Taught by: Becky Maric & Heather Brody
As we age, wrinkles, lines, gray hair, and spots are part of an aging body. In our anti-aging culture, where the cult of youthfulness is celebrated and supported by the cosmetic industry, the natural aging process is not celebrated. Instead, the messages we hear from the media and popular culture are that frailty, loneliness, decay, and mortality define old age. Contemporary artists are exploring the ways aging in our culture is a social construction and not a natural biological process that leads to a new stage of opportunity and strength. They explore the wisdom of aging as it is followed by a wealth of experience, power, wisdom, and often a triumph over social conventions. In this class, students explored how aging is constructed and how it has changed over time in our society through the use of varied mediums and artistic methods that included 2D and 3D materials, as well as interviews and other collaborative forms of creative inquiry.
The following is the curriculum map students followed throughout the course:
