Experience Dementia

© piqs.de/gerdz

Demographic changes demand a new approach in dealing with dementia. Artistic methods are raising awareness of this.

People with dementia often suffer from social stigmatisation. Everyday activities such as shopping, money transactions or attending the theatre can be difficult for them. In order to avoid rejection or embarrassment, they withdraw from society. How this can be prevented and how societal attitudes towards dementia can be changed for the better is a topic under study by Vienna artist and researcher Ruth Mateus-Berr with her team in the project D.A.S. (Dementia. Arts. Society) which is supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF.

Losing one's reason
What it means to slowly lose one's reason and all reference to one's surroundings is the subject that Mateus-Berr intends to get to the bottom of in this artistic and scientific project. The first task is to raise awareness. “Especially in young people, there is often a lack of understanding for the elderly”, explains the Professor at the University for Applied Arts in Vienna.
The research project arose from the master's project Feel Dementia by two students at the University for Applied Arts in Vienna: Artist Cornelia Bast and designer Antonia Eggeling. They came up with two interventions: An audio file that floods listeners with an abundance of information and tasks in order to cause confusion. The other intervention is called Fokung Wirkus: Participants put a giadiving helmet on their heads. This has various lenses mounted inside it which limit sight. The effect triggers irritation and helplessness to such an extent that the wearer experiences the feeling of “suffering a nervous breakdown.”
The project aims to develop practice-oriented and sustainable formats such as workshops and design and art concepts in order to be able to better master the challenges posed by the issue for society and those affected for the long term.