MEDIA, Pa. — Penn State Brandywine will host "FaceAge," a video installation that explores intergenerational attitudes about aging, on Monday, Sept. 25 and Tuesday, Sept. 26. The exhibit will run continuously from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Main Building student lounge.
Andrew Belser, producer and director of the exhibit, will give a presentation on the making of the FaceAge project at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 26, in Main Building room 101. The events are free and open to the public.
Belser is the Penn State Laureate in the Humanities for 2017-18.
The award-winning FaceAge video program weaves together interconnected chapters in which young adults (18-22) and aging individuals (65+) reflect on life while studying and describing one another’s faces. Participants explore issues of identity, gender, sexuality and ethnicity through the lens of aging. This series of intimate interactions challenges perceptions, fosters introspection and builds acceptance, awareness and cross-generational connections.
Belser, a professor of movement, voice and acting and director of the Arts & Design Research Incubator (ADRI) in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture, was named Penn State Laureate for the 2017-18 academic year. As laureate, he is touring his award-winning FaceAge exhibition — a multimedia video installation created from cross-generational conversations — throughout Pennsylvania.
“FaceAge proposes intergenerational connection as a binding force for communities divided by income, class and education, among other issues,” Belser said. “Because Pennsylvania demographics show growth in our aging population, a focus on cross-generational engagement is both timely and has potential to spawn meaningful interaction between Penn State and various communities.”
Belser has been a Penn State faculty member since 2013. He previously served as chair and professor of theater at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and head of theater at Juniata College. His teaching and professional directing career has centered on movement forms, voice/breath work, interdisciplinary theater approaches, solo work and, most recently, on translating neuroscience for performers.
Belser has directed more than 75 theater productions and maintains an active schedule of tutorials, master classes and workshops.
An annual faculty honor established in 2008, the Penn State Laureate is a full-time faculty member in the arts or humanities who is assigned half-time for one academic year to bring greater visibility to the arts, humanities and the University, as well as his or her own work. As such, the laureate is a highly visible representative of the University, appearing at events and speaking engagements throughout the Commonwealth.
For more information about the FaceAge exhibit, visit www.faceage.org.