Realized in response to the loneliness epidemic that we are facing as a society, this body of research seeks to gain a better understanding of the curatorial in the context of care, revealing its potential to positively affect well-being. Body of Aesthetics investigates the multimodality of aesthetic experience, beyond the ocularcentricity of formal aesthetics, to explore the therapeutic potential of aesthetic experiences to combat loneliness. The findings are presented in two parts: (1) a methodology, and (2) a practice. As a methodology, Body of Aesthetics offers a new way to approach curation in the context of care, without being prohibitive or prescriptive. The titular exhibition presents this methodology in practice; serving as a case study, the exhibition demonstrates how curators can support individual and social well-being through aesthetic practices.

The Body of Aesthetics exhibition features artists Orus Mateo Castaño-Suárez and Artemis Han who respond to the injustices faced by the body as it is reduced to a means of production, and through its subjugation by the medical gaze. Each artist addresses a perceived social or political injustice in contemporary mental health diagnosis and treatment, offering avenues for hope. The accompanying catalogue essay examines these themes further, weaving them into a narrative about a being that has struggled over centuries to resolve itself. Torn asunder by the ego of philosophical and medical hegemony, and isolated by oppressive, modifying punctuation, it embarks on a journey to reconcile and reinvent itself, supported by the concerted effort of contemporary philosophers, anthropologists, and medical practitioners who recognize its plight.