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 grown, dedicated to watching the work of designers and content creators who try to trigger this feeling in their viewers. WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD (open until November 1, 2020 and also available to experience virtually) is the first museum exhibition dedicated to this feeling and the emerging field of creativity that has grown up around it.

Participant Guide

ASMR is highly individual and can be felt in different ways, to different intensities, between different people. It is also possible to feel nothing at all. The experience of ASMR often requires quiet, calm, and comfortable conditions. For the best experience of this performance, you are invited to find a quiet and undisturbed space (such as your bedroom) and to join the broadcast with headphones and a stable internet connection.

The goal of this live ASMR performance is offer an opportunity for you to become more aware of ASMR is and can be. The best experience will be possible when you feel comfortable, relaxed, and open-minded. If you’d like to learn more about the creative field of ASMR, you read the exhibition booklet.

How to Take Part

This performance will be streamed live on ArkDes’s Twitch channel free of charge. For a limited time, the performance will be made available to experience again after the live broadcast. Show your interest on this Facebook event for up to date information prior to the broadcast.

ASMR and Material Culture

The creative field of ASMR is an exploration of our experience of the material world. It is a world in which unexpected sounds can trigger unprovoked bodily responses, and where a closeness to objects and material culture can open up a new realm of feeling. In this performance, Lauw subverts assumed relationships to objects around us to offer a new way of experiencing our designed environment.

About Melinda Lauw

Melinda Lauw is an artist, experience designer and immersive creator working across the fields of art, immersive entertainment and experiential marketing. She is the co-founder of Whisperlodge, a production company pioneering the practice of live ASMR. Since 2016, Whisperlodge has completed 14 sold-out runs of their eponymous immersive performance across New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, plus a recent virtual adaptation. In the performance, everything is whispered. Guests are guided through a series of intimate ASMR sessions designed to relax the mind, expand awareness and heighten the senses.

Melinda has been featured in a Netflix docu-series (Follow This), The New York Times, VICE, and Al Jazeera News among others. As a thought leader in ASMR and immersive experiences, Melinda has spoken at the Immersive Design Summit and Sandbox Immersive Festival, and forwarded the book Brain Tingles, published by Adams Media. Melinda received her BA in Fine Art and History of Art from Goldsmiths, University of London and her MA in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York.

You can watch an interview with Melinda Lauw (in English) as part of the Pillow Talks conversation series.

This performance is curated by James Taylor-Foster and produced by Elisabet Schön. Photography courtesy of Whisperlodge.