Sound Etiquette

Christine Sun Kim coined the term sound etiquette: the social do’s and don’ts of the hearing world that Deaf people are expected to abide by, in order to exist quietly and discreetly.

Through lyric, babble, slam poetry, and soundless closed-captioning, this exhibition seeks to unravel social norms associated with sonic communication. In situations where comprehensible language proves to be insufficient—too linear, too gendered, too exclusionary—these three artists turn to new communication methods.

Image

Sound Etiquette (Installation View). Photo courtesy of Scott Kedy.

Christine Sun Kim, Close Readings (2015). Photo courtesy of Scott Kedy.

Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, The Last Song (2015). Photo courtesy of Scott Kedy.

Sonia Boyce, Exquisite Cacophony (2015), single channel video with second channel captioned by the curator for Sound Etiquette. Photo courtesy of Scott Kedy.

Sonia Boyce, Exquisite Cacophony (2015). Photo courtesy of Scott Kedy.

Continue reading “Image”

Text

May 13, 2017

I – Sound Etiquette

To be legible is to be readable. To be legible is to be coded and contained. Often when asked an uncomfortable question, or faced with an unsettling reality, the rattled respondent ducks and dives with a stammer, a mumble, a sweat, a scrawl, or a nervous tic. The respondent may not be lying, but neither may …

Continue reading “I – Sound Etiquette”

May 13, 2017May 16, 2017

II – Soundless Resonance

As the originator of the term sound etiquette, Christine Sun Kim is keenly aware of society’s conventions around sound. The Berlin-based American artist was born Deaf, and critiques the social expectation that Deaf people should navigate a hearing world quietly and discreetly. Her works in new media, drawing, and performance demonstrate that sound can be …

Continue reading “II – Soundless Resonance”

May 13, 2017May 16, 2017

III – Vocal Transfiguration

The co- in correspondence implies a partnership. It implies that in sending a letter, each party is responding or reacting together—the word is not concerned with who initiated the exchange. Each party, respectively, is responding. A self-proclaimed artist, diarist, and correspondent, Nemerofsky Ramsay’s letters, serenades, and love notes bear the marks of past lovers and …

Continue reading “III – Vocal Transfiguration”