Ace

Chocolate

Fairtrade Chocolate

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Chocolate in American Sign Language. C handshape moves in circles on the back of base hand. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent brown and white in different stages of the sign. Background is transparent.

End ID]

Hurricane

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Hurricane in American Sign Language. Both hands in H handshape with thumbs touching, dominant hand upesidown. Index and middle fingers wiggle in and out as hands move forward and to the side. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent green, blue, and purple in different stages of the sign.

End ID]

art niche spotlight - De'VIA!!

De'VIA art, standing for "Deaf View/Image Art," is a form of expressive visual art created by Deaf artists!!!

The term was coined in 1989 by nine Deaf artists (Miller [painter], Johnston [sculptor], Sonnenstrahl [art historian], Baird [painter], Wonder [sculptor], Wilhite [painter], Vasnick [fiber artist], Creighton [fiber artist], Lai-Yok Ho [video artist]) collaborating to create expressive artwork to unveil at the Deaf Way Festival and a word to accurately describe their artworks in relation to their deafness. These artists created a mural (below) acting as part of their signatures, serving as the first official artwork made under the De'VIA title.

(Patti Durr, HandEyes)

De'VIA follows a basic criteria of 4 elements:

Deaf/Deaf-Blind expression of affirmation, resistance, and/or liberation

View of the Deaf/Deaf-Blind experience in the world

Imagery/motifs/symbols of the Deaf Experience

Art, Activism, Aesthetics, and Authentic Expressions of the Deaf Experience

(Museum of Deaf History, Arts & Culture)

It can be identified through expression of the Deaf Experience or any variety of it, rather than by the deafness of the artist; in other words, all artwork created to communicate the Deaf Experience in any way is De'VIA, but not all artwork created by Deaf artists is. It can also be identified by Deaf artists' general tendencies to use bold colors with contrasting values, varied texturing, and exaggerated features in relation to hands and faces!!

(DeafArt.org)

some key De'ViA artworks by key Deaf artists!!

(i preface this with a slight body horror cw)

Bell School, Betty G. Miller

Ameslan Prohibited, Betty G. Miller

(part of the first show focused exclusively on art with Deaf Themes, 1972)

Family Dog, Susan Dupor

Art No. 2, Chuck Baird

(De'VIA exhibited at the 3rd and 4th Deaf Studies Conferences, 1993-1999)

Poetic Hand, Paul Johnston

(part of the first national touring exhibit on Deaf Culture Art, 1999)

(artwork timeline and events courtesy of DeafArt.org)

Technology

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID: technology in American Sign Language. Hand in 8 handshape taps the side of base hand in open B handshape. Hands are robotic with frayed red wires coming out of the dominant hand's pinky finger. End ID]

Pig

Sources: SigningSavvy, ASLDeafined

[Image ID: Pig in American Sign Language. Hand in B handshape palm down rests under the chin then changes to Bent-B handshape. Above the hands is a pig face. End ID]

Major

It's my first day back to school. Comment/tag your Major!

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

The Sign for Major in American Sign Language. Both hands in B handshape. Pinky edge of dominant hand slides forward against thumb edge of base hand. Movement is illustrated by arms that are translucent green and blue in different stages of the sign.

End ID]

Mourn

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID:

Mourn or heartbreak in American Sign Language. Hands in C hand shape mirror each other with one hand palm up and the other palm down on either side of the heart. Then they twist as they close into S handshape. Movement is illustrated with arms that are translucent white. There is also a silhouette of a head and shoulders. The arms and silhouette are divided by lines radiating from the heart. Background is black.

End ID]

Outsiders are not not saving a language by learning it.

While I’m personally grateful services like Tribalingual exist, creating some academic access to Indigenous languages, particularly for Indigenous diaspora (if they can afford it), I’m extremely dubious of the notion that a outsiders learning an Indigenous language is somehow “saving” it. There was a testimonial from some white American girl learning Ainu itak, and she spoke of it as if she were collecting some rare Pokemon card before it went out of print or something, framing it in typical dying Native rhetoric. What is she going to do with Ainu itak, except as some obscure lingual trophy?

If you want to save a language, save the people.

Language means nothing without history and culture breathing life into it, and in turn we are disconnected from our history and ancestors without it. Support Indigenous quality of life, ACCESS to quality education, quality health services (mental and physical), land and subsistence rights, CLEAN DRINKING WATER, advocate against police brutality and state violence, DEMAND ACTION FOR MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN.

Damn, if you really want to “save the language” pay for an Indigenous person’s classes for them to reconnect to their mother tongues. I’m not saying outsiders shouldn’t learn languages they’re invited to learn, but don’t pretend like you learning conversational Ainu itak is saving it from extinction.

I forgot to post yesterday but DPAN.TV had an interpreter team for the debate. You can still watch it.

[Transcript from DailyMoth.com:

Do you plan to watch the presidential debate on Tuesday night? Donald Trump versus Kamala Harris? DPAN announced that it would provide ASL interpreters, specifically Deaf interpreters, for the debate. You have to go to the website DPAN.tv. They will stream the debate from ABC News and add interpreters. It is a really nice way to experience the debate because whenever I watched debates with just captioning, it didn’t really show interruptions or crosstalk. The captions can’t keep up. But with interpreters, you can see both candidates talking at the same time, and any interruptions from the moderator. You can feel the tone, the drama, or the flow. Nice! So are you ready for tomorrow (Tuesday) night? 9 pm EST. Go to DPAN.tv. Thank you to DPAN for providing ASL access.

End transcript]

Day 3 of @elliottnotyet's Marchirp

Duck

Sources: SigningSavvy, Lifeprint, ASLDeafined

[Image ID: Duck in American Sign Language hand in 3 handshape in front of mouth opens and closes. End ID]