Christine Sun Kim’s video in Friends & Strangers (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”.
figure 1 – Christine Sun Kim (2019) MOMA, New York.
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]
Your comment about how UAL reduction of staff time and course spaces is constantly increasing barriers for students resonates deeply with me. The way the institution presents itself and how much it demands staff to perform the labour of inclusion as if it was a problem of individual morality and not a transferring of costs and responsibility is so jarring.
Fernanda.
I’ve been meaning to comment on your post for a while now. I ended up reading it a few times to really take it in, understand your perspective, and make sure I could share something thoughtful and constructive in return.
The moment of cringing you described felt very familiar to me. I am sure I have said a few of the things Sun Kim highlights in her piece, “Shit Hearing People Say to Me”. Those memories still make me cringe, and when they do, I remind myself that the best thing I (we) can do is keep learning and strive to do better moving forward.
One part of your post that initially gave me pause was your reference to the UAL context, specifically the idea that reduced teaching hours and limited space “disabled” you. At first, I found that comparison difficult to sit with. My initial reaction was: “But disability, like Sun Kim’s, is not something you can choose or change.”
However, the more I thought about it, especially as a UAL tutor faced with similar structural challenges, the more I understood where you are coming from. Your point is valid, and your frustration is real. Teaching under these constraints can feel disabling, especially when we’re all trying so hard to support students and help them thrive.
Sun Kim’s work is powerful because she turns personal barriers into creative force, and that can be deeply inspiring. It made me wonder: how might we do the same in our own context? Maybe our own challenges could inspire new, more imaginative approaches to teaching like group sessions, peer learning, or other collaborative strategies that make the most of our time and space.
Just a thought to end on: could a change in teaching methods lead to richer outcomes and more meaningful learning experiences for everyone?
Hey Maja
Thanks for your comments. I am glad that the post felt provocative somehow and that you took something from it.
I agree with you that the most powerful creative responses are the ones that can turn constrains and barriers into opportunities. However, ‘constrains and barriers’ are not the same as ‘precarity and scarcity’.
While constrains and barriers affect decision-making and can be turned into opportunity in a supportive environment, precarity and scarcity deplete that environment, shape the economic, political and environmental systems, making the environment scarce and unsupportive.
In the video, Sun Kim acknowledges her supportive environment when she talks about her conditions as a Berlin resident, her access to space and childcare (time). At the same time, she recognises the precarity of her American counterparts, who she says are drown in debts, and do not have access to the same support, something that makes her very angry.
The UAL social model of disability recognises that “we become disabled by barriers in the world around us” and advocates for the supportive environment where the university removes barriers for everyone. But what we are experiencing is an active policy of precarisation of staff and courses which is indeed disabling and beyond our decision-making domain.
No, I don’t think the challenging environment we are facing at UAL (and in the world) can inspire more meaningful learning experience or richer outcomes. This path is leading us towards more scarce and divisive conditions, to more disabilities and amplified inequalities.
Apologies for the lack of optimism.