“Clash of generations” or lived intergenerationality: Visage Villages (Agnès Varda, FR 2017) Art as a reflection of the construct of human existence – an anocritical perspective

Abstract

Public presence of the topic of “aging” as a merely socio-political, medical, or economic issue as well as the dominant cultural discussions of “age” as an individual and social burden have contributed to dominant ageist stereotypical notions by ignoring the influence of strong life-affirming expressions of temporality as an integral part of our existence. Cultural representations of intergenerational relationships as presented in the film Visages Villages (FR 2017) by Agnès Varda, for example, provide through its art form an expression of individual authenticity that allows an expression of what it means to construct one’s life in a constant process of continuity and change, thus understanding our lives as individually and socially constructed. A joint art project – Faces, Places – by Varda and the photo artist JR is presented as a process of visualization and temporary expressions of individual authenticity. The interaction of two art forms – photography and film – allows for a hermeneutic expression of the presence of our human existence, both in art and life. Categories such as “youth” and “age” are, therefore, meaningless both for the individual as well as society in general, but can be taken as challenges for the individual creation of a meaningful life. The willingness to engage in life through art allows for an understanding of our lives in the matrix of time and experience. Through an anocritical approach the visual translation of human experience into film and photography can let us experience life through art as a life-appropriate expression of what it means to live in different stages of our existence.