Aesthetics of Loneliness

This project explores the role of aesthetics in experiencing and coping with loneliness in everyday life. It follows middle-aged adults living alone in the greater Copenhagen area to understand how aesthetics affect their feelings of loneliness at home and in public spaces.

Through sensory-ethnography, this project follows middle-aged adults living alone over a year to analyze how aesthetics affect their feelings of loneliness in their everyday life at home and in public spaces. As more and more people live alone and in cities, more knowledge about how this group cope with loneliness is important - particularly middle-aged adults who are often overlooked in research and at risk of carrying loneliness into old age.

The project contributes with knowledge that improves our understanding of coping and opens a new line of empirical studies of coping as a type of aesthetic practice. In addition, it contributes with knowledge that can help assess and develop loneliness interventions.

External

Advisory board

• Andrea Wigfield, Centre for Loneliness Studies, Sheffield Hallam University
• Astrid Jespersen, Copenhagen Center for Health Research in the Humanities, University of Copenhagen
• Christine Swane, Ensomme Gamles Værn
• Fay Alberti, Kings College