A Brief But Spectacular take on blending the worlds of art, ASL and accessibility

Transcript

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Geoff Bennett: Brandon Kazen-Maddox is an artist, filmmaker, acrobat, and an advocate for deaf artists on the stage, screen, and beyond.

Tonight, Kazen-Maddox shares their Brief But Spectacular take on blending the worlds of art, ASL, and accessibility.

Brandon Kazen-Maddox, Artist: I am a grandchild of deaf adults, or a GODA, which means that my first language is ASL, sign language.

I was raised in a family of deaf and signing people. For me, my hands are storytellers, and my words are just along for the ride. So, that means that I primarily think in ASL, in sign language. And I make sure that my hands follow what -- the concepts and images and memories and feelings that my heart and that my mind are expressing.

Growing up, my family would always eat around the dinner table. There was such an amazing mixture of communication. And I grew up watching all of that and participating in it. My grandparents would express themselves in sign language.

If we brought friends and other relatives to the table, we wanted to make sure that they understood the conversation also. I bring that into my work as an artist. And the reason why I talk and sign is because I want everyone to understand everything I'm saying.

When I was about 16, I was driving with my grandma. And, in the deaf community, we have -- we turn on the dome light at night because we have to be able to see each other sign.

When I first saw in the rearview mirror the red and blue lights, I immediately was very afraid. I had to make sure to keep myself and my grandma safe at that moment. And sign language is not always something that people are accustomed to. So, the cultural facilitation and linguistic facilitation was pivotal at that moment.

I'm a co-founder of a company called Up Until Now Collective. We develop and produce new multidisciplinary work that focuses on intimacy, empathy, and connection, and centers our work on stories that have been traditionally left out of our mainstream narrative.

Our mission is to challenge the status quo and build new structures for creating art. When someone who signs or a deaf person or someone in a wheelchair has everything that they need to be on stage and shine, that's my goal with the work that I do.

My name is Brandon Kazen-Maddox, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on melding the worlds of art, ASL and accessibility.

Geoff Bennett: And you can watch more Brief But Spectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.