Christine Sun Kim’s video in Friends & Stranges (Video 3 – Art 21) was the video that really spoke to me, and it is not because I identify with her disability. I still cringe remembering my reaction when a sign language interpreter told me that there was not such a thing as “one” sign language, to which I indignantly replied “Why?”. A question that Sun Kim documented in a piece of work entitled “Shit hearing people say to me”.
The two aspects of her work which I found fascinating are the use of universal infographics and visual art as creative and analytical tools to unpick and examine her own positionality and emotional responses to the world around her. And her engagement and contextual responses to space, cities and people.
Echo is an idea related to space and time. And ideas of echo and repetition from sign language form the basis of Sun Kim’s visual language, which she uses as a reflective and analytical tool not only to examine her intersectional identity (deaf, sign language “speaker”, women, mother, recipient of free childcare, Berlin resident, collaborator) but to develop a real sensibility towards world around her.
Sun Kim’s work talks about different modes of discrimination and privilege, and gives visibility to what cannot be heard or seen. Visibility is the recurrent theme in videos 2, 3 and 4, embodied as scale by Sun Kim, and as the space and time to shine in the Paralympics to athlete Ade Adepitan. Visibility, it is argued, has the power to transcend the barriers of the world, to create convergence and connection and “shape social norms” (Video 3 – Art 21).
UAL context
Space and time for teaching and learning have been consistently slashed by the University in the 3 years I have been teaching the design module in the BA Architecture at CSM. From 24 weeks in 2022-23 to 18 weeks in 2024-25, students and design tutors have seen an enormous reduction in teaching time. Because the most dramatic cut happened from the last to the current year (a total of 4 weeks), and this reduction was implemented alongside a new summative assessment in the end of block 1 (oct- jan), the overall impact of these changes can yet not be visualised.
As a direct result of these decisions, students were left to their own resources, required to work more independently, and to face and additional high stake assessment (Russel 2010) in the middle of their learning journey. Attendance to the design studio sessions in Block 2 (feb-may) is the lowest by far when compared to previous years, especially among students awarded lower marks for their Block 1 submissions (oct – jan).
As a hpl tutor, I feel that the changes disabled me. I am required to deliver the same course for the same number of students, but with 20% less time and space. Perhaps the students are feeling disabled too. These decisions were not taken with “everyone in mind” or to “remove barriers” (video 1 – UAL Disability Service). And I can only see the retention and awarding gap in this module widening up this academic year.
References:
Video 1:
University of the Arts London. The Social Model of Disability at UAL. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNdnjmcrzgw&t=2s
Video 2:
Paralympics GB (2020). Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism. 16 October. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Video 3:
Art21 (2023). Christine Sun Kim in “Friends & Strangers” – Season 11 | Art21. 1 November. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI&t=83s (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Video 4:
ParaPride (2023) Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023. 13 December. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc&t=15s (Accessed: 26 April 2025).
Russell, M. (2010). University of Hertfordshire Assessment Patterns: A Review of the Possible Consequences. [online] Available
at: < https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/aflkings/files/2019/08/ESCAPE-AssessmentPatterns-ProgrammeView.pdf> [Accessed 17 Mar 2025]