The art and echoes of Christine Sun Kim

14 MINUTES

This artist’s clever work moves Deaf culture from the margins to centre stage

The US artist Christine Sun Kim was born Deaf. Now based in Berlin, she creates art that grapples with the fraught business of communication and her place in a mostly hearing world. This means using language and symbolism in ways that thoughtfully and humorously put her often marginalised experience front and centre. Part of an ongoing series of artist portraits by the nonprofit organisation Art21, this short documentary follows Kim around the globe to explore her confronting yet wry and medium-traversing body of work. This includes a series of black-and-white infographics charting frustrating interactions with non-Deaf people, and an enormous project to caption the buildings, sidewalks and even skies of Manchester in England. Through these bold, political statements, Kim directs attention towards the Deaf community in ways that are impossible to miss.

Video by Art21

Director: Chiemi Karasawa

Producer: Nick Ravich

Explore more

A smiling woman with tattoos at an outdoor festival, surrounded by blurred people and trees in the background.

The trait that makes some people so frustrating – and alluring

Conscientiousness is constantly touted as a virtue, so what’s life like for people with the opposite trait – disinhibition?

by Janan Mostajabi

Photo of an elderly man speaking at a podium with a microphone onstage, wearing a dark suit and glasses.

James Earl Jones reads Kurt Vonnegut on why art is central to a meaningful life

Video by Letters Live

A young person lying on a bed in a cluttered room with a suitcase, laundry basket, chest of drawers and desk, illuminated by window.

For young people, AI is now a second brain – should we worry?

As a resident tutor, I’ve seen how students are using AI as more than a tool. It’s a psychological shift we’ll soon all make

by Rhea Tibrewala

A photo showing a person holding a bouquet of mixed flowers wrapped in brown paper, viewed from above and behind.

The words that make an apology convincing

Research on the psychology of apologising finds that certain word choices are more convincing because of their mental cost

by Alice Gregory

A person in the air, mid-flip, on a grassy hill with distant hills in the background.

How to check if an argument is valid

In logic, validity is prime. If you want to make valid arguments, or sniff out invalid ones, here’s what you need to do

by Robert Trueman

Collage of animal photos with progressively simplified line drawings of a flamingo, giraffe and cat.

From cave art to subatomic sketches – how drawing has accelerated human progress

Video by MIT Quest for Intelligence

People sitting by a small stream in a wooded area during daytime, with sunlight filtering through bare trees.

Whispers in the wind

How I learned to hear the voice of my ancestors and speak Lenape, a language silenced for generations

Krista Nelson, as told to Dawn Fallik

A woman with a headset giving a presentation. She gestures with her hand. The background is wood paneling.

Why the mental health awareness movement needs more precision and fewer vibes

Video by the Royal Institution