Christine Sun Kim’s physical exploration of sound deeply resonates with my own desire to inspire students to investigate creative practices in different ways (Saltzman, 2011). In some of my drawing classes, for example, I encourage students to reflect on what mark making means to them, and how they might approach it within their own creative practice – beyond the use of pen on paper.
Christine Sun Kim says that she is reclaiming sound as her own property, after previously believing that only those with access to sound naturally own it and have a say about it (Saltzman, 2011). There is something incredibly empowering in this, similar to the more ‘radical’ approaches The Horizontals express in their TEDxBrum video (Not all disabilities are visible, 2017), i.e. doing things the same way they’ve always been done no longer works. It would be interesting to use the two films as actual learning resources, using them to prompt discussion or reflection around students’ own positionality towards drawing, or other creative subjects, before or at the beginning of specific drawing activities.
Enabling and empowering students to approach drawing from a personal perspective, guided self-design and self-empowerment, also includes students of all abilities by design, and aligns with the Social Model of Disability.
A majority of students in my teaching context are from Black, Asian, or minority ethnic backgrounds. As Vilissa Thompson points out in her #DisabilityTooWhite interview (Blahovec, 2016), there is plenty of space for additional conversations around how students from different backgrounds experience not just living with disabilities, but also the support available to them. I want to ensure that the learning activities I design remain flexible and open enough for students to speak freely about their own experiences including the support they may want.
Khairani Barokka beautifully, although painfully, speaks of some of their rich and complex personal experiences, and how they may or may not align with “capitalist infrastructure, including the neoliberal structure of arts organisations and funding” (Barokka, 2017) . Creating spaces for such frank considerations in students’ academic experience can be vital to their learning as well as overall experience.
I am curious to see how I could enable students to feel more empowered, possibly through evaluating and constructing their own narratives within their practices, as well as storytelling techniques. What is the student’s own, unique story and retelling of their story? What is the student’s position within the world? How could they apply this within and to their own practice?
See my comments on other posts on this topic
- Sarah Leontovitsch’s blog
- Sarah Masters’ blog
- Simon Bank’s blog
- Tonicha Child’s blog
- Tonia Vassell’s blog
- Susana Guinau Molina’s blog
Further notes and reflections
The guided approach to self-design and self-empowerment supports students in their learning. Even more, students may also find it helpful to consider other students’ abilities when collaborating, and these sources may empower them to approach projects with more understanding and respect for each other’s differences. It might also be a good springboard to make students understand the support available through UAL’s disability and dyslexia services. Considerations should be made around how these services were designed, how they are provided, and how students experience them.
Multidisciplinary sound artist Ubuntu (2020, p.177) outlines in their article that there is a “paradox of invisibility and hypervisibility inherent in intersectional oppression” that doesn’t always allow for openness and disclosure. As educators, this is something we must respect, even through our attempts to empower students to be their most authentic selves.
Bibliography
Barokka, Khairani (2017) Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22 (3). pp. 387-392. ISSN 1470-112X
Blahovec, S. (2016) “Confronting the Whitewashing Of Disability: Interview with #DisabilityTooWhite Creator Vilissa Thompson,” Huffpost, 28 June. Available at: www.huffpost.com/entry/confronting-the-whitewash_b_10574994 (Accessed: May 7, 2023).
Not all disabilities are visible. (2017) YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhXcP65h0sI (Accessed: May 5, 2023).
Saltzman, D. (2011) Christine Sun Kim, vimeo. A Selby Film. Available at: https://vimeo.com/31083172 (Accessed: May 5, 2023).
UAL (2023) Disability and dyslexia, UAL. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/student-services/disability-and-dyslexia (Accessed: May 7, 2023).
Ubuntu, R. (2020) “An Inquiry Into Disability + Intersectional Identities,” Disabled People: The Voice of Many, pp. 174–177. Available at: https://issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/disabled_people (Accessed: May 7, 2023).