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Exhibitions / WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR

Photo: Ed Reeve. Courtesy of the Design Museum. 2022.
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The Design Museum, London

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR

Contemporary Design

ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is a term that describes a physical sensation: euphoria or deep calm, sometimes a tingling in the body.

In recent years, an online audience of millions has emerged, dedicated to watching the work of designers and content creators who aim to trigger this feeling in their viewers. They do so by whispering or eating, touching or tapping, and more besides. This exhibition, first presented at ArkDes in 2020, is the first to be dedicated to this feeling – and the field of creativity that is growing around it.

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD explores the design story of an evolving internet movement through a series of forty immersive audio, visual, and tactile works. Step into an acoustically tuned environment and understand how people around the world are using new and existing tools and materials to navigate our complex world.

Opening to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week1 in the United Kingdom, the exhibition also includes an interactive studio space created by Julie Rose Bower2.

  1. 1
    Photo: Ed Reeve. Courtesy of the Design Museum. 2022.

    Meridians Meet is developed by Julie Rose Bower in collaboration with Tom Wilson, Anna Cocciadiferro, Nathan Taylor, Dani Mayes, and Yosuke Watanabe.

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    The ASMR triggers survey present in the exhibition is developed by Dr. Giulia Poerio, University of Essex and ASMRNet.

Exhibition trailer

The first exhibition to explore the culture, community and creative field of ASMR.

Participants

3Dio Sound, Andreas Wannerstedt, anoASMR, ASMRctica, Bark Films for Virgin Atlantic, BBC Radio 4, Bob Ross, Callan Waldron-Hall, Chiara ASMR, Chris Milk, David Bull, DPA Microphones, Dr Formalyst, FredsVoice ASMR, Gibi ASMR, Giulia Poerio, HairCut Harry, HidaMari Cooking, Holly Herndon, Claire Tolan, IKEA U.S., Jennifer L. Allen, Julie Rose Bower, London Review of Books, Life with MaK, Made in France ASMR, Marc Teyssier, MissASMR, Björk, Oscar Pettersson, PierreG ASMR, Sennheiser/Georg Neumann GmbH, The Slow Mo Guys, TheWaterwhispers, Tobias Bradford, UNO ASMR, Wang & Söderström, WhisperingLife ASMR, V&A, 슈앤트리 SHU AND TREE

Film: Dezeen. 2022. The design movement of ASMR.

Step into an acoustically tuned environment and understand how people around the world are using new and existing tools and materials to navigate our complex world.

This exhibition was first shown at ArkDes in 2020.

Film: New Scientist Giulia Poerio explains the science behind the tingles.

"Even if you haven’t heard of ASMR, odds on you’ve experienced something like it, either intentionally or unintentionally."

Film: NOWNESS Meet the creators of ASMR: the internet’s most bizarre and comforting phenomenon.
Photo: Nelta Kasparian. Courtesy of the Design Museum. 2022.
Drawing: ĒTER. 2022. 'WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR' in London.

In collaboration with the Design Museum

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR is an exhibition at the Design Museum created and presented in collaboration with ArkDes. It was first shown at ArkDes (April 8–November 1, 2020).

The Design Museum and ArkDes logos black against white

This exhibition is currently touring. If you are interested in hosting the exhibition, contact the Design Museum ↗ for more information.

Curator: James Taylor-Foster, ArkDes
Assistant Curator: Esme Hawes, The Design Museum
Project Managers: Nicola Underwood, Justine Boussard (The Design Museum)
Exhibitions Coordinator: Giulia Cozzi (The Design Museum)
3D Design: ĒTER ↗ (Dagnija Smilga, Kārlis Bērziņš, Niklāvs Paegle with Martins Stark)
2D Design: Agga Mette Stage ↗ × Alexander Söder ↗ with Emil Andersson

Thanks to: ASMRNet (Tom Hostler, Giulia Poerio, Rossi Redgrave, Tom Swart, Andrew Li, Clau Nader, and Safiyya Mank), Callan Waldron-Hall, Claire Tolan, Craig Richard, Elise Foster Vander Elst, Emma Weinerhall, Giulia Poerio, Helga Sadowski, Halla Sigurðardóttir, Hannah Burgess, Henry Buckle, Jalmar Staaf, Jennifer Allen, Jessica Taylor, JP Cavaco, Julie Rose Bower, Justin McGuirk, Justina Hüll, Kieran Long, Melinda Lauw, Priya Khanchandani