Leonardo da Vinci – …And the Truth Shall Set You Free.

How Deaf People Changed Leonardo da Vinci’s Life

December 24, 2019 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

I am glad to see H3 World TV, a Deaf signing centric news, to do a story about Leonardo da Vinci on December 18, 2019, under SportsDeaf Winter: Italy-Day 6. You should watch the video with the YouTube link below.

The statue of Leonardo is beautiful. The story was about Leonardo da Vinci holds a high and true loyalty with Deaf people. The definition of truth is being loyal, something that is real, factually correct, accurate or provable. Leonardo knew that Deaf people’s eyes were masterminding an invisible gate. Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest thinkers in humankind.

September 2013: My brother and I grabbed this opportunity to visit Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds at National Air & Space Museum inside Wright Brothers Gallery.

October 2015: I was honoured to give a lecture: Composition in Values: The Art and Deaf Studies of Leonardo da Vinci at Gallaudet University where we discussed how much his work was influenced by Deaf presence.

He knew that Deaf presence would become a creative biography for one of the greatest Renaissance artists, thinkers, and inventors, to challenge the status quo of culture and history how Deaf people would surround around Leonardo da Vinci’s presence to recognize the beauty of human nature.

The quote by Leonardo: “The human being, creature of eyes, needs the image.”

The book, Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson, the New York Times had rated this book as the national bestseller for a good run and I enjoyed reading that book along with other books like Math and the Mona Lisa and How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci. His greatness influenced critical thinkers around the world among us. It is forever grateful. Although, it is too bad that Walter Isaacson did not write about how important Deaf people were in Leonardo’s life.

In 2004, while taking an Art History class for a community college, I grabbed an opportunity to write 15-page essay about Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks, and learned that Leonardo had greatest students, one of them happened to be Deaf for one of the masterpieces, The Virgin of the Rocks, known as Madonna of the Rocks in which Mary’s right hand is seen to represent the manual letter L; the angel’s hand is the letter D; and the baby Jesus’s hand, the letter V.

Leonardo believed in his two Deaf apprentices to use the eyes because he knew that their eyes are beyond powerful than nothing can measure the perception so powerful that cannot be overlooked.

At the same time, Leonardo writes in his personal notebooks: “Do you not see how many and how varied the actions which are performed by men alone are?”

For Deaf people, seeing something understanding.

The attachment of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting–Leonardo, the Renaissance painter, had observed sign language by one of his students, Ambrosio de Predis, the son of Christoforo de Predis (1440-1486), a Deaf artist from Milan. Leonardo was so marvelled that he painted his initials by using the letters from the manual alphabet, LDV–see the circled hands in this portrait to honour his own experiences with sign language and his collaboration with the users of sign language.

This work of Leonardo da Vinci is indeed one of the most amazing stories ever told.

Not only that, Leonardo da Vinci being the first Renaissance artist who imitates sign language in one of his paintings, and his influence on Raphael is also realized in his painting, School of Athens, in which sign language is used and learn from the expressivity of the Deaf.

As I learned about the School of Athens in the same art history class above and learned the Golden Ratio rule, I have been inspired to do the more serious reading and research how much Deaf people contributed to the world, especially during Leonardo da Vinci’s time only years later. How come the art world does not discuss enough how much Deaf people contributed to Leonardo da Vinci’s works that will never be at that moment?

What was the intent beneath the inconsistencies in the character of Deaf people? What would be Leonardo da Vinci’s motivation to simply reveal his own thoughts through the PEOPLE of the EYE? Respect? Stopping the practice of satire, a mockery of people of the eye?

Deaf people’s eyes will never be challenged, and society continues to stigmatize Deaf people as undeniable examples of human agency, complicity, self-glorifying in society.

At that very moment, Leonardo knew that Deaf people had been the walking, signing, living, and breathing definition of a character. It is indeed a powerful voice of reason.

-JT

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Reference:

First Deaf Scholar in America

December 26, 2017December 26, 2017 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

Pablo Picasso and the Deaf

April 8, 2017April 8, 2017 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

Spring Awakening: Are We Being Language-Bastardized With Choice?

December 13, 2015April 13, 2017 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

After watching The Daily Moth to talk about Spring Awakening: Accessibility for Deaf interview between Jehanne McCullough, an activist, DJ Kurs, Deaf West Artistic Director and Linda Bove, American Sign Language (ASL) Master. McCullough protests the theatrical stance on Sim-Com (simultaneous communication, meaning signing and speaking at the same time) promoting Kurs and Bove to reconvene by interview as viewers occupied their time to watch why it is OK for Kurs and Bove to say that Sim-Com is good for the audience in theatre settings. That is a political marketing right there.

Tom Humphries wrote “Talking Culture, Culture Talking”, we the Deaf often told stories but we don’t know about “hearing” stories. I am not talking about stories we acquired from, say, Shakespeare, da Vinci and the like. I mean stories about when, where and how they discovered the Deaf. In theatre, there are three phenomena: (1) stories, (2) actors/actresses and (3) audience. We had been rehearsing in these triads. Our stories must be accurate; we must act them out; and the audience must appreciate them. Simple. All three phenomena are in ASL—no questions asked. Is the theatre a stronghold of this Sim-Com policy, the language bastardization?

Kurs and Bove does not meet the qualifications, which ranged from failing to vigorously oppose and hold discussions on apparent attempts to organize a “Sim-Com” in theatre. Kurs and Bove does not respect Deaf people’s preference to have ASL only——they are publicly disrespecting and demeaning, and breeding an environment that can cause language hegemony towards Deaf people. They were defensive on that part. Notice that they said the same thing when they said that Sim-Com is not allowed in educational settings, but theatrical sets, yes! They coached each other to make sure they are on the same page.

Charges of Sim-Com dominated statements made by McCullough after the show, I applaud McCullough for bringing it out the truth that it hurts Deaf people in long run to change the theatrical settings to promote healthy and inclusion, and listen to any suggestions the Deaf community would be happy with. There is one of couple things that Bove mentioned that Deaf West is not an ASL-centered theme, but a sign language theatre. That breeds a great deal of language hegemony—does Bove even realize what she was saying like that?

The chilling part is that when Kurs said that hearing people do not understand ASL—therefore, Deaf people cannot understand spoken English to make it even out. What is that supposed to mean? That is not even scholarly answer. Theater is all about knowledge that requires education, it is one of the greatest way to introduce the issue of human rights, and how Deaf people can be human rights champions right in their own communities by using ASL. That can be also incorporated in larger theatrical themes of celebrating diversity, encouraging tolerance, prevent “hearing-dominated” language, bullying, and resolving conflict in constructive ways. Not only that but Kurs and Bove do not realize that Audism is prevalent in theatrical settings they allow to make it happen.

From the show, Spring Awakening, it is huge disappointment that they allow signing and speaking at the same time allows language marginalization—does hearing actors on the theatre settings sounds funny and ungrammatical when following the Sim-Com policy? Think about that. I understood the importance of theatrical settings because of my experience as an actor for Deafhood Monologues. It was a huge wake-up.

2015-09-08 spring-awakening-splash.jpg

DJ Kurs and Linda Bove need to apologize for being insensitive feelings for Deaf citizens. Commit Deaf West to ASL-centered to fulfill their demands. Admit that Sim-Com is a failure to prioritize the education of Deaf people during show.

Finally, acknowledge Sim-Com is built on false myths taken from hearing educators, honors language bastardization, appropriates Deaf culture in some of its art and stories and asserts the legacy of hearing supremacy and its language must be stopped.

Links:

https://jehanne.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/10-things-the-raving-reviews-dont-tell-you-about-spring-awakening-2/

-JT

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Deaf Returned Citizens: The Key to the Liberty

March 26, 2015March 20, 2016 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

“The work our hands do at the command of our eyes is infinite.”

—Leonardo da Vinci (c.1490)

Remember the ‘80s TV show,The A-Team? Good times! Now there is a team called The F-Team in 2015. They promote hate speech targeting Deaf people—their own people. I draw the line when a Deafhood-hater use the Internet who targets Deaf people by throwing offensive hate messages. Every group being fair game to this unsavory person makes this practice acceptable? The message we are missing is the lack of democracy for cultural diversity, especially for the oppressed people (e.g.; Deaf returned citizens) who are still rejected to this day by the mainstreamed society and who are not empowered yet. That is the key.

How would Deaf returned citizens feel if the Deafhood-hater and its peers approve a show of mocking and degrading them? What kind of message is this sent to the Deaf returned citizens and their families who struggle against discrimination and prejudice on a daily basis?

What about the self-esteem of those Deaf returned citizens already demoralized by the extensive Audism in Deaf community? To add the salt on the wound, Deafhood-hater’s show is not being financed for their money via website’s fees. Those people can practice hate speech elsewhere—-something is very wrong with this picture degrading its own minority groups.

The Deafhood hater needs to examine at what price to their self-esteem and pride in themselves as Deaf people are they being asked to sacrifice when they permit the hater to continue on the rights of hate speech.

It is important to be aware that the Deaf eyes are the infinite at our command to express hands that is, the work of sharing stories. The society we live is to convey a message that it reiterates to them that the intention ill had been directed their human rights. Their strength as a Deaf returned citizens had been attempted to intentionally undermine their learning experience is distorted and offensive.

Patrick Henry shouts 240 years ago on March 23rd stands up and said those words that would forever stamped one of the most important historical trademarks, “Give me liberty or give me death!” is what it would send death stare in their eyes that targets Deaf returned citizens in all of congressional districts in America, the liberty we do not forget. The death stare: to look fixedly at someone with so much hate in hopes that their face melts, explodes, or caves in with extreme discomfort and pain.

In large part, it is the result of the “neglect” and reflects America’s tendency to send a cruel and unusual punishment known, as Eighth Amendment in the Bill of Rights that would violate in our eyes is infinite.

The society needs to be confident that that the Deaf returned citizens’ needs shall be accommodated as best as possible. Not only have they had been granted an extension on their life, they switch the topic to a path for the pursuit of happiness. They are in effect getting a second chance is accurate and adequate.

Why are Deaf returned citizens held on a different standard?

-JT

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