Exhibition｜Aging: A Life Montage
Date｜2023.02.18-2023.05.28
Veune｜Tainan Art Museum
In the immeasurable universe, “time” is given measuring marks via human existence. Throughout a human life, “time” is divided into different phases from birth, aging, illness, to death. Sometimes we are accompanied, while sometimes we have to travel alone. With these experiences, all the memories and life stories are transformed into a myriad of sceneries for the elderly.
Taiwan became the so-called aging society in 1993 and is projected to become a super-aging one according to the studies of the National Development Council, signifying not only the change of its social structure but also a different future. Since the younger generation might not be able to fully physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially support the elderly, we should really give some thoughts on how we deal with “time.”
With “aging” as its main theme, the exhibition Aging: A Life Montage presents artworks inspired by artists’ spontaneous and sophisticated experiences of “time” and “life,” providing different perspectives for viewers to take a look at the life montage of the Erdely and how “time” leaves the traces. It further reflects on an aging life (sooner or later, if not now), concerning the aging body of our own or the closed one, the sense of rejuvenation evoked by memories, biological degeneration and its impact on human emotions, etc. Through the artists’ exploration of “time,” the exhibition eventually touches upon the psychological meaning of “time” when people are biologically aging.
The exhibition is part of the collaboration between Tainan Art Museum and the Institute of Gerontology at National Cheng Kung University based on a memorandum of understanding which started in 2019 with an attempt to improve the lives of the elderly and patients with dementia by promoting and organizing events and sharing academic resources. With the museum’s continuous effort to bring arts to the general public, Aging: A Life Montage also provides viewing experiences more accessible to the elderly and makes the museum a more inclusive space to encourage their visits.
Youth and senility are two polarized conditions, while the body gradually moves from one to the other throughout the passage of time, until it declines and decays. In the natural cycle of “formation, existence, disintegration, and emptiness,” various medical and physical treatments can be applied to delay the aging process, but it is still irreversible.
However, it is the body which gets old, but we can still project our memories, to summon the moments of happiness or sadness we have once experienced no matter what phase of life we stand. The term “rejuvenation” from the subtopic is to evoke our memories and to integrate them as a rejuvenating treatment for viewers.
The interrelated “memory” and “rejuvenation” are explored in the artworks to challenge or reverse the conventional mode of being old, while it also expects to create a strong self-reflection within the viewers, allowing the torrents of the Rejuvenation River to revitalize the past memories.
The Encounter in “Time”
Nowadays, the Elixir of life in ancient myths has been replaced by medical and scientific studies, which searches for ways to increase the human lifespan as it places the hope on genetics to cure different diseases and to slow down aging in cells. It is the new quest for immortality in the contemporary society.
Everyone has their own aging experiences, and each experience is private and unique. Meanwhile, the multiple signs of biological and psychological aging – such as wrinkles, losing control of one’s body, degeneration in vision and hearing, changes of emotional reactions, and memory decline – form a collective perception pluralizing like radiating branches.
This section takes on diverse perspectives of contemporary art to reexplore the spectrum of an artistic visualization of senility. In The Encounter in “Time,” artists transform the emotional and sensory perceptions related to aging into visual experiences which can connect to and be shared by different generations.
Time in Its Plural Form
The modernized society we inhabit imposes similar experiences of “time” on the general public, unifying the everyday life of a highly socialized community. This section thus features “time” as its artistic subject to reveal the life journey of the exhibiting artists and the span of time expressed on the materials. With remarks on art-related labour, compressed time and liberation, we hope to encourage an emotional and affective identification from viewers to reexamine their life experiences.
