im[aging] Rachel Solomon – Maastricht University – June 2014
2
ABSTRACT Aging studies is a growing field in which researchers, artists and activists strive to create alternative representations of aging and old age. The need for such alternative representations is overwhelmingly discussed while the ways in which this can be done are not as explored yet. This research uses the method of Artistic Research to explore the limitations and potentials of visual imaging as a medium for alternative representations of old age and aging. Paying particular attention to the ethnographic interactions and creative process, this project with the help of de Beauvoir, Spivak and Foucault - sheds light on the risks for epistemic violence that the endeavor of representation can easily lead to. It gives an understanding of how to locate, problematize and productively process such tendencies. Most importantly it encourages researchers, artists, readers and all of us aging people to reflect on our own relation to the process of growing old, embedded in the socio-cultural ageist hegemonic discourse. Finally, im[aging] provides, and calls for representations of aging and old age that leave space for diverse and mutable understandings, and embrace the ambivalent, contradictory and confronting character the process of aging triggers.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS After the first major part of the im[aging] project has come to an end, I ought to thank the persons, who from very close or very far enabled me to engage in and achieve this challenging project. In fact, Artistic Research had never been done in UCM and I had very little knowledge on its existence a few months ago. However, this thesis is the result of three years in a half in UCM where I learned a lot about societal issues and mechanisms, cultural engagement and the political relevancy of art. Most importantly I learned about myself, my interests, my limits, my curiosity and my commitment. Some of the UCM courses truly made me grow, as a student, but as a person first of all. For those courses and inputs, I must thank Brian Keller, Christoph Rausch, Jack Post, Johanna Wagner, Aagje Swinnen, Ulriche Muller, Louis van den Hengel and the many tutors involved as well. I would like to specifically thank Ulrich Muller for leaving me so much space to explore myself in these three years as my academic advisor; and Aagje Swinnen who never tutored me but who inspired me a lot as an Aging Studies researcher. I must also thank my fellow students – especially Edu and Marieke - who challenged and encouraged me to pursue my wish to combine art and academia in a research that would drive me. I also want to thank my mother who always supported me in my choices. In relation to the very conception and process of the research project, I ought to first of all thank Louis, who was an incredible source of inspiration and confidence. Then, the biggest thanks go to the participants of the research for their 4
time, images and insights on their personal lives, thoughts, feelings. It was an amazingly enriching process to go through all these encounters. Finally, I want to thank Tim and Mateusz who helped me and will still do – I hope – for the more practical aspects of the project. In addition, I wish to find a place to exhibit the findings and creations of this im[aging] project for next academic year, and I already thank in advance the place(s) who will welcome me to do so. I would like to also thank in advance anybody who might want to give me feedback or pursue such kind of projects, because by diving into the subject, I realized how much more sh/could be discovered and experimented with. It is a never-ending story that can be reshaped every generation, every birth and death, every minute, every second. So I want to thank all of those who engage in this exploration, redefinition and reshaping of the understanding of aging.
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TABLES OF CONTENT
Introduction
9
Methodology, [Artistic Research]
16
Sample choice
18
Mediums
21
Process/product
26
Location of the researcher/artist
28
Chapter I - [representations]: ambiguous dualisms Othering in representation
36 45
Chapter II - [looking] old, a central question?
57
Epistemic violence and Aging Studies
60
The docile body and us
65
Chapter III - im[aging], how?
72
‘(w)ripples’
76
‘[sway]ging’
78
‘time-lines/time-mimes’
82
‘your future will be d/read(y)’
85
Outroduction
86
References
91
Appendix
95 6
“[People think of old age as slow death, but] such a paradox denies the essential truth of life; it is an unstable system where the balance is lost and reconquered at each moment: it is inertia which is synonym of death. The law of life is to change. And it is a certain type of change that characterizes the coming of age.�
p.17 de Beauvoir, The Coming of Age
7
8
- “What are you going to become when you grow up?” - “An old man.” These are the first words of ‘Le Canard enchaîné: Vive les Vieux!’, April 2014’s special edition of the most prominent satirical French newspaper. The answer, “an old man”, is at the same time obvious and surprising. Aging is intrinsic to life and time passing however it often triggers fear and is somewhat taboo. Throughout history and cultures the process of growing old has been understood in different yet always ambiguous ways (de Beauvoir, 1970). In the last decade, a special attention to this topic has started to flourish. In media and academia, many articles and books discuss the lack of visibility of old age, or its problematic representation. They all stress the necessity of dealing with such a topic now, because of the overwhelming
socio-political
discourse
on
aging
population in Europe - health and economical issues seeming to be central in this utilitarian discourse, and alienation, discrimination, and ageist tendencies direct results of it (e.g. Katz, Marshall, 2003). In parallel, they blame the invisibility of this growing part of the population on a youth and market oriented system, which only shows older people who either look young thanks to 9
the newest uplifting facial cream, or infantilized under the neon logo of a life insurance company (e.g. Calasati, King, 2005). Our current ageist discourse imposes on older people either a narrative of decline, which assumes them to be wearing out inevitably; or a discourse of successful aging, which promises them ways – often expensive and artificial - to never grow (really) old. The field of Aging Studies tries to understand, how such sociocultural discourses impact the experience of aging. Through most researches, it is clear that they have negative consequences on the life of elders1 But not only. In fact, since our experience of aging starts much earlier than old age, these discourses do not affect only older people. As the first quote from ‘Le Canard enchainé’ suggests, we are all growing old and we will all - unless some unfortunate circumstances takes us before, - reach old age. This is why the understanding of the impacts of ageist discourses on the experience of aging is relevant for everyone. The term aging that has been until now reserved for old age mainly, should apply to each stage of life. Essentially, aging is the mere fact of living in a temporal world in which each second, minute, day, makes our age greater. Interestingly, avoiding this 1
According to de Beauvoir, 1970; Sontag, 1982; Katz, Marshall, 2003; Twigg, 2004; Calassati, King, 2005; Trulle, Krekula, 2013, and many more (c.f. References section) 10
fact by using the term only for older people shows how far away we want to keep it from us (=not old people), and thus how present and fearful it actually is. In fact, we are all embedded in the ageist paradigm that perceives aging as something negative, something to be avoided, thus we all reproduce this discourse through language, behavior, expectations, etc. The first chapter of this paper will thus explore - with the help of Simone de Beauvoir’s book ‘The Coming of Age’ (1970) - this ambiguous relation we all have to aging. De Beauvoir argues that the way in which old age is perceived in a specific culture or time is defined by the understanding of life and its goals, in this particular civilization or group. This again indicates that the position given to old age is truly relevant to the whole of society. She supports this argument by many historical and anthropological examples. For instance, in societies where continuity through spirituality is central, the older people will rather be respected as bridge between older and younger generations, and between the living world and the new world to come; while in societies where short term achievements are seen as central, the elderly might be rather overlooked. The position older people are given and their representation in our society thus questions the intrinsic goals and values of it. Asking ourselves what the 11
goals and values in contemporary society entail is a very broad question which in its entirety lies beyond the scope of this project. Yet certain key aspects of our society can help us to understand the specific place of old age and the problematic representations of aging that we are discussing here. In fact, in addition to living in a technological and consumerist society where innovation and progress are central – which almost inevitably calls for a rejection of the old – our culture is very much based on visual communication. Screens, commercials, cameras are omnipresent and are becoming exponentially more numerous. Through social media, cosmetics, television, etc. our construction of the Self in relation to others is very much done through visual means. According to Foucault (1979), “it is the fact of being constantly seen, of being able always to be seen, that maintains the disciplined individual in his subjection.” (p.187) Practices of looking, which are enabled by the visibility of the human body, are central to the way in which power relations and the cultural formation of identity positions operate in modern society. In contrast to pre-modern times when subjugation was practiced by violent interactions among individuals, nowadays subjugation is integrated as part of the modern subject's norms, habits, looks. The oversaturation of 12
visuals forwards an ideal of beauty - young, thin, sexual – that is not physically imposed yet pressured upon subjects through disciplinary power. This will be further developed in the second chapter, yet it is crucial to understand the specificity of our society being dominated by visuals. This affects all ages. In fact, anorexia, surgeries, body building, are not at all specific to old age. However, this visualsdominated culture does impact our understanding and representation of aging strongly (Clarke, 2008). In fact, the physical aspects of aging are often seen as being most problematic. But is this reflective of older people´s experience of aging? This is what the second chapter will strive to answer to with the theoretical help of Spivak and Foucault. In the realm of Aging Studies, scholars try to challenge ageist discourses by denouncing the inexistent or devaluing visual representations of old age. There is thus an important call for alternative representations, and I believe that by now, we have understood the necessity of this call. In the field of Aging Studies, as well as in the Arts, there has been many recent attempts to represent old age in new ways (e.g. Hogan). And this is where my research wants to lie. Yet, in the very first steps of this project, I came to realize that in the same way that the role of older people in our society is determined by society’s 13
goals and values, which are greatly youth-oriented, our way of striving for new representations of aging is likewise determined by a visuals-dominated culture, greatly youth-oriented. And this is problematic. In fact, intentions of creating alternative representations of old age and aging might become sources of ageist reproductions, and may thus not be useful in the anti-ageist struggle that Aging Studies calls for. The third chapter will therefore reflect on the process of image-making, as a means to create alternative representation of old age and aging. It will do so by presenting the artworks that the im[aging] project triggered. These will strive to be example of postmodern – thus diverse, critical, and subjective – representations of old age and aging. Throughout these three chapters, the endeavor of this project is to explore, the potentials and limitations of visual imaging as a medium for alternative representations of aging within the context of current ageist socio-cultural discourses. Before these three chapters will unfold however, a research question will be approached. The questions at stake require both theoretical and creative exploration, personal and societal approaches, critical and emotional responses. This is why I chose to go about the im[aging] project using Artistic Research as mode of inquiry. Artistic Reseach, has the uniqueness of enabling the researcher to 14
not only engage on a theoretical and discursive level with the topic but also to truly confront creatively, bodily and materially the explorations at stake. It is only through the direct and embodied confrontation to the process of image-making that the questions posed can be explored. And in order to help me guide these explorations, and face my own prejudices, dialogue with people that I consider to be old is fruitful. This is why ethnographical fieldwork and experimentation with various visual mediums will be at the heart of this project which will hopefully give insights on the challenges and potential of alternative representations of old age and aging.2
2
I purposefully differentiate and stress aging and old age as two distinct objects to be represented because aging is a process in which I include myself in, while old age is perceived as a rather clear and separated identity. In mainstream discourses and even in Aging Studies sometimes, aging and old age is used interchangeably. In this paper however, ‘aging’ is used as an inclusive term which can enhance personal responsibility and awareness of one’s own location towards the process of growing old; while the term ‘old age’, is used to name what is perceived as the old age identity, which is also referred to as elderly. The latter will be critically assessed throughout the research. 15
Methodology, [Artistic Research] Artistic research is a fairly new method of research, yet it is a growing means for knowledge production. There is not much literature defining the field of study yet, and intrinsically it
seems
to
avoid
having
a
bound
methodological framework. However, its basic features are the combination of artistic production and academic creation. In contrast to other purely academic methods, Artistic Research values the process and interactions between the researcher/artist and the topic researched. In this regard the researcher/artist has a central role as an actor who engages directly and creatively with the topic. There lies the most innovative aspects of artistic research. The researcher/artist’s engages both discursively and creatively with the research, and locates his relation to the topic clearly. Deriving from this allowance for the subjective Artistic Research sees its value in taking the creative process seriously as a means for knowledge production and most importantly critical analysis. As Wesseling (2011) claims, Artistic Research can be most innovative and critical because its language is boundless. Artistic processes are not limited to justifiable theories, and scientifically proven validity, and can thus bring truly 16
radical insights on current issues. Thus combining the subjective, boundless, innovative potential of artistic processes and the theories, valid statistics and other academic findings can lead to deep and productively critical perspectives. In the case of this project, the method of Artistic Research is most relevant because: - it enables me as a researcher/artist to – through creative means - critically reflect on, confront and experiment with my own relation to old age, aging and ageism.
- it leaves space for innovation by focusing on the process and evolution of the questions at stake, rather than the outcome only.
- it directly enables me to experiment with the medium of visual imaging and reflect on its limitations and potentials.
- it will result in an/few artistic artefact/s that will, in comparison with the written account of the research, be accessible for a larger audience. As mentioned in the introduction, since the topic of aging is connected to all of us, enabling the findings to go out of the realm of pure academia is crucial. 17
Within the pool of possibilities in artistic research, I decided to conduct an ethnographic and semi-participatory research where together with the participants, we explore the
impacts
of
socio-cultural
discourses
on
our
experiences of aging and experiment with the visual imaging of old age and aging. It is semi-participatory because I am the one photographing, drawing and filming, yet in constant interaction with them. The exact procedure was reshaped throughout the process of the research thus will be discovered within the different chapters of this paper, yet the approach chosen is important to understand now:
Sample choice I decided to interview, interact with and represent people from my own surrounding that I consider old. This might seem to bring about strong biases since older people in my life are relatives or individuals that have a particular relation to me. However to explore the process and effects of visual imaging of aging with complete strangers would not be as deep as this experience. Moreover, as this project stems from an anti-ageist stand-point and recognizes the socially constructed part of age identities, I did not want to limit my interviews to individuals over a certain age. Most 18
importantly,
the
very
acknowledgment
of
having
prejudices and ideas about the age identities of the participants – merely by considering them old – is an interesting and even necessary starting point for a critical analysis of images and perceptions of age as such: this ‘bias’ is therefore not so much a limitation to this research but its precondition and one of its objects of analysis. The process of interviewing and imaging shaped and reshaped my interactions with, and perceptions of the participants. Thus choosing this sample - so personal greatly enabled the research to explore the shifts in perceptions within the process of representation. Unlike many other studies that focus on topics such as aging men and sexuality or aging women and beauty standards, I decided to not segregate my sample by gender. Of course, gender, race, class, etc. do matter, and their intersection with age is inevitable. However, this research wants to explore what the creative process can shed light on, and not presuppose a gendered (or racial, etc.) division. Nevertheless, it is crucial to briefly locate the participants3 in order to have an idea of their social status 3
Four of the participants are couples over their 80’s living in the suburbs of
Brussels, all from Jewish backgrounds. One of them is from an upper middle class situation, while the other is rather from a middle class situation. They all have migrant backgrounds, Polish or Moroccan. An additional participant from a similar background is a woman who lost her husband more than a decade ago and is also rather well-off. 19
and identity. There are 9 participants, mostly educated and from comfortable socio-economical background, half of them are retired, the other half is either still working or very active in socio-political projects. 3 of the participants are women and the 6 others are men. Interestingly, half of them incarnate the very cliché of old age – grandparents, retired, in couple, etc. – while the other half would rather be considered as extra-ordinary – alternative or very active. All of these aspects of course affect the interactions between the participants and me as a researcher/artist, and also the ways in which they react and contribute to the project. However, we will also discover that these differences are not as crucially relevant to the process of aging and visual imaging of old age as they could seem.
Most of them are partly educated but were not able to finish their studies due to the Second World War. Most of them worked in education or as craftsmen. They are all retired, grandparents and in some way related to my family. The four other participants are male, White and live in Maastricht. I know two of them through the alternative cultural and political scene of the Cultural Freezone Collective in Maastricht. One of them is also over 80 and is living in a squat, he is the head of an organization for sustainable technology and is very active. The other one does not live in a squat but is active in the events happening there. Their social status is hard to define in terms of class, yet they are educated and do have a socio-political awareness. The two last participants I know from a rather elitist cultural organization. One in his 70’s and is the head of the organization, the other not wanting to reveal his age, works in a lawyer’s office, and spends a lot of time researching data for his work at the University Library. They are both educated and seem to be from a comfortable economical situation. 20
Medium4 This research project explores the potentials and limitations of visual imaging as a medium for alternative representations of old age and aging, thus the majority of the tools used, in addition of the interviewing, will be visual. First photography, then drawing, collage and then film will be the main sources of explorations.
Photography can have a documentary-like feature that is experienced as giving authority and truthfulness to the images. This medium is thus very interesting as a first icebreaker between the participants and myself. It seems unloaded, direct, purely representative. I initially wanted to start the first encounters with doing close-up I.D. –style portraits of the participants in order to bring up the question of representation of old age more naturally. By making close-ups and then printing them black and white, I thought the wrinkles would be enhanced, and my first prejudiced gaze would be in a way materialized through the photographs.
4
See the Appendix for the interview questions, visual and creative material. 21
22
In parallel, I wanted to make the participants slightly uncomfortable in front of the lens in order to trigger the conversation to come. It brought something different than expected, however, as will be explored in more detail in chapter II. But what is clear is that the documentary-like feature of photography which I purposely enhanced by framing the portraits as I.D. pictures, is very enabling: -
It confronts the participant with a direct, slightly
invading gaze that triggers discussion. -
It has the potential to confront the viewers with
their belief in photography.
This hints at the
medicalization and naturalization of old age and thus challenges
the
blind
submission
to
socio-cultural
discourses of old age we are all embedded in.
Drawing and collage can vary from realist to surreal or even abstract. The process of drawing the participants is especially interesting in relation to my personal reflection on imaging of old age. In fact, by being the one choosing how to put on paper each line and curve, I feel much more responsible for the way they are portrayed than when the camera captures the image for me. In that process, my personal fear of representing them unfaithfully or my will to make them look younger reveals itself. I am thus confronted with for instance my personal fear of growing 23
old. The way these different forms of drawing – realistic, sketches, abstract, etc. - relate to the photographs or to other mainstream representations of old age are very interesting in the exploration research question.
24
Some of the drawings and photographs will also be used in collages to highlight the ambivalences, challenges and projections the process revealed. In addition, collage will
enable
to
clearly
problematize
the
social
constructiveness of our bodies and identities, here in regard to old age (this will be further developed in chapter II with the help of Foucault). Finally, drawing, paiting or collage-making involves a process of creation that is much longer than photography. This leaves space for progress and change in the approaches.
Film can also have the documentary-like feature mentioned above, yet the major difference is that it is in movement and has a soundscape attached to it. The initial idea of having a filmed section of the interviews was to leave an as-free-as-possible- space for the participants’ expression. In fact, I wanted to propose them to express whatever they wanted to the camera, whether related to the im[aging] project itself, to their personal struggles, to a certain memory or project they wanted to share. There is yet added value to the filmographic medium because it is a very direct and accessible way to spread knowledge. And since we are so used to being surrounded by audio-visual material through commercials, movies, etc. this medium can mirror – and confront - our socio-cultural habits of 25
representation in a very efficient way.
In addition, sound will inevitably be a source of exploration since all interviews were recorded. To go beyond the visual form of representation of old age and aging, which seems to be crucial in this project (c.f. Chapter II), the soundscape of the interviews will be used in relation to the writing process and the theories yet also in the artistic creation itself.
Process/product In this Artistic Research project, I tend to avoid segregating process and product because the process has as much, if not more, importance than the final results. However, after having described the relevancies of the medium chosen, it is crucial to look at the artistic process from
a
slightly
different
angle.
“(…)
embodied
experiences and language are imperfectly aligned because experience sometimes exceeds language and sometimes it is completely inarticulate. Bodies are capable of multiplying, distorting and overflowing their discursive determinants and of growing up new and surprising possibilities that can be articulated in new ways.”(p.94) Johanna Oksala, in her essay ‘Freedom and Bodies’ uses Foucault’s ideas of disciplinary power and docile bodies 26
to explain how the body can be a liberating actor both in spite and because of the discursive regimes of power in which it is embedded. Thus I can develop discursively the relevance of the artistic mediums chosen, yet the artistic process and the final artwork/s eventually awaken(ed) more than that. It is important to mention this now because the way in which the artistic process will be reflected upon in this paper will be discursive, considering this approach as a necessary part of the process. In contrast, I expect the final artworks to engage the viewers more directly, by enabling an embodied experience. This is why Artistic Research is so valuable in this project, it leaves space for the subjective, lived experience, embodied relation to the topic at stake, not only on the side of the researcher but also for whoever experiences the products emerged from the creative research process. Because “the body represents a dimension of freedom in the sense that its experiences are never wholly reducible to the discursive order (‌)â€?, the artworks will most probably be accessible for a larger audience than the written account of the research. And as mentioned in the introduction, the topic of aging and imaging is relevant to all of us mortal human and social beings, thus enabling the findings to go out of the realm of pure academia is crucial. Thus Artistic Research, in 27
addition to everything mentioned earlier, enables a very important bridge between the academic ivory tower and the experience of the relevant findings.
Location of researcher/artist Simone de Beauvoir introduces her book ‘The Coming of Age’ (1970) with an example of a story from the Grimm Brothers which was told in many different versions in the European rural areas at the time. This story tells about an adult man who went everyday to the small wooden cabin in the back of the garden, to bring food to his old father. One day, the adult man finds his teenage son gathering wood planks. “What are you doing my dear son?”, the father
asks. -
“I am building a cabin for you my dear father, you
are growing old.” The next day, the wooden cabin was gone. And from that day onwards, the old father, the adult man and the teenage son always ate together at the same dining table. This story conveys very much one of the sources of my motivation for undertaking this project. I was not aware of this fact at the beginning - I had many other triggers that I will dive into soon – yet during the process I gradually realized that the relevance of this topic is 28
borderless because it applies to each and every single living creature on this planet. In fact, denying the problematic of representation of old age and its influence on the experience of aging is basically denying one’s own fate and progress. Thus my original motivation based on altruism and curiosity revealed itself to be as much of an egoistic and self-centered endeavor. I am afraid of growing old, as I believe most of us are. And this is why I want to explore and confront this process. However, before realizing that, my interest stemmed mainly from a deep fascination. First of all, aesthetic fascination for wrinkled faces and hands; then, fascination for the way the interactions I have had the chance to engage in with older people went; and finally, fascination for the years accumulated, the memories, the stories, the history older people have been through and can retell; all of it intriguing me greatly. It is slightly embarrassing to expose those fascinations so bluntly because they are clichÊ and can be perceived as reductive. Yet this is where my interest came from when I started photographing older people - when I was seventeen. This moment, state of mind, gaze of mine, will be the starting point of the chapter to come.
29
30
31
32
33
5
5
These are some of the first portraits I have taken from older people, in Florida, 2008. The ripples of the wrinkles, their beauty and expressiveness, were my main focus at the time. My lens gazed with fascination and enthusiasm. 34
35
I [representations]: ambiguous dualisms
36
I was seventeen, visiting my grandmother in Florida in an ‘adult community for active life’, namely a Condominium for over 50 year olds. Since my grandmother was 75 at the time, the people I was in contact with - her friends and neighbors - were also around that age. After two weeks holidays in Florida, I had to head back to Brussels where I had a photography project to hand in for school with the suggested title: ‘Je t aime, moi non plus’ (translated in Enlgish‘I love you, me neither’, coming from a song of Serge Gainsbourg). I was not very inspired, enjoying the Floridian sun. I decided on the last days, to just take close up portraits of my grandmother’s friends and neighbors. Very soon, I realized that I could make sense of the title greatly with these portraits, especially through the portraying process. Most of the models were at the same time proud and ashamed of my camera’s gaze directed at them. They seemed very much flattered by the fact that they were taken as centre of attention, as models, yet they were afraid that their wrinkles would show on the photographs, or that they were not photogenic enough anymore. The interactions were rather superficial and my intention undefined. However, since then, the topic of imaging of old age triggered my curiosity, and the ambivalence between pride and shame has been reflected 37
in many different ways through deeper encounters I experienced, researches I conducted and processes I went and still am going through. This chapter will thus provide an overview on these ambivalences in representations and understanding of old age. This will help us understand the impact they have on our experiences of aging and clarify the urge to seek for alternative ways of representing old age and aging.
The first important post-industrial writing dealing with the representation of aging and the societal (not medical) problematic attached to it, is Simone de Beauvoir’s “The Coming of Age�. There she stresses very much the ambivalent character of aging within the popular representations of old age. The book was written in 1970 and it begins with an account of the different ways old age was represented throughout history, starting from ancient times. It therefore becomes clear that, even though until now it might have seemed as if problematic representation of old age is an issue specific to our current times, growing old has never been something easy to deal with. Old age has always been ambivalently understood and treated. She gives examples of historical societies such as ancient Greece where older people were disregarded because they were considered to embody decay and most 38
importantly loss of beauty. However, they could also be portrayed as joyful, but only in a burlesque manner, in theatre for instance. She contrasts ancient Greece to Rome, where the cult of youth was not as strong and older people were seen as source of knowledge and wisdom, and represented quite realistically in visual culture by means of sculptures. In addition to the historical accounts, de Beauvoir included what she describes as anthropological accounts, where different indigenous tribes were studied in relation to their understanding and treatment of old age. In an interesting, yet occasionally somewhat degrading way, she describes how certain groups worship their elders by automatically nominating to the rank of chief the oldest individual of the community. While other groups - mostly the nomadic ones – used to let their elders behind with no food nor shelter. She analyzes both historical and anthropological communities as regarding old age in an ambivalent and often contradictory way. It is in this part of the book that she really stresses that “defining what is progress or regression for humans, implies that we refer to a certain end goal” (p.20) Thus, she tries to make sense of the differences in treatments – because even if all seem to have ambivalent attitudes towards aging, they are diverse – by the diverging end goals of the specific societies 39
discussed. De Beauvoir clearly addresses the limitations of her sources regarding historical and anthropological perception of old age and calls for further research in that regard. However she does use this mode of analyses to make sense of her observations. She thus spends the second half of her book analyzing her own surroundings through the possible end goals of her contemporary society, mostly in France and the United States. Groundbreaking outcomes revealed themselves in regard to the constructiveness of age identities, the relation to capitalist society, the uniqueness of the experience of older people in her contemporary society. Interestingly, these findings are still very relevant nowadays. The modernization of society, from rural to urban, from artisanal to industrial, from religious to secular, from federal to centralized governance, led to many social changes that profoundly affected and still affect the experience and understanding of old age. These changes obviously influenced society as a whole, yet in regard to old age and aging it truly initiated a variety of never-seenbefore phenomena. The most important consequence mentioned by de Beauvoir and more recently developed in Conrad’s essay on ‘Old Age in the Modern and Postmodern Western World’ (1992), is the increase in longevity. This unfolds in many different ways: “[recent 40
generations of older people] are the first to age with lots of other elderly around them and the first to experience the dynamics of four- and five- generation families as well as the looseness of bonds from divorced or unmarried families. They spend more time in retirement than anyone before (…). At the border between work and leisure, retired men and women are among those who are confronted massively with the cultural contradictions of capitalism.” (p.65). According to Simone de Beauvoir, the co-existence of several generations is also one of the contemporary roots for the perception of old age as some distinct phase in life, different than the one experienced by the mainstream – which is of course illusionary. She calls this misconception, age classism. Generations are thus suddenly differentiated in terms of class, detaining different interests, ideologies, habits, etc. Again here it is a very ambivalent relation to old age that is revealed: we are all entitled to grow old, yet some societal processes make older people be seen as a separate group.6 As de Beauvoir starts her book: “Let us stop cheating; the meaning of our lives is in question in the future that awaits us; we do not know who we are if we ignore who we will be: this old man, this old woman, let 6
Having a field of studies focusing on aging, can be seen as reproducing this ambivalence, however this will be further discussed in chapter II 41
us recognize ourselves in them. We must do it if we want to acknowledge the totality of our human condition. Following, we will not accept with indifference the misfortune of old age, we will feel concerned: we are concerned by it. It denounces brilliantly the system of exploitation in which we live.� (p.12) Thus even if Simone de Beauvoir clearly states that old age has always been ambivalently understood and experienced, she does put special emphasis on the specificities capitalist society implies for old age. She denounces a strong dehumanizing of old people. She explains that in modern times, where religion does not occupy such a central role in one’s life, individual freedom, determination and careering have come to define one’s existence. Thus human beings in our society are defined by their ability to shape their own life, decide upon their own end. In the case of older people, their end is seen as death, and they are thus perceived as unable to shape their life independently since the inevitable end is death - a lack of autonomy that is unimaginable
for
modern
and
even
post-modern
individuals. This is the most basic reason, according to de Beauvoir, for the process of Othering that is involved in the understanding and representation of old age. In fact, as I am at the end of my studies, the question of future, 42
choice, career is very present around me, and somewhat claims to define me. Like the first quote of the introduction, “What are you going to become when you grow up?” is central from a very early stage in life, yet never into account growing up as growing old, it points at an arbitrary and vague moment that is nevertheless clearly previous to old age. One of the participants shared a very revealing metaphor of this phenomenon. He drew me a ladder, one arrow pointing up the later, and the other one pointing down. The arrow pointing upwards represented learning the process of getting better in something, specializing oneself, getting taken more seriously at work, etc. -; the one going down - which he only realized its existence much later - represented the fact of becoming old and thus closer to death, closer to the end. He said: “My biggest frustration is that I won’t be able to live healthy until 100 years old. I won’t be 26 anymore either. And that’s the problem of aging. I want to do a lot of things in life, but life is too short. We have the limit of biology and medicine, and we don’t want to see that. That’s the contingent of life, the contingent of aging.” He himself was particularly touched by the topic of age, he is the only participant whom refused to share his age; yet his twoways later metaphor is reflected in a lot of the literature 43
and in the experience of other participants even if less extremely. Thus, referring those personal experiences to de Beauvoir (1970), Bell (1992) and also more recent articles within the realm of Aging Studies such as Katz (2003), Clarke (2008) and Hogan (2012), the quest for individual freedom in the context of a never-ending growing economy worships ‘future’ as a value as such, while overshadowing the process of growing old, which is also undeniably part of one’s future. In parallel, capitalism requires efficient and productive subjects who can actively contribute to society – contributing mostly understood in economical terms. De Beauvoir strongly argues that this is one of the central reasons for old age to be disregarded and understood as a societal burden in modern societies. Bell (1992) adds that nowadays old age is specifically represented as a societal issue, while in the past it was rather considered a familial or interpersonal affair. In this context, two prominent yet ambivalent hegemonic discourses on old age emerge, namely the so-called decline narrative and the discourse of successful aging .(Katz, Marshal 2003) The way to justify talking about growing old as a societal problem is to present and re-present older people as inactive, unproductive, declining in energy and capabilities – a state which is subsequently naturalized as inevitable and 44
‘diagnosed’ as the disease of growing old. My interviewees often referred to old age in these terms. “The worst disease”, one even answered to the mere question: “what is aging?” As a counteraction to the decline narrative, the capitalist obsession for individual freedom strives to take over by still claiming that if one has the means and the will, old age can be experienced differently, can be countered. (Katz, Marshal, 2003; Twigg, 2004) It is crucial to note that only elders who ‘age successfully’ are represented visually on mainstream media. The rest is often talked about in political debates as a societal burden, as mentioned above, yet are totally transparent, invisible. Even though the newly emerging discourse on successful aging was not as present in de Beauvoir’s times, it is conceptually linked to the narrative of decline, and therefore strongly resonates with the way in which she portrays the ambivalent dualisms within the understanding and representation of old age.
Othering in representation What are the effects of such ambivalent dualistic representations of old age? De Beauvoir claims that older people are either perceived as wise men, or ridiculed. In both cases they are not considered humanly. If they do not comply with their supposed physical diminished condition 45
they are considered to be extra-ordinary, thus not ordinary and not quite human. And if they do not comply with the romanticized wise men image, then they are directly seen as crazy, abnormal, handicapped, ridiculous, etc. This has dramatic consequences on their lived experiences. More recent scholars such as Marshall et Swinnen, or Calasanti et King (2005) have concentrated on how the so-called myth of the asexual elder, which also arises from the process of Othering older people, has direct negative consequences on older people’s lives. Expecting older people to not have sexual desires and relations leads not only to stigmatization on a socio-cultural level, but also to discrimination, for instance in elderly homes, of those who express such desires. (Calasanti, King, 2005). Moreover, the mere normalization of ‘putting’ one’s elders in elderly home is also often experienced as alienating. Like the Grimm brothers’ story shows, older people tend to be alienated if the hegemony does not face its process of aging in accordance. The fact that growing old is often a taboo or something to be avoided manifests itself through a strong Othering tendency. This leads to the denial of older people’s needs, the misunderstanding of their behaviors and most importantly a great void, a land of the unknown, which leads to fear. Recently this void has also triggered curiosity, as a kind of exoticism, and the 46
recent attempts to represent old age and sexuality in film for instance7, could be considered as an illustration of such exotic Othering. Even Aging Studies, which is strongly committed to critically deconstruct power relations in terms of age, paradoxically also reproduces some Othering tendencies at times. For instance, the field of study mostly concentrates on old age, while aging is a universal process. Personally, ambivalent
I
can
tendencies
strongly
in
my
recognize
first
these
intentions
of
representing older people (and also throughout the process itself, even though I do try to challenge myself in that regard). The first interviews I conducted were very direct and somewhat invading or provocative, as they involved a direct shooting of close-up photographic portraits of the participants. My plan was then to print them with high contrast and in black and white to enhance the wrinkled faces. The ways I would interact with, edit and select the photographs
revealed
some
interesting
ambivalent
tendencies. In fact, I would choose the pictures where the participants looked either cutest or wisest, inspiring infantilizing
sympathy
or
respect.
These
ageist
expectations were criticized forty years ago by Simone de Beauvoir, and still seems to be very persistent. Here are 7
Wolke 9 by Dresen, 2008 47
some examples of photographs I find beautiful and interesting, even though I see the ambivalent and problematic aspects of those pictures when they are considered as representative of old age
8
8
The photographs on the right are cute, they depict smily, enthusiastic and somewhat clumsy subject. They inspire sympathy because they are infantilized. The photographs on the right inspire wisdom. The first one seems to capture an old man telling a very interesting story, while the second one portrays a woman with eyes full of experiences and love. These characteristics conform to clichĂŠ representations of 48
The process of visual representation is interesting insofar that it really confronts me with my own limitations, prejudices and expectations. In addition of confronting
my
aesthetic
preferences
regarding
black/white or high contrasted editing, I soon realized another tendency while imaging: I wished to represent, almost at any costs, the participant as youthful as possible. This is ridiculous, contradictory and absurd, since the very goal of my research, is to explore the experiences of older people, people I have chosen myself precisely because I consider them to be old. Thus it is solely counter-intuitive to strive to represent them in a youthful way. Nevertheless, I am afraid, truly afraid, especially when drawing them, to make them look older than they are, or to emphasize the wrinkles in such a way that creates a witch-like gaze, etc. The difference in visual mediums - in this case photography and drawing – revealed itself to be very fruitful in the exploration. In fact, the photographs enable me to hide behind the lens, while in drawing it is me and myself only who create each line. We will come back to this in the third chapter, yet it is interesting to already notice the contradictory representations and understandings of old age reveled through the different
older people. This does not take away their beauty. It is just important to be conscious about their possible implications. 49
approaches to visual representation. These processes – and myself as an actor within these processes - truly embody these contradictions.
There
are
different
ways
of
understanding
the
ambivalences exposed above. I myself have learned to fear growing old and thus fear representing my participants in a non-youthful manner. I myself accept old age only if it is cute, infantile, somewhat diminishing, or if it embodies a certain respect, wisdom, thus I tend to represent older people in such a way, in this case, choose the photos that portray them in such a way.. I myself do not know much about growing old, thus I am interested, curious of the ‘exotic’ experience of growing old, and strive to represent my discoveries in a still simplified and superficial manner. However, while conducting the research, all the participants, with no exception expressed a tendency to distance themselves from the old age group, or Other old age by retrieving themselves from it. So not only did I (as a young researcher) tend to perpetuate the myth of old age being a distinct identity rather than a process, people I consider old also do. Above all the impact the hegemonic socio-cultural discourse on old age has on our experiences of aging, I find this one most striking, surprising yet in a 50
way, inevitable. “I know I am old but I don’t feel old”, “I feel I am not representative for my age group, so glad I am not! Hope you don't mind ...”, “But we are not normal old people, you know that right?”, and it could go on for another few pages. These are all quotes of the participants I interviewed. And they all defined aging as something somewhat foreign to them as well, as some process that they theoretically understand they are going through yet do not identify with so much. These responses first of all imply the impossibility of homogenizing the experience of old age to one grand narrative. But most importantly it shows how deeply ageist our socio-cultural understanding of old age is. In fact, an identity formed within that hegemonic
discourse
is
intrinsically
dominated,
diminished, subject to, on the one hand medical supremacy and on the other hand, commercial grip, and finally always reminded of its decline. As mentioned earlier, our society is greatly youth oriented, thus anyone wanting to feel part of it must somehow identify with youth and this is the most revealing aspect that the interviews shed light on. Even if the sample is rather limited, this might show that older people that do feel comfortable with their age and condition ought to consider themselves young, in 51
appearance, in mindset, in physical condition. This in turn, reinforces the hegemonic discourse on old age which considers aging as declining. A quote given to me by my grandmother as a response to my project in progress, found in a daily Belgian newspaper expresses this ultimate ambivalent duality in a dramatic yet beautiful way: “The tragedy of old age is not growing old but staying young�
52
53
II [looking] old, a central question?
54
I was twenty-two, I decided to explore the relation between ageism, image making of old age, and the personal experiences of older people in relation to visuals. My focus on visuals was related to the previous experience I had when photographing older people in Florida five years earlier. I supposed, as mentioned above, that starting the interviews with close-up photographs of their faces would trigger strong reactions in relation to the ambivalent co-existing feelings of pride and shame. This is what I had experienced a few years earlier so I expected similar results. I was very enthusiastic about being able to dive deeper in the understanding of these ambivalent feelings discovered in the Floridian older people I photographed. However, in this project, from the very first minutes of the first interview, I realized the findings would be different than I expected. In fact, as planned, I started by shooting. In the meanwhile I asked the participant how they felt being taken into picture from so close, do they think they look old, etc. Surprisingly, the answers did not reflect my expectations. Most of them briefly expressed that they are either used to be taken into picture and that they do not care so much, or that they do not like it but that they never did. Thus the direct relation I expected between old age and ambivalent feelings towards being photographed seemed rather illusionary. The fear of 55
[looking] old that I expected was not so predominant. I was quite disappointed because this was supposed to be the starting point of my research. This disappointment turned out to be very revealing – this will be further developed in the end of this chapter – but at the begining I continued trying, interviews after interviews, to find some clues towards my initial intention. Rather, other aspects of old age became much more visible than appearance. In fact, most participants did not define growing old based on the loss of beauty. Many referred to the changing relationship they developed to time and death for instance. For example, Josiane said, “It’s a pity I will die, I look at the trees, at the sky, and I won’t see them anymore. But I saw them… And they know that I saw them.” It is such a beautiful quote, and what it expresses is so much more essential than visual appearance! I started to then feel slightly ridiculous to have really thought that visual appearance would be so central in the experience of growing old while some much more pressing changes are occurring in this process. “That lovely face of yours will be scarred by the years, and hateful old age will lay her hand upon your beauty” (p.25. Cole, Van Tassel & Kastenbaum, 1992) This poem is part of ‘Tristia’, a series of poem by the Roman poet 56
Ovide. It is more than two thousand years old, yet it still reflects the mainstream understanding of old age nowadays. It is thus not my naivety as an isolated and personal phenomenon that led to the disappointment and shame related above. It is rather my embodied location as a young, female, educated, white, Western researcher that made me expect visual appearance to be so central in the experience of growing old. This location is loaded with the Western hegemonic socio-cultural discourses on old age that conveys the idea that growing old is equal to loss of beauty. And beauty - youthful, slim, sexual - is portrayed as being the norm in our contemporary medias.9
10
I ran into this commercial a few months ago, it says: “I am 20 years old since 20 years.� The way the woman is 9
This often seen as more applicable to women, yet young men are also very much affected by this loss of beauty threat that aging seems to represent. 10 http://www.blogbeaute.fr/maquillage-2/maquillage-teint/avantpremiere-douglas/ 57
portrayed, the white shirt, the fact that the creme is 100% natural etc. gives a naturalized character to beauty, and here specifically, in regards to aging. ‘It is possible – and easy! – to stay young forever, look!’ This refers us back to the discourse of successful aging that we discussed in the previous chapter. And it is to these discourses that Aging Studies tend to react (Calasanti & King, 2005; Cardona, 2008; Clarke, 2008). And rightfully so. As mentioned earlier, our society is dominated by visuals and by an unobtainable aesthetic norm that oppresses, discriminates and alienates many. This is one of the major bases of the societal – and personal - fear of growing old. In fact, most young people around me to whom I asked if they were afraid of growing old, and if yes why, answered something related to physical appearances: getting fat, having sloppy breasts, hair loss, etc. This is why I first based my research on that visual perspective. However as Josiane and other participants expressed, this fear does not seem to mirror the experiences of (all) older people rightfully. Looking old does not seem to be as central in the experiences of older people as in the experiences of younger members of society. And interestingly, it is mainly younger members of society who constitute the field of Aging Studies, younger individuals who write about old age, who strive to 58
represent aging differently, reacting to the kind of commercials presented above, and to the problematic hegemonic socio-cultural discourses on old age exposed earlier. - I am part of these younger members of society who strive to challenge ageist tendencies, so the first person plural imposes itself from now on - We are totally embedded in these discourses and might have more trouble than we think withdrawing from- or challenging them. In fact, many researches problematize the representation of old age from a visual and appearancebased perspective. Recent artistic projects that claim to be anti-ageist do focus as well on visual representation only, not stressing enough the personal and diverse experiences of old age. Richards, Warren and Gott (2012) in their essay: ‘The challenge of creating ‘alternative’ images of ageing: Lessons from a project with older women’ hint at these challenges by analyzing three different photographic projects conducted in the context of ‘Look at me!’ a project by representing-ageing.com. They highlight the difficulties in creating alternative images of aging because of the prejudiced gaze of the artists engaged in the projects. The artists were not the ones conducting the interviewers thus there was no true process between the re-presentator and the participants represented. Rather the artist’s creative idea seemed merely imposed on the 59
participants. This problematic process, Spivak11 (1988) calls: epistemic violence.
Epistemic violence & Aging Studies Before explaining what epistemic violence is and in what ways it can apply to the challenges presented above, I want to clarify the fact that I am not striving to undermine the relevancy of this Aging studies, on the contrary. I allow myself to constructively criticize it because it is in this field that my own project is located. The methodological choices that guided my research enabled me to make sense of these inner contradictions. In fact, reading about, while experiencing the process of visual representation of old age and interviewing older people, brought light to much more interesting and radical findings than I had hoped for. In this section, those findings will be explored through the concept of epistemic violence. Spivak
defines
epistemic
violence
as
the
imposition of a narrative or discourse on a silenced group. She writes as a post-colonial theorist thus hints rather at Western intellectuals that claim representing Third World cultures, yet do it in a very simplified manner, merely Othering the “represented� group, even though the initial 11
using Foucault’s terminology. 60
intention stemmed from an altruistic and critical stand point. In her essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ (1988) she actually uses epistemic violence for denouncing Foucault’s contradictions. In a conversation with Gilles Deleuze both critical post-structuralist philosophers - he has a very simplified discourse on the Third World. The problem with this simplification is that it is presented as a transparent and subject-free perspective on the topic at stake. It is in that way that epistemic violence comes to being because Foucault’s voice is presented as the Third World’s voice, while the Third World as such does not exist, it is a construction, and it encompasses many different realities, cultural, social, etc. In this case, Deleuze and Foucault claim themselves to be critical anticolonialist thinkers, yet their ways of striving for that is in the end not critical at all, they thus reproduce post-colonial oppressive tendencies. In our case, most of us - anti-ageist researchers strive for critical and alternative representations of old age in order to give new meanings to aging. However, as we discovered, we tend to focus on aspects of aging which may not be as relevant for older people as we think them to be. Visual appearance seemed to not be as central for the participants I interviewed than for myself, thus I felt it would be untruthful to their experience to represent them 61
in such a visually-centred manner. I experimented with that tension creatively – which, especially through the paintings and collages, revealed questions of power and desire. I found myself wanting to impose meaning and diverging identities to the participants represented. This made me think of Spivak and her essay, ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ The initial intention of this project to free older people from the ambivalent gaze society poses on them, this by reflecting together on their challenges regarding appearances, was an imposition of my own understanding of old age – located in the broader sociocultural hegemonic discourse. And after having read and analyzed many Aging Studies projects, I believe we sometimes have the tendency to commit the same mistake Foucault and Deleuze are criticized by Spivak for, while our first intention is to simply represent older people, give them a voice. But what does it mean ‘to represent’?
62
According to Spivak – who bases this distinction on Marx - there are two kinds of representations: 1. vertreten in German, which means speaking for, standing up in the name of, thus representing in a political way; 2. darstellen in German, which means re-presenting in an artistic way for instance. The distinction is crucial in the eyes of Spivak. In fact, the claims of Foucault, Deleuze and our anti-ageist enterprises to represent a silenced group are based on the conception of representing as vertreten, by putting forward the needs, demands, sufferings of the silenced group to the forground. However Spivak perceives this type of representation as inevitably simplistic and alienating since it imposes a homogeneous common voice out of a group that does necessarily consider itself as such. Thus when we claim to represent older people, we impose a defined group with homogeneous characteristics. And in addition of us wanting to represent them12 as a unity, we also do it through our means, in this case, visual communication. To explore the meaning of representation is thus crucial when striving to do so. Spivak opposes the two types of representation (vertreten and darstellen) by analyzing the different ends both strive for. The first one, 12
in this beginning of sentence we can notice what Spivak denounce, the us and them, the construction of Subject and Object, the One and the Other 63
as mentioned above tends to totalize, homogenize the group in relation to power and desire, and is considered to be truthful, while the second one is by nature subjective and diverse. Moreover, the second one implies an interaction between the re-presentator and the represented. Thus in order to be radical in challenging ageist tendencies towards old age, which is the quest of this research, I must represent the diversities in the experiences of old age and aging; and as importantly I must include myself – as a young, middleclass, white feminist, Jewish, afraid-of-growing-old creative researcher -
in
the
representations.
As
mentioned
in
the
Methodological section of this paper, my location as a researcher/artist ought to be revealed and present throughout, and most importantly, the challenges and processes experimented throughout the research must be shared. This way, the viewers can be aware of my own limitations, which were mainly enabled to be revealed through Artistic Research. This will be further developed in chapter III. At first, I thought the best way to continue going about this project - in line with Spivak’s critique that I acknowledge and respect fully – I ought to drift away from visual representation and find a radically different means of representing, more in line with the experiences 64
of the participants. I thought of sound, because this was what linked the interviewees and me, sound, dialogue. I thus wanted to create a soundscape that would represent aging more truthfully than a visual medium. However, in order to break free from vertreten representation, I could not claim for one truly better way of representing older people than visual imaging. Furthermore, claiming that would alienate ‘them’ even more from mainstream society, and Other them as not part of our visuals-dominated society. In addition, as mentioned in the introduction, old age is the continuous of aging which we are all going through right now and at each moment of our lives, thus we ought to include ourselves (visually?) within the represent old age. Finally, to problematize my own stand point and avoid my transparency as a researcher/artist, visuals must be present. In fact, the initial question guiding this research had and still has a reason to be. It reflects not only my own embodied location, but also the position of mainstream and often Aging Studies representations of old age and aging. What is thus crucial to clarify now, is how come the visual appearances seemed to be so central at first? Foucault and his theory on the docile body helps us understand that better. The docile body and us According to Foucault, “unlike older forms of bodily 65
coercion [torture for instance], disciplinary power does not destroy but reconstructs the body. Individuals literary incorporate the objectives of power, which become part of their being: actions, aims, habits.” (p.88. Oksala, 2010) While in the past bodily coercion was violently and spectacularly imposed, nowadays norms are internalized, this is what he calls disciplinary power. “I constitute myself (and am constituted) through norms and practices that subordinate me.” (p.184. Taylor, 2010) The concept of docile body is Foucault’s way of bringing back the focus to the materiality of the body, and go further than its mere theoretical critique. In regards to our challenges, this theory is very helpful because shed lights on a process of normalization that we might not be conscious about, yet are victim and actor of. “We modify our behaviour in an endless attempt to approximate the normal, and in this process become certain kinds of subjects.” (p.89) Thus when looking at the norm of beauty presented in the media - which is rather an ideal of beauty – through the lens of Foucault’s docile body, we understand better how for instance shaving as a woman is perceived as a personal choice
rather
than
an
imposition.
Foucault
calls
disciplinary power the personal integration of a norm in contrast to a clear external imposition of it. When it comes to aging, it becomes slightly more complicated because as 66
explained in the first chapter, there are many dualistic opposing ambivalent discourses that constitute the norm of old age. Older people are still subject to the ideal of beauty that the commercial presented above conveys. Yet their age and bodily conditions are constantly medicalized in an inverted way. The most revealing example of disciplinary power in the interaction with the participants during the interviews, is Mister Love, aka the guitar player’s (as he wanted
to
be
called
in
this
project)
seemingly
contradicting perspectives on age and appearance. He was extremely critical towards the constraining effect of age identities. When I asked him how old he was, he answered: “You just threw me bullets of shotgun in my head or heart with this question because it means you don’t really care about the person I am!” He explained that age identities are discriminatory and that when someone knows how old he is, a whole picture of him is constructed without him being able to do anything against it. I was impressed by his critique because he mentioned many of the theoretical anti-ageist claims stemming from his own personal experience - which gave me a feeling of added value to the relevancy of the project. However, throughout the interview, he revealed some surprising contradictions to his initial criticism. I asked him if he felt 67
age was also influencing his appearance and how did he deal with that. He first said no categorically, repeating that age did not mean anything to him. But later he claimed enthusiastically that “old people should at least dress well”. I asked for elaboration on that claim and he went on saying that older women should not wear mini-skirts and that older men should dress more decently than when they were young. Why? “That’s how it is, I think it’s better”, he answered. I was first slightly disturbed by his inability to develop his thoughts regarding old people’s dress code while he had been so critical about numeric age and its effect on his personal experience of aging. However through Foucault’s lens of disciplinary power and docile bodies more particularly, these contradictions make total sense. What Mister Love, aka the guitar player, expresses here are theoretical and emotional critiques towards the imposition of age identity on him, however some norms such as the decency of older people’s dressing habits are so deeply integrated in him that he is unable to make sense of them from a critical standpoint. He is victim and actor of this normalizing process expecting older people to dress in a certain way.
After having understood the concepts of disciplinary 68
power and the docile body, I came to process the disappointment and shame I went through at the beginning of this research in a much more fruitful way. Since “disciplinary power is itself invisible yet renders its subjects hyper-visible in order to tighten its grip� (p. 57.Heyes, 2007), gaze and appearance have an essential role in the understanding, analyses and representations of aging and old age. Disciplinary power and the disciplinary practices that follow, specifically affect the materiality of the body in ways that shape the construction and understanding of identity radically. Heyes develops Foucault by arguing that disciplinary power has a twofolded effect on the body and the construction of identity. On the one hand it coerces it through an invisible process of normalization, while on the other hand, it gives a strong feeling of individuality and agency - through the same process of normalization. The (docile) body therefore becomes the defining signifier of one’s identity as normal, abnormal, special, average, etc. This is particular to modern times and results in a society where individuals relate to their external appearance as revealer of their true inner Self. In my experience of aging, shaped through disciplinary power, I was automatically brought to understand the changes in age identity through the bodily 69
experience and appearance. In the progress of this research project, with the help of Foucault’s insight but most importantly through the ethnographic and creative processes, I was able to make sense of my initial intentions and expectations. This enabled me to find great relevancy in the focus on visuals and answer to the main question of this chapter positively. [looking] old is a central question. In fact, my perception of identity is so strongly connected to visual and bodily appearance that I expected older people that appear to me as old to fear their outer-appearance as signifier of their identity. Then, by representing the participants I had to face my tendency to wish making them look younger for instance. This reveals not only personal processes but very much relate to the ageist
socio-cultural
hegemony.
Therefore,
Artistic
Research truly engaged me with the complexities of the topic of research. Through the process I was forced to confront my own limits and deconstruct my prejudices. Moreover, I was enabled to make the uncomfortable feelings of disappointment and shame, become productive and fruitful grounds for criticism and creativity.
70
71
III [imag]ing, how?
72
Through the two previous chapters, we explored representation of old age, with its ambiguities and challenges. This enabled us to understand the need for alternative images of aging. Yet it did not elucidate the ambiguities. It led us to the exploration of limitations and potentials of the visual mode of representation as a vehicle for alternative images of aging. However, concrete ways of allowing alternative representation of old age and aging are not apparent yet. Thus in this last chapter, artistic projects resulting from the research process will be presented. They will serve as examples of potential ways of reflecting (on) the complexities of aging and its representation. The process of im[aging] allowed me to dive into the experiences of the older people I interviewed, and it also enabled a much broader understanding of the theoretical
frameworks
of Aging
Studies, Artistic
Research and scholars such as Spivak and Foucault. Most importantly, it revealed the relevancy of Artistic Research as a means for innovative knowledge production by forcing me to truly engage with the material I was researching and thus constantly reflect and renew my perspectives on the findings. In the case of this project, it enabled me to let go of the need to represent clearly without ambiguities, and rather allow, even embrace the 73
contradictions that the topic of aging triggers. The artworks, as a result of the research process, reflect that. In fact, at the starting point of my research, my goals were to represent old age and aging in a way that is not discriminative and truly representative of the experiences of older people. However, on the way I realized that since aging is such a universal topic, it is nearly
impossible
to
create
non-discriminative
representations without falling into numb and dry political correctness. I also discovered that the ‘true’ experiences of old age are greatly diverse, among individuals but also within
one’s
experiences.
The
ambiguities
and
contradictions explored in the first chapter are integrated in an infinity of ways within each and every one of us. The process of striving to create images expressing these diversities was challenging, yet fruitful and revealing in many ways. It enabled me to process those challenges and face them (literally). The method of Artistic Research has been crucial in this process, it allowed space for- and research within the subjective creativity. I was able to face my thoughts, findings and development materially by facing the artworks in progress. This led to a wide diversity of interactions between me (as a researcher, image-maker, artist, young female, etc.) and the theories, participants, emotions, creativity and findings. 74
I will introduce and describe the artworks here in a discursive manner, while the embodied interaction with them can be fully experienced only bodily. As developed in the process/product paragraph in the Methodology section, our bodies experience life - here art - in ways that cannot fully be put into words. This last section of the paper will thus be a tentative description of the exhibition, accompanied with reflections on the processes that led to such artworks.
im[aging] exhibition I want to immerse the viewer in the pool of experiences I have been going through during this project, and make him/her relate to the findings in an embodied and creative way. The viewer will thus get acquainted with personal stories on old age, while confronting the contradicting ambiguities
aging
and
our
understandings
and
representations of aging imply. The exhibition did not take place yet but is meant to be an interactive journey where the artworks engage the viewer, not simply in a contemplative way. This is why a little map of the exhibition structure will first be presented. It will enable us to locate the artworks in relation to each other and in order of appearance for the viewer.
75
(w)ripples The entrance of the exhibition is the big door at the bottom of the scheme. The viewers will thus first encounter two of the artworks, “(w)ripples” and “[sway]ging”. The first one is a soundscape, patchwork of the interviews where mundane background noises and directed utterances will both be heard. It will emerge the viewer from the start in a certain atmosphere where daily life sounds are connected to clear statements and reflections, on aging but also on life in general. The sounds were put together in order to give a background sonority. The voices of the interviewees only sometimes 76
come to the foreground as transmitter of knowledge or experiences. The viewer/listener is thus surrounded from a far distance by the personal sharing of the participants and is just sometimes confronted with louder sounds or voices. It gives a feeling of how it was for me to be immerged in the interactions with older people, an unusual yet extremely enriching experience. In order to challenge ageist tendencies, to stop being afraid of old age, to give space for older people and younger to share experiences, more encounters and dialogue
among
generations
are
necessary.
The
soundscape thus opens this door by giving an insight on how it is to hear older person’s daily life. For me, to create a soundscape was a way to represent the encounters with the participants in a non-visual manner, a trial to avoid the epistemic violence trap. However as mentioned in the last chapter, it is not because I represent the participants in a soundscape rather than by the means of visuals that I am able to represent them better. However the sound does enable something that visuals cannot. The viewer/listener is drawn to engage in its own visual representation process. When the viewer/listener only hears but does not see anything yet, its imagination tries to give faces to the voices, colors to the sounds. Thus the exhibition starts by encouraging the audience to be creative, and construct 77
their own images of the participants they will then encounter visually. This might bring up some of their prejudices to the foreground. Finally, “(w)ripples” is also a bridge between the outside world where older people’s voices are often unheard, and not even noticed, and the end station of the exhibition where experiences of aging will strongly be imposed on the viewers’ experience.
[sway]ging A few steps away from the door, still surrounded by the soundscape, double-sided pictures will hang from the ceiling at different heights. The next artwork is starting.
“[Sway]ging”
is
an
installation
that
is
accompanied by the soundscape and that displays first mere photographs then gradually drawings and collages as well. Since the images are hanging from the ceiling by one string, they swirl and turn, sway with the wind. The viewers who can reach most of them can also influence their dance. Using the idea of a mobile for children, the images are in constant movement and give a feeling of playfulness. The double-sided pictures display same participants represented slightly differently. The difference in representation can be from black/white to color photography, from high angle shot to low angle shot, or 78
other elements of imaging that struck me as revealing very different understanding of age identity within the same individual represented. The way the artwork is built gives the viewer a feeling of versatility of possibilities in choices of representation which allows a more critical perspective on image-making, mostly photography. In addition, it is also already showing my own position as image-maker because it shows the different shots I could choose from.
13
This artwork came to being at the very beginning of the process of image-making. At first I wanted to print the photographs black/white and then only I realized by 13
For more examples, c.f. the Appendix 79
confronting the screen and having to choose, that the fact of printing the photographs black/white had already an important impact on the understanding of age of the participant represented. I thus had to reveal this power I had as a researcher and artist, the power to choose how to represent, the power of shaping the understanding the viewer might have of the images displayed. Revealing the artist’s hand, or the researcher’s gaze is crucial but “[sway]ging” reveals more than that. The gaze of the researcher and the hands of the artist - mine - tend to reproduce naively the major critique I was basing my research on, namely the problematic opposing sociocultural discourses putting older people either in the decline narrative or in the successful aging box.
In these three shots, the framing, lighting and perspective are slightly different, yet it creates a major difference in the understanding of this person as an old man. In the first one – which is the one I was tempted to choose at first – the frame is narrower than the others, which hides the 80
falling of the shoulders, the lighting is brighter which gives more red to the glasses, more blue to the shirt and burns some of the forehead wrinkles out of the image; and the perspective of the shot is horizontal. However in the two other shots, the frame is wider, the light is darker and the perspective is slightly from above. This high angle shot gives a sense of powerlessness to the model. It makes him look small, weaker and vulnerable. This is often used in cinema during a scary scene. The victim is always shot from a high-angle while the strong threatening monster is filmed from a low-angle which gives him more strength. The first picture would probably be put in the successful aging box, the man is 82 but looks determined, serious and stylish with his red glasses. The second picture, however, would be put in the decline narrative box. The man looks tired, bored, skeptical and weak. This is due to a slight difference in framing, lighting and perspective, which could seem to be irrelevant. In this last picture, it is only the gaze (and the framing) which differs with the second picture. Yet it also gives a different understanding of the model. While the second shot gives a feeling of static powerlessness, the third picture, with just a slight difference - the gaze evokes more a wish to escape. The man does not look as powerless because there is something else, that he is 81
looking at, that triggers his attention, his dreaming, his longing. If I had to choose one shot to represent this participant, I would choose the first one because there he looks younger etc. Through this artwork, I want to make the viewers look at these differences and face the preferences they might have. In addition, the fact that they are displayed in the form of a children mobile allows the movement and the playfulness I enjoyed by experimenting with this project. This can also be understood as an infantilizing way of portraying older people. However the viewer looks up at the pictures and this is slightly uncomfortable for the neck and the eyes because it is against the light coming from the ceiling. Thus the ambiguity between infantile and wise older people that Simone de Beauvoir introduces is somewhat embodied through the ambiguous relation the viewer has towards the images. The viewer is given the power to choose which side to look at and play with the images while looking up to very bright and lit images that gradually become more numerous.
time-lines/time-mimes Gradually there are more double-sided images hanging from the ceiling, it starts to become slightly overwhelming, and the viewer does not know where to 82
look. The images also become more complex to make sense of because some collages with repetitions of photographs of the beginning of the exhibition gradually come in. The viewer is entering the third artwork space. “Time-lines/time-mimes” uses some of the photographs and collages hanging in addition of other footage in bigger formats, displayed as paintings, against the walls. This artwork is a reflection on the process I went through by ‘realizing’ that old age is not an identity as such but is part of the process of aging we are all embedded in. This was best experienced in the shift in the way I related to the participants in the first encounters and in the last ones. At the beginning my curiosity was stemming from the assumption that their experience of life was immensely different than mine, even opposed to mine, while I gradually cultivated interest towards the commonalities in doubts, challenges and desires. Using the idea of time-line and before-after images, in this project I allowed myself to glue and cut and paint and draw the contradicting and complex meanings I was imposing on the participants, the participants on myself, the participants on themselves and myself on myself.
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The participant represented here expressed some relation to plastic surgery, and this awakened many prejudices within me. I used images from commercials and original photographs to express the ambivalences I perceived and felt. The “time-lines, time-mimes” project does not try to create a linear evolution between the different frames, on the contrary, it strives to break from that need for chronological evolutionary coherent understanding of beings. The series strive to stress the performative aspects of aging and its influence on our identities.
your future is d/ready(y) The last station of the exhibition is a small squared box where maximum three people can fit. There, a video installation, “Your future can be d/read(y)” is the ultimate confrontation with the contradictions of old age and aging. The viewer will be overwhelmed by images, sounds and the small size of the room - overwhelmed in a positive and also oppressive way. Videos from the interviews but also from other sources (commercials and personal videos for instance) will be put together in a way that triggers sympathy and aversion, hope and fear, inner-peace and frustration. For example, touching videos of some of the participants will be followed by me singing the wellknown song: Forever Young. A video relating on the 85
invention of an old age simulating outfit to sensitize nurses will also be included, in addition of other short commercials that made my research go forward or triggered strong reactions within my participants or myself. In addition, short videos of myself will also be stuck in between other ones. I will be asking questions such as “What do you want to become when you grow up?”, or just repeating short sentences such as “I’m young, you’re old.” The viewer will have to engage with the artwork because the videos will be projected on the 4 walls of the small room thus one has to move in order to be able to follow the images. This will add to the overwhelming feeling. The purpose of this video installation is to trigger reactions to the opposing and diverse representations of aging and really include the viewer’s self-reflectivity within these ambiguities. After the video, the viewers will have to pass through the exhibition backwards. If they wish, they can thus take time to play again with the swaying pictures and maybe experience them differently after having heard the voices of some of the photographs.
It is not easy to clearly describe artworks on paper, and each viewer will contribute by bringing their own interpretation and understanding of the exhibition. 86
However the elaboration of the im[aging] exhibition is clearly the result of
a striving for alternative
representations of old age and aging. Moreover, it is the result of the exploration of the limitations and potentials of visual imaging as a source for those alternative representations.
The
limitations
and
potentials
experimented with throughout this process are very much specific to my own embodied location as a young, white, female, academic and creative middle-class individual. Nevertheless, I hope this process, the account of it and the creative results can be useful in different ways. First of all, I hope it can trigger curiosity and interest in the experience of old age but most importantly in a more inward reflection on one´s own relation to the process of aging. Secondly, I hope it can show that shaking the ageist hegemonic discourse is on the one hand accessible and easy to do, by opening windows to more intergenerational dialogue and activities; yet on the other hand, extremely challenging because of the depth of the roots of ageism and the (invisible) disciplinary power at stake in society’s fear of growing old. Finally, I hope this project can be a source of inspiration, and a convincing pathway, to encourage deeper and tighter collaborations between Artistic Research and Aging Studies; because it is through the ethnographic and creative processes that the findings 87
were able to be digested and reshaped, challenged and rethought, embodied and materialized in (hopefully) innovative, critical and accessible ways. To come back to Simone de Beauvoir’s quote on change being the basic characteristic of life and aging intrinsically embodying this change, the im[aging] project could endlessly be reshaped. In fact, the exhibition could start from the end, the interviews could have been also conducted with young people totally unaware of their aging process. However what the project cannot and could never do is, represent old age and aging in a clear and unique manner. It cannot conclude by celebrating aging nor can it lament it. The only certainty it can claim is that you are aging, and that when you grow up, you will have aged even more. However the im[aging] project cannot even answer like in the Canard Enchainé’s opening quote, that when you grow up you will be “an old man”, because some people feel younger when they are old and older when they are women, and women for a while, and while they age, they forget about time, for a while.
The im[aging] project can only encourage Artistic Research and Aging Studies to flourish together in a way that enables alternative representations of old age and aging, free of taboos - or shouting at them! - voicing out 88
diverging experiences of age. Finally, the project hopes to inspire each and one of us to confront our own relation to aging in order to be aware of our specific embodied location, and its impact on our lives and our relation with others, young and old. As Foucault said: No aspect of reality should be allowed to become a definitive and inhuman law for us (‌) the meaning of human existence – the source of human freedom – is never to accept anything as definitive, untouchable, obvious, or immobile. (p.182) In constant change we are, and in constant change the definition of old age, aging and their representations ought to be(come).
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References Borgdorff, H. (2009). Artistic research within the fields of science. Kunsthøgskoleni Bergen. Borgdorff, H. (2011). The production of knowledge in artistic research. The Routledge Companion to Research in the Arts. Oxon: Routledge. Borsa, J. (1990). Towards a politics of location: Rethinking marginality. Canadian Woman Studies, 11(1). Busch. K. 2009. Artistic research and the Poetics of Knowledge. Art and research Journal. Calasanti, T., King, N. (2005). Firming the Floppy Penis: Age, Class, and Gender Relations in the Lives of Old Men. Men and Masculinities, 8(3). Cardona, B. (2008). ‘Healthy Ageing’policies and antiageing ideologies and practices: on the exercise of responsibility. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 11(4), 475-483 Clarke L , G. M. (2008). Visible and invisible ageing: beauty work as a response to ageism. Ageing and Society, 28(5), 653 - 674. Cole, T., Van Tassel, D., Kastenbaum, R. (1992). Handbook of the Humanities and Aging. Springer Publishing Company, New York. Coupland, J. Coupland, N., Grainger, K. (1991). Aging and Society, Cambridge University Press, 11(2), 189-208 91
Coupland, N., Coupland, J., Williams, A., Nussbaum, J. (1992). Intergenerational Talk and Communication with Older People.The international Journal of Aging and Human Development, 34(4), 271-297. Dolan, J., Tincknell, E. (2012) Aging Femininities: Troubling Representations. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars. Galassi, F. S., Davis, R. H. (1987) Teaching Intergenerational Communication as a Speech/Communication Elective pages Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 6(3), 55-64. Hannula, M., Suoranta, J., VadĂŠn, T., Griffiths, G., &KĂślhi, K. (2005). Artistic research: Theories, methods and practices. Academy of Fine Arts. Hannula, M. (2009). Catch me if you can: Chances and Challenges of Artistic Research. Art & Research, 2, 1-20. Heyes, C. (2007). Normalisation and the psychic life of cosmetic surgery, Australian Feminist Studies, 22(52), 55-71. Hogan, S.. (2013). Peripheries and borders: Pushing the boundaries of visual research. International Journal of Art Therapy: Formerly Inscape, 18(2), 67-74. Hogan, S. (2012). Ways in which photographic and other images are used in research: An introductory overview. International Journal of Art Therapy: FormerlyInscape, 17(2), 54-62. Hogan, S., Warren, L. (2012).Dealing with Complexity in 92
Research Processes and Findings: How Do Older Women Negotiate and Challenge Images of Aging?Journal of Women & Aging, 24(4), 329350. Katz, S., Marshall, B. (2003). New sex for old: lifestyle, consumerism, and the ethics of aging well. Journal of AgingStudies. Department of Sociology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 3–16. Marshall, L., Swinnen, A. “Let’s do it like grown-ups”: A filmic ménage of age, gender and sexuality. Rich, A. (2003). Notes toward a Politics of Location. Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader, 29-42. Richards, N., Warren, L.,Gott, M. (2012). The challenge of creating ‘alternative’images of ageing: Lessons from a project with older women. Journal of Aging Studies, 26(1), 65-78 Ryan, E. B., Hamilton, J.,Kwong See, S. (1994). Patronizing the Old: How do Younger and Older Adults Respond to Baby Talk in the Nursing Home?The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 39(1), 21-32. Sandberg, L. (2013). Affirmative old age:the ageing body and feminist theories on difference International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 8(1) 11- 40. Spivak, G. (1988). "Can the Subaltern Speak?" Marxist and the Interpretation of Culture. University of Illinois Press, 271-313. Sontag, S. (1982). double standard of aging. Readings in 93
adult psychology: contemporary perspectives/edited by Lawrence R. Allman, Dennis T. Jaffe. Taylor, D. (2011). Michel Foucault: Key concepts. Durham: AcumenTaylor, D. (2010). Foucault: Key Concepts. Tulle, E., Krekula, C. (2013). Ageing embodiement and the search for social change. International of Ageing and Later life, 8(1):7-10 Twigg, J. (2004). The body, gender, and age: Feminist insights in social gerontology. Journal of aging studies, 18(1), 59-73. Wesseling, J. (2011) See it Again Say it Again: The Artist as Researcher. Audiovisual material Dresen, A., Hauschild, J. (2008). Wolke 9, Germany. http://www.representing-ageing.com/ http://www.who.int/world-healthday/2012/toolkit/background/en/index3.html http://video.who.int/streaming/whd2012/WHO_WHD2012_07 APR2012_eng.wmv http://www.who.int/world-healthday/2012/posters/lowres_en.pdf?ua=1 http://ageculturehumanities.org/WP/ www.agingstudies.eu www.jar-online.net 94
Apendix Interviews a. How does it feel to be photographed from so close? Do you mind it? (talk about that during the photo shooting) Do you think you look old? Do you feel old? Define old age. b. Discussion on these various google-image representations of old age:
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Do you identify with any of those images? If you had to choose one, which one would you choose and why? c. Do you see value in growing old? What is the most surprising aspect of aging? What is the hardest? Do you think these informations should be more shared? In what ways? Do you think older people are represented enough? Should they be? (this last interview very much depended on the previous interviews and what came out then)
Artworks material - [sway]ging
97
98
99
100
101
102
- time-lines/time-mimes
103
104
105
These photographs were made in Florida in my first attempt to represent older people. And I remember very well this encounter because the man who I asked if I could take pictures of, reacted in a very unexpected way. He did not conform to what I was expecting from old age. He was not shy not proud of being photographed, he was taking some burlesque and sometimes somewhat sensual poses. I was very uncomfortable and afterwards talked about him as the ‘crazy and creepy old guy’. However by looking back now and thinking about this encounter, many things arose. First of all, I thought of how cliché and childish it was from me to judge him so fast while asking a random person to be photographed can put that person at unease thus obligated to mime, make fun of himself and the situation. I found this wellknown image of the mad old man (it relates to de Beauvoir’s criticism), I wanted to put it in the time-line/time-mime because it embodies the cliché. Then I decided to represented the ‘creepy’ picture through drawing to see how I interact with his gaze and how (un)comfortable I am able to be while drawing it. I found it rather funny and much less creepy. I felt sorry for defining him like that. The final collage I made is from a little girl’s picture playing in the fields, where I put his face instead of hers. Through that, I was able to make fun of the cliché of older men being ‘creepy’ and sexually inappropriate that I was confronted with, and also express my own childishness (the blue sky line, the scissor cuts being not very delicate but rather rough, naïve). In addition, his burlesque way of acting in front of the camera was also very playful thus it reflects that as well.
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107
This participant is my grandfather and is the one that has the most physical issues. Even though he is well and healthy, he had a car accident a few years ago that made him much more dependent, enable to hear and see properly and loose memory much more often than before. He still expressed that he knew he was old but did not feel so. The difference between numeric age identity, physical possibilities and mindset were very present in his interview and was reflected in many others. Many members of the family perceive him as imprisoned in his bodily condition, and he does not deny that of course. However, his way of reacting to that is accepting and humorous. This aquarelle series of profile emphasizes the hearing aid which is the biggest topic of discussion when there are big family reunions, because then it is harder for him to understand what is going on in the crowd. In addition, it also expresses my own feeling of imprisonment the family and the doctors impose on him. There is more material, still in progress or impossible to put on paper (the ‘(w)ripples’ and ‘your future will be d/read(y)’ artworks for instance) that will eventually be presented live.
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