Community Interpreting

2003

Bettina Henkel (AT)

The video installation Community Interpreting with DVD players controlled in sync is part of the artistic program of the opening reception of Ars Electronica 2002 and the Linzer Klangwolke.

In this work two deaf persons, a woman and a man, tell each other jokes in sign language – sign-language jokes. These jokes are specifically based on visual, spatial and motional elements for which there is no equivalent in spoken language and which cannot really be translated. Sign language differs from spoken language in that it is non-linear in structure. Content, consisting of iconographic and arbitrary portions, is represented 'as movement' and 'in space.' The title 'Community Interpreting' comes from the context of translation studies and refers to the inscrutable context-sensitive aspects of interpreting/translating.