Vibration
With Olivier Jamin
“One of the most common misconceptions surrounding music for deaf people is that vibration must be the only form of access.”
Birmingham-based artist Olivier Jamin was chosen to visually interpret Ruth’s vision of ‘vibration’ on a single canvas.
This large piece of artwork is the product of an extended conversation with Deaf visual artist, Olivier Jamin, and three other professional Deaf musicians from the Forte Ensemble. During the conversation, the group discussed individual experiences of vibration and music, and talked about different perspectives on the topic.
In this work, Olivier’s own hands, seen at the top of the picture, are connected to the word ‘Vibration’. For Olivier, as a Deaf person who is also a non-musician, vibration is certainly important to his musical experience. However, vibration is just one area of music, to which Olivier is restricted.
The four other pairs of hands are those of the Forte Ensemble members. As professional Deaf musicians, these hands are connected to a much wider range of words surrounding the border including ‘pitch’, ‘rhythm’, ‘expression’ which all make up the elements of music. On the outer border, what we receive from being a musician is ‘ownership’, ‘knowledge’, ‘imagination’, ‘culture’, ’confidence’ ‘awareness’, and even ‘money’. These are all concepts which are used and understood on a daily basis by professional musicians, and together, they make up a complete picture of sound. When taking all of these words into account, suddenly the word ‘vibration’ – which was previously bold, bright, and eye-catching – seems to sink into the background as just one of the many other elements of music.
