker, as a Deaf person, understand sound?

As a Deaf person, the speaker understands sound by observing how hearing people behave and respond to sound. Watching their reactions and mirroring their behavior helps the speaker understand how sound works. They have also learned to create sound and observe how people respond to them, leading to a better understanding of sound etiquette.

Summary & Key Takeaways

  • "p" is a musical symbol that indicates playing softly, with more "p's" indicating even softer playing. The speaker's drawing of a p-tree symbolizes that complete silence is never reached.

  • American Sign Language (ASL) has a history of about 200 years and evolved from French sign language mixed with local signs. The speaker, who was born deaf, relates their experience of living in a world of sound as a foreigner.

  • The speaker uses ASL to express sound and music through visual art. They explain the similarities between ASL and music, and challenge the notion that ASL lacks social currency in an audio-centric world.

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