Artist Christine Sun Kim on How Her Deaf Rage Grew Into Deaf Wrath
Artist Christine Sun Kim reflects on the concept of wrath in the context of her identity as a deaf person, describing a lecture-performance in which she shows gruesome clips of deaf characters being killed in television and film. She recounts a personal moment when a hearing family member texted her about a new gene therapy for deafness, calling it “amazing,” which she interprets as part of a broader eugenicist narrative that seeks to eliminate deafness. Kim contrasts this with the progress she witnessed after the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed in 1990, including captions, interpreters, and access to education, which enabled her to become an artist. Now, she says, that progress is eroding, and her earlier “Degrees of Deaf Rage” has escalated into wrath.