Participants interacting with each other in the video. Photos courtesy of Andy Belser
As the punchline of just about any store-bought birthday card suggests, many people harbor a fear of getting older. But a professor at Pennsylvania State University is confronting this phobia through an immersive video installation that aims to cultivate cross-generational empathy.FaceAge, whichoriginated as a research project, is the brainchild of Andrew Belser, Director of the Arts and Design Research Incubator at Penn State. He envisioned a space in which pairs of younger (18-22) and older (65+) strangers could share their assumptions about and experiences with aging. Footage of the resulting encounters became the basis for the immersive three-screen video and audio installation currently on view in Art Alley at Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center.
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