A split image showing an elderly woman with white hair and a man with slicked-back blonde hair, both dressed in black, sitting against a dark wooden wall with their eyes closed.

All images of ÆON by Zuzanna Kaluzna

ÆON

Research based artwork by Emilia Tikka

2018

Collaboration partners:

Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine and STATE Studio

Photography by Zuzanna Kaluzna

Actress: Helena Norowicz

Actor: Nico Ehrenteit

ÆON has been featured in Nature, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and exhibited internationally.

ÆON is a speculative art project exploring a near future in which biological ageing can be reversed through genetic reprogramming. Developed in collaboration with scientists at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), it draws on research into the Yamanaka factors and CRISPR/dCAS9 gene activation to imagine the social, ethical, and emotional implications of rejuvenation technologies.

Through photography, speculative design, and fiction, ÆON follows an elderly couple who, decades earlier, made different choices about whether to use a rejuvenation technology. Centering the perspective of an aged woman, the project takes a feminist Science and Technology Studies (STS) approach to ask whose experiences of ageing shape emerging biotechnologies, and whose perspectives remain invisible.

Rather than presenting longevity as a purely technological achievement, ÆON reflects on ageing as a relational and cyclical process. It invites alternative understandings of life, death, and renewal that extend beyond dominant Western secular narratives, opening space to reflect on the cultural values and imaginaries driving contemporary longevity research.

An elderly woman with long white hair kneels on the floor, arranging a line of small rocks in front of her. She is barefoot and dressed in black clothing. The background features a dark brick wall and a fireplace with a wooden mantle.
A man wearing a white face mask and black gloves gently holds and looks at an elderly woman's face outdoors, with a cloudy sky and open field in the background.
A person with blonde hair leaning over a display case of various butterflies and insects, with a dark room atmosphere and natural light coming from a window.
A young man and an elderly woman sit across from each other at a dining table, holding hands. They are indoors near a large window with a view of green fields and trees outside. There is a glass of red wine and a plate of food on the table.
A large black sculpture shaped like a cone with a pointed end, placed on a black pedestal against a plain gray wall. In front of the sculpture, there are three small clear glass ampules with labels, standing upright on the pedestal.
A large art installation featuring multiple photographs of people, including a man and woman sitting at a table by a window, and various other portrait and candid style photos of individuals with natural and outdoor backgrounds. The photographs are d