Art + Care: A Future

Art + Care: A Future (Hans Ulrich Obrist, Julia Peyton-Jones, Silvia Federici, Franco Berardi, Yanki Lee, Sally Tallant, Janna Graham, Serpentine Galleries and Koenig Books Ltd., 2013, London)

"Art + Care: A Future is a publication that speculates on future alliances between the fields of art and elderly care.  Featuring essays by key thinkers on issues of ageing and the future, and is contextualised by case studies from five years of the Serpentine Gallery's work in placing artists, designers, researchers and architects in the field of elderly care through the project Skills Exchange: Urban Transformation and the Politics of Care 2007–2012.  Each Skills Exchange project was based on an extended artistic residency in a space of elderly care, through which participants were invited to engage with the creative process to challenge stereotypes and social norms. 

Beyond providing a service for the role of the care sector, the contributors argue that art has a role to play in challenging the marginalisation of the aged, while ageing provokes fundamental questions to the field of art."
(http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/shop/art-care-future)

"On Elder Care" Silvia Federici, 2013
"There are currently 10 million people aged sixty-five and over in the UK, and by 2050 there will be 19 million. Many face intense forms of segregation and isolation. The needs of older people are complex and studies have proved the importance of artistic and creative opportunities in increasing well-being and reducing isolation of the elderly...It is only through understanding the intersections between elderly care and other social sectors that we can begin to imagine what the future could look like. How can artistic practices assist in this imagining of elderly care and all of its complex interdependencies?" (pg.6)

"The continuing process of urbanisation and the gentrification of working class neighbourhoods have destroyed the support networks and and the forms of mutual aid in which older people living alone could once rely, as neighbours would bring them food, make their beds, come for a chat." (pg.13)

"It is now recognised that for a large number of the elderly, the positive effects of a longer life span have been voided or clouded by the prospect of loneliness, social exclusion and increased vulnerability to physical and psychological abuse." (pg.13)

"A cultural revolution is necessary in the concept of old age, challenging its degradation as a fiscal burden on the state and younger generations." (pg.13)

"Elder care suffers from a double cultural and social devaluation". (pg.14)

"In England and wales, it is reckoned that 5.2 million people provide informal care, starting in April 2007 caregivers for adults were given the right to demand flexible work schedules". (pg.15)

"How Old is Old? Designing Participation Tactics to Nurture the Ingenuity of Ageing for our Future Selves" Yanki Lee, 2013
SUMMARY: His point is basically saying it is a really good idea to involve the elderly in projects, especially design projects, as they will enlighten young designers with ideas they would not have though of otherwise as they have experienced more and have "tools" younger people don't. It also benefits the elderly as they are involved and are then "ageing actively". It also gives them connected social communities and purpose. 

"The historian Peter Laslett once stated the ageing is 'a unique experience for each individual'. His famous slogan was 'live in the presence of all your future selves', which promotes a life-long approach to ageing issues." (pg.35)

"Beyond the creation of places and things, participation in design has extended to the design of experience, services and processes. Additionally, involving end-users (the person who actually uses a particular product) in design has become an essential component of design research." (pg.36)

"To advocate for stronger design participation in the ageing process is, then, not only to advocate change in the design field, but also for a society that can provide the conditions for older people to form communities of practice in the making and shaping of their lives." (pg.39)