One Week of Lullabies for Roux

Christine Sun Kim, One Week of Lullabies for Roux, 2018, seven tracks, sound, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2020.79.1, © 2018 Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy of the artist and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles

Artwork Details

Title
One Week of Lullabies for Roux
Date
2018
Location
Not on view
Copyright
© 2018 Christine Sun Kim. Courtesy of the artist and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
seven tracks, sound
Classifications
Subjects
  • Performing arts — music — voice
Object Number
2020.79.1

Artwork Description

Through her art, Kim encourages audiences to attend to the links between music and meaning, sound and other senses, perception and interpretation, and various modes of communication. She uses scores, graphical notation and text, and performance and media installations to explore how she and the larger Deaf community establish their own relationships to the world of sound.

Kim wrote a text score for One Week of Lullabies for Roux, guiding seven friends (who were also parents) as they composed original soothing soundtracks for coaxing her own newborn, Roux, to sleep. Kim's instructions called for lullabies without lyrics that emphasized low frequencies, so she would be able to monitor and feel comfortable about the audio she was introducing into her baby's "sound diet." The artist-designed bench evokes a color-coded weekly pillbox, suggesting these songs are daily medicine.

Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies, 2023

Works by this artist (744 items)

William Zorach, Floating Figure, 1922, cast plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.3
Floating Figure
Date1922
cast plaster
On view
William Zorach, The Builder (study for Chase Bank), ca. 1960, cast and patinated plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1971.449.29
The Builder (study for Chase Bank)
Dateca. 1960
cast and patinated plaster
On view
William Zorach, Small Head, ca. 1958-1962, carved stone, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.9
Small Head
Dateca. 1958-1962
carved stone
On view
William Zorach, Child on a Pony, 1934, cast plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1971.449.19
Child on a Pony
Date1934
cast plaster
On view

Related Books

The cover of the publication Musical Thinking New Video Art & Sonic Strategies
Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies 
Exploring the powerful resonances between recent video art and popular music, the exhibition Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies features ten leading contemporary artists and the work.

Exhibitions

Media - 2020.54.1 - SAAM-2020.54.1_2 - 139600
Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies
June 23, 2023January 28, 2024
Musical Thinking explores the powerful resonances between recent video art and popular music.

Related Posts

A photograph of a gallery with headphones on colorful benches
Christine Sun Kim Acquisition adds Sound Art to SAAM’s Collection
This is a photograph of curator Saisha Grayson
Saisha Grayson
Curator of Time-Based Media

More Artworks from the Collection

Paul Manship, August Jaccaci, 1930, plaster relief, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1965.16.42
August Jaccaci
Date1930
plaster relief
Not on view
Anthony de Francisci, World's Fair Medal (reverse), 1964, plaster plaque, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Anthony de Francisci, 1966.51.8
World’s Fair Medal (reverse)
Date1964
plaster plaque
Not on view
Anthony de Francisci, Science Medal Award, 1951, plaster mold/cast, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Anthony de Francisci, 1966.51.21
Science Medal Award
Date1951
plaster mold/cast
Not on view
William Zorach, Fidelity, ca. 1950, cast plaster relief, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1971.449.22
Fidelity
Dateca. 1950
cast plaster relief
Not on view