- CollegeCentral Saint Martins
- CourseMA Art And Science
- Graduation year2023
'Talk to' and 'hear like' Liminilians
The liminal space betwixt and between verbal/hearing communicative agencies and non-verbal/non-hearing communicative agencies is inconspicuous in the current communication system. Through my research, I propose to introduce the term ‘Liminal Space of Communication (LSC)’ to refer to this position, as a space for exchanges of dispositions between verbal and non-verbal communication systems.
People in the Liminal Space of Communication (PLSC) have a single or a combination of speech variances and hearing loss (excluding deafness), in which these conditions are not typically categorised as disability, but affects their quality of life on many fronts.
They use several communication methods in social encounters to recompense the lack of so-called ‘proper’ communication capabilities, like the use of exaggerated prosodies, minutiae of facial expressions, vowel vocalisation and vowel auditory cues, lip reading, mouthing, cross-modality and gestures.
In a social setup, PLSC experience a sense of ‘othering’ due to the non-inclusive approach towards interpersonal communication, which considers the communication methods used by PLSC as only peripherals to main language.
Through my artwork, I want to bring these peripherals to the fore by realising Liminal Space of Communication as means to establish connections between verbal and non-verbal agencies and to question the prevailing norms of interpersonal communication to make it more inclusive.
Final work
Talk to Liminilians - (Part 1 of 'Talk to' and 'hear like' Liminilians)
Interactive installation consisting of AI trained digital entities called 'Liminilians'. Verbal agencies can talk to these entities using vowel sounds.
How To Hear - A prescriptive video (Part 2 of 'Talk to' and 'hear like' Liminilians)
How To Hear - A prescriptive video
Prevailing norms of interpersonal communication in verbal communication systems do not consider certain hearing methods used by people with auditory impairments (excluding deafness) as appropriate or polite behaviours.
Conventional wisdom advises against focusing on the speaker's lips, staring at, or examining their body during conversations. However, lip reading, body language, and facial expressions are vital for individuals with hearing loss to comprehend spoken communication. These visual cues offer additional context and meaning to what is being said, enabling individuals with hearing loss to piece together the information.
This work reassigns the control of interpersonal communication to people in the Liminal space of Communication and draws a set of rules to hear like them. By normalising these hearing methods, current communication becomes more inclusive and omnivorous.
Talk to Liminilians : Interactions and connections with Liminilians
Following vowel vocalisations by participants were observed :
Pitch and Duration variations
Sustaining a Vowel
Two vowels together
Chorus of a single vowel .
People instinctively leaned at close proximity to the work and vocalised the vowels to interact with the Liminilians, as if seeing a fish in an aquarium. The close proximity also enabled intimate encounters, where participants started giving personalities to the entities.
Research and process
'How to Hear" - Drawings created from observations while learning Indian Sign Language
As a part of this research, I joined an Indian Sign language (ISL) beginners' course at Deaf Enabled Foundation, India. From a standpoint of a PLSC, I could observe people of hearing/ speaking communication system consciously and mindfully use exaggerated expressions, gestures, cross-modal information exchanges, lip reading and mouthing, to learn the features of non-hearing/non-speaking communication system. I could visualise the elasticity and permeability of the liminal space being tested and could witness the transition taking place naturally from verbal communication system to a gesture centric communication system. I created a set of drawings from my observations during the course to interpret the natural transitions through the permeable elastic boundaries of liminal space. The drawings became the basis against which 'How to Hear' was contrasted.
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