WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: An Exhibition About ASMR

ASMR 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 grown, dedicated to watching the work of designers and content creators who try to trigger this feeling in their viewers.

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD is the first museum exhibition dedicated to this feeling and the emerging field of creativity that has grown up around it. As little as a decade ago, ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) was largely dismissed as a figment of the imagination.

Today the term represents one of the largest movements on the Internet, and it has become impossible to ignore. As academic institutions around the world seek to make sense of the phenomenon, creatives—known as “ASMRtists”—are building on a cultural movement that transcends language and culture in favour of bodily ‘feels’.

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD at ArkDes by Johan Dehlin — Photo: Johan Dehlin

Like meditation or yoga, ASMR happens to both your body and to your mind. It is not about speed, but about focus and slowness. ASMRtists do not seek to entertain but to relax; for experiencers, it offers a degree of insulation from a noisy, wandering world. Through sound and film, shared through broadcasting platforms such as YouTube, works of ASMR make room for close-looking, close-listening, and close-feeling.

ASMR injects the Internet with softness, kindness and empathy. As a form of digital intimacy, it offers comfort on demand, standing against the feeling of isolation that constant connectivity can deceptively breed. Anecdotally, ASMR is being used as a form of self-medication against the effects of loneliness, insomnia, stress, and anxiety. This is a cue to its success, and to its transcendental appeal.

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD is the first exhibition of its kind to lift ASMR out from your screen and into public space. Step into an acoustically tuned environment and understand how people are deploying new and existing tools and materials to negotiate a complex world.

Participants

3Dio Sound
ANO ASMR →
ASMRctica →
Anders Tallsjö
Andreas Wannerstedt →
Anson Fogel
Anthony Wilks
Björk
Bob Ross →
Craig Richard →
David Bull →
FredsVoice ASMR →
HaircutHarry →
HidaMari Cooking →
Holly Herndon + Claire Tolan
IKEA
Jennifer Allen
Life with MaK →
Luca Iaconi-Stewart →
Made in France ASMR →
Marc Teyssier →
MissASMR →
PierreG ASMR →
SHU AND TREE →
The Slow Mo Guys →
UNO ASMR →
Wang & Söderström →
WhisperingLife ASMR →

Archive of Feelings

Click here to contribute to an anonymous archive of ASMR triggers! Your responses will become part of the Archive of Feelings, created in collaboration with Are.na. Developed by Charles Broskoski.

Plug-in Poetry

ArkDes and Bon Magazine have invited Swedish poets and writers to read their works as ASMR. Hear the podcast series and read interviews with the artists here →

Pillow Talks

Dive into a collection of conversations with voices in and around the creative field ASMR →

SOFT GOSSIP by Claire Tolan

Take part in two live ASMR performances (October 3-4, 2020) with programmer and sound artist Claire Tolan →

On the Potential of ASMR

Experience a conversation between Claire Tolan and the artist Sonia Sagan on the potential of ASMR →

A Virtual ASMR Performance

Experience a live virtual ASMR performance (October 24, 2020) created and led by Melinda Lauw →

Making a Work of ASMR

Follow a three-part film presenting the work and process of ASMRctica, one of Sweden’s largest ASMRtists. You can watch parts one and two here →

Face Filter

Click here to try the WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD Instagram face filter, designed by Irene Stracuzzi and PostNew and developed by Lucia Tahan →

Curator: James Taylor-Foster
Exhibition Producer: Halla Sigurðardóttir
Exhibition Design: ĒTER →
Graphic Design: Irene Stracuzzi → ✕ PostNew →
Installation: Markus Eberle, Stefan Mossfeldt
Production (Programming): Elisabet Schön
Digital Communication: Justina Hüll
Translation: Astrid Trotzig

The exhibition title references the first online discussion about this sensation in 2007, later coined as “ASMR” by Jennifer Allen in 2010.

Although this exhibition is now closed, it will open at the Design Museum in 2022. Virtual Vernissage Watch it in full on e-flux → Audioguide Hear an audio introduction → Archive of Feelings Tell us what triggers you → Exhibition Booklet Read the exhibition booklet → Pillow Talks Conversations on ASMR → Hear from the curator Listen to an episode of Konsten att vara → SOFT GOSSIP Relive Claire Tolan's live audio performances → Virtual ASMR Experience Melinda Lauw's virtual ASMR performance →5 Must-See Online Design Exhibitions Azure → This way for brain tingles: ASMR gets a shiver-inducing exhibition The Guardian → The Thrilling and Complicated World of ASMR Surface Magazine → A spine-tingling show on ASMR is coming to ArkDes Architect's Newspaper → The First Exhibition on ASMR Domus → More Authentic Screen Time ark (Finnish Architectural Review) → ASMR becomes a brain tingling art form in a new exhibition Engadget → Förförs eller förfasas av ljuden på museet TV4 → Tips på vad du kan göra hemma i påsk SVT → "Konstig känsla" i fokus på utställning om ASMR Sveriges Radio P1 → Virtuellt välbehag i formexperiment Dagens Nyheter → Det är som en frivillig sexuell underkastelse Expressen → Inlevelsefull och genomtänkt Konsten.net → The Artist is Present: De allereerste grote expositie over het fenomeen asmr de Volkskrant → Tällainen on poikkeuksellinen näyttely Helsingin Sanomat → 这也是一次关于当下的迷人反思。 35kr → ASMR，到底是令人舒适，还是令人尴尬? Nowness China → Take a guided tour of ArkDes' new exhibition exploring ASMR Dezeen Virtual Design Festival → Read an interview with ĒTER, the architects behind the exhibition design Arterritory → Learn more about ĒTER's exhibition design ArchDaily → La première exposition sur les expériences auditives sensorielles ASMR RTS Switzerland → Suède: l'ASMR en vedette d'une exposition TV5 Monde → ĒTER shortlisted for exhibition design of the year Dezeen Awards 2020 → A sensual and sensational show Current Obsession → Think Outside the (White) Box AN INTERIOR → The Whispering Community: An ASMRticle WhyNow →