Routledge Studies in Care Aesthetics – serie

What if the work of a nurse, physio, or homecare worker was designated an art, so that the qualities of the experiences they create became understood as aesthetic qualities? What if the interactions created by artists, directors, dancers, or workshop facilitators were understood as works of care? Care Aesthetics is the first full-length book to explore these questions and examine the work of carer artists and artist carers to make the case for the importance of valuing and supporting aesthetically caring relations across multiple aspects of our lives.Theoretically and practically, the book outlines the implications of care aesthetics for the socially engaged arts field and health and social care, and for acts of aesthetic care in the everyday. Part 1 of the book outlines the approaches to aesthetics and to care theory that are necessary to make and defend the concept of care aesthetics. Part 2 then tests this through practice, examining socially engaged arts and health and social care through its lens. It makes the case for careful art exploring the implications of care aesthetics for participatory or applied arts. Then it argues for artful care and how an aesthetic orientation to care practices might challenge some of the inadequacies of contemporary care.This is a vital, paradigm-shifting book for anyone engaged with socially engaged arts or social and health care practices on an academic or professional level.

What if the work of a nurse, physio, or homecare worker was designated an art, so that the qualities of the experiences they create became understood as aesthetic qualities? What if the interactions created by artists, directors, dancers, or workshop facilitators were understood as works of care? Care Aesthetics is the first full-length book to explore these questions and examine the work of carer artists and artist carers to make the case for the importance of valuing and supporting aesthetically caring relations across multiple aspects of our lives.Theoretically and practically, the book outlines the implications of care aesthetics for the socially engaged arts field and health and social care, and for acts of aesthetic care in the everyday. Part 1 of the book outlines the approaches to aesthetics and to care theory that are necessary to make and defend the concept of care aesthetics. Part 2 then tests this through practice, examining socially engaged arts and health and social care through its lens. It makes the case for careful art exploring the implications of care aesthetics for participatory or applied arts. Then it argues for artful care and how an aesthetic orientation to care practices might challenge some of the inadequacies of contemporary care.This is a vital, paradigm-shifting book for anyone engaged with socially engaged arts or social and health care practices on an academic or professional level.

What would happen if we were to understand arts projects through their capacity to care? Care Aesthetics and the Arts offers an exploration of care aesthetics applied to arts projects from diverse contexts.This collection examines the emerging field of care aesthetics applied to a range of arts practices and projects. Divided thematically into five sections, each chapter examines a range of arts practices or projects through the lens of care aesthetics, exploring how they can be understood and critiqued through this frame. This book surveys the foundations for an artistic exploration of care, discusses arts initiatives for sustaining, repairing, and holding space for everyday care, and expands conversations into the ambiguities and contradictions in both theory and practice. The volume includes contributions from diverse fields such as dance, literature, film, music, visual art, and theatre, alongside perspectives from non-conventional artistic settings such as protests, playgrounds, and hospitals, presenting a truly interdisciplinary study.Ideal for practitioners and students alike, this collection establishes the rich and evolving field of care aesthetics within the arts.

What would happen if we were to understand arts projects through their capacity to care? Care Aesthetics and the Arts offers an exploration of care aesthetics applied to arts projects from diverse contexts.This collection examines the emerging field of care aesthetics applied to a range of arts practices and projects. Divided thematically into five sections, each chapter examines a range of arts practices or projects through the lens of care aesthetics, exploring how they can be understood and critiqued through this frame. This book surveys the foundations for an artistic exploration of care, discusses arts initiatives for sustaining, repairing, and holding space for everyday care, and expands conversations into the ambiguities and contradictions in both theory and practice. The volume includes contributions from diverse fields such as dance, literature, film, music, visual art, and theatre, alongside perspectives from non-conventional artistic settings such as protests, playgrounds, and hospitals, presenting a truly interdisciplinary study.Ideal for practitioners and students alike, this collection establishes the rich and evolving field of care aesthetics within the arts.

Building on several pioneering projects and aspects of lived experience, Care Aesthetics and Dementia Studies: New Directions for Person-Centred Practices presents a new vision for dementia studies where care aesthetics is situated as the language for the doing of person-centred care and the processes of everyday evaluation.Presented over four interconnected Parts, the book shares a collection of studies and conceptual thinking that spotlights the sensory, embodied, and relational aspects of person-centred practices, and focusses on both the macro- and micro-processes of care, elevating such interactions into a seen and visible craft. It contains contributions from a range of interdisciplinary authors, including those with backgrounds in philosophy, psychiatry, theatre and performance studies, neuroscience, improvisation studies, sociology, gerontology, design, health and social care, and the Royal Horticultural Society. People living with dementia and family carers are also represented within the chapter authorship.The book should be of interest to a range of readers, from those living with dementia through to practitioners in any setting of dementia care, and to students and trainees who are interested in knowing more about the evolving field of aesthetic practices in dementia studies.