Christine Sun Kim ‘s practice considers how sound operates in society, deconstructing the politics of sound and exploring how oral languages operate as social currency. Working across drawing, performance, video and large scale murals, Kim explores her relationship to spoken and signed languages, to her built and social environments, and to the world at large.
In I.O.U 4 U. S.A, drawing from popular culture much like Kent, Kim uses a Simpsons reference to humorously critique and advocate for changes in American society. Visually repeating hands holding the note, Kim acknowledges the quotation but also notes, “when I am on a platform and I’m engaging—I’m actually being echoed and repeated through the use of an interpreter, [and] that’s how people also process my work, and so I like to recognize that,”
Kim alludes to larger national issues and pulls from her own personal experiences. LESS KANDERS refers to Warren Kanders, former Whitney Museum vice chair. In 2019, Kim was one of eight artists organized by the collective, Decolonize This Place, who requested their work be removed from the prestigious Whitney Biennial to call attention to Kander’s profit from the sale of chemical weapons, including tear gas, used against migrants and protesters.
In her note requesting ACTUAL DEAF UBER DRIVERS, Kim refers to the practice of Uber drivers identifying as deaf, according to Kim to either to avoid speaking to passengers speaking English, if it is not their first language., this leads to disappointment when she discovers that although they indicated they are deaf in the app, they are not.
Christine Sun Kim, still from I.O.U. 4 U.S.A., 2021. HD digital video, edition of 3, 1AP, 2 min 0 sec. Courtesy of Christine Sun Kim and François Ghebaly Gallery