Christine Sun Kim & Thomas Mader

Christine Sun Kim & Thomas Mader

USA&Germany

Since 2013, Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader have collaborated on a shared practice addressing the complexities of communication in a variety of formats. Their selected group exhibitions include: Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo; Galerie Crone, Vienna; Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne; Times Art Center, Berlin; Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 2018 they had their first solo exhibition at Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.

 

Christine Sun Kim was born in California, USA, in 1980 and lives in Berlin. She uses the medium of sound in performance and drawing to investigate her relationship with spoken languages and the aural environment.

 

Thomas Mader was born in the South of Germany in 1984 and lives in Berlin. He is a research based artist who works with themes related to national identity, storytelling and communication.

Tables and Windows

Christine Sun Kim & Thomas Mader

 

2016

HD video. color.  9′14″ (Tables) and 10′16″ (Windows)

1920 × 1080, 16:9 ratio

 

More than half of American Sign Language (ASL) is conveyed through the face, rather than manual gestures. In Tables and Windows, Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader combine facial expressions and hand gestures, to perform a double reed in sign language. By adopting the format of the classicimprov game known as "helping hands, " in which the arms of the "voice"player are hidden behind the back and replaced with those of the "arm"player, they sign precise descriptions of various tables and windows. Hand signs act as "classifiers" to designate type, shape,and size, while face markers—such as eyebrow or lip movements—provide nuance that can alter or further contextualize the meaning.

 

The gap between the two artists' bodies forms a "cached space", where the thoughts and emotions of these two intimate lovers are communicated and implicated invisibly，but visually conveying tones full of emotions.

Tables and Windows

Christine Sun Kim & Thomas Mader

 

2016

HD video. color.  9′14″ (Tables) and 10′16″ (Windows)

1920 × 1080, 16:9 ratio

 

More than half of American Sign Language (ASL) is conveyed through the face, rather than manual gestures. In Tables and Windows, Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader combine facial expressions and hand gestures, to perform a double reed in sign language. By adopting the format of the classicimprov game known as "helping hands, " in which the arms of the "voice"player are hidden behind the back and replaced with those of the "arm"player, they sign precise descriptions of various tables and windows. Hand signs act as "classifiers" to designate type, shape,and size, while face markers—such as eyebrow or lip movements—provide nuance that can alter or further contextualize the meaning，but visually conveying tones full of emotions. 

 

The gap between the two artists' bodies forms a "cached space", where the thoughts and emotions of these two intimate lovers are communicated and implicated invisibly.

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