Whispers from the world of ASMR

We talk to James and Julie, both contributors and curators of the ASMR immersive experience Weird Sensations Feels Good: The World OF ASMR at The Design Museum, London – about what ASMR is, understanding the desire for ASMR, and the place that The sound-sensory sleep-inducing experience has in the modern world.

Have you ever heard a distinct, unusual sound, that felt so close, as if you’ve been touched?

Like nails on a chalkboard, or someone chewing loudly, or whispering into your ear; so intense it creates a physical reaction, as if the sound went through your ears, under your skin, and into your veins?

The term is a new concept, coined just 12 years ago in 2011, yet it has been present in the human experience since the beginning of time. ASMR, or ‘autonomous Sensory Meridian Response’, is a sound that merges the sensations of the audio and a physical sensation or reaction in the body. Experiencing ASMR can create a range of reactions; such as a euphoric sense of calm, a distracting sense of rage known as misophonia, or a tingling sensation, which can replicate the feeling of gentle touch.

Triggering ASMR can create emotional arousal in the brain. Scientists in a study done for the National library of medicine describe the relaxing sensation as a ‘brain orgasm’ inducing an intense calm or euphoria to ‘triggered’ subjects. This sensation has been compared to the similar effects that music frisson, or the chills when you hear a likeable piece of music. The friction of sound and touch form a unique space in between – ASMR.

The phenomenon has garnered the attention and curiosity of millions across the globe, with large communities in online spaces such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, with a huge spectrum of niches to meet the demands and acquired tastes of every listener with differing desires to ‘trigger’ the specific sensation ASMR can cause. The given name for ASMR content creators are known as ASMRTISTS, who are dedicated to the craft of creating spine-tingling sensations for a demanding audience.

While you may think you’re new to ASMR chances are you’ve already been experiencing it in your daily life. Perhaps the wet squelching sound of kissing that emanates from the TV screen, the dripping of blood before a panning shot of the villain having claimed their newest victim, or the screech of car tyres in a car chase. Sound design and the use of ASMR-adjacent “foley sound” is a large aspect of modern media sound design, which works to create a more immersive interaction with audiences.

We spoke to Sound designer and performance artist Julie Rose Bower, who began experimenting with foley sound in her live art performances and was entranced by the infinite possibilities of sensation through sound. This has since become a staple of her work, crafted to generate responses for both herself and audiences through live performances and video. Her most recent work is situated within the design museum’s WEIRD SENSATIONS FEELS GOOD: THE WORLD OF ASMR described as a “viral sensation with its all-consuming immersive experience for visitors.”

Julie says “It’s very powerful stuff. It can get a very big and varied response. But weirdly, you don’t necessarily know what that is.”

Experiencing ASMR in a live setting among others is an intimate, bizarre experience. Bower’s primary instalment in the exhibition “Meridians Meet” is a cumulation of sensory-based activities for visitors to explore and experience individually, but also in a room of others.

Bower was initially inspired to create an artistic palette of sounds through the medium of ASMR by an audience member of one of her performances.

“Someone came to see my foley show and they described it as being hypnotised by an ASMR-like experience,” says Bower. “It made me think, why don’t I give it a go? Why don’t I see if I can make something which is not just supposed to feel a certain way to me.”

Bower has designed around her preferences and created a palette of sounds that she thinks are attractive, but she also considered what triggers ASMR for other people.

James Taylor Foster, head curator of The Design Museum installation, is an exhibition curator based at the Stockholm Architecture and Design Institute, Arkdes. He elaborates on his initial interest in the global phenomenon of ASMR.

“I was interested in ASMR predominantly as something that came out of nowhere,” says Foster. “This odd culture, but also a community that transcends national boundaries, and language has a variety of popular versions in different areas of the world from Anglo-Western ASMR to Mukbang in South Korea, yet the goal is to mediate through a camera a creative work of design to help people relax. So the question is, why do we need this?”

The need for ASMR is not a question easily answered, yet its widespread global popularity begs the question. Foster believes there is a correlation between the desire for ASMR and the current state of affairs.

“We exist in a moment of intense speed and extreme anxiety,” he says. “Most of us live in different states of precarity. Will we get a job? Will we get a house? The basic questions are not as simple as they were 50 years ago. I believe ASMR is an amazing combination of global connectedness and a subtle and ambiguous response to a whole series of challenges that societies are facing in a globalised world.”

When creating an ASMR experience in a public space, it can be difficult to meet the needs of both the public and the curator’s ambitions. Making the space both fulfilling and immersive as well as creating a safe space to be vulnerable among strangers can be difficult to navigate. “We had to think very carefully about what it might take to make you feel somewhat vulnerable and to allow you to access the ability to create an autonomous sensory meridian response,” says Foster. “Some might feel misophonia, the opposite of ASMR, and some may feel nothing at all. You have to feel safe to step into this world.”

As one of the contributors to the exhibition, artist Julie Rose Bower feels strongly about the subject of allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a state of vulnerability and safety. Each aspect of the exhibition took careful steps to allow this feeling for visitors.

“Throughout the whole exhibition there is a harmonious palette of colour,” she says. “There are lots of headphone experiences that create a kind of isolated feeling of being alone with ASMR, which is important to get the full experience. But you can have moments of interactions and observations with strangers which produce unexpected experiences. The space is a bit of a playground, but not so much kinetic play, more sensory play.”

ASMR induces a sense of vulnerability, drowsiness and sensory play that can draw parallels to childlike experiences.

Foster explains: “I think we are all inherently soft human beings. Whispering as an ASMR is a kind of conceptual intensification of the experience that most of us have as babies. We’ve had many cases of people falling asleep in the exhibition, which is the best compliment really.”

At a time in the modern post-pandemic world, devoid of interactions and closeness, the touch of sound created by ASMR might just be a humbling and insightful reminder of the simple human desires we have held since birth – to be nurtured and relaxed by the closeness of others. Whether this triggers sensations of ASMR, misophonia or nothing at all, the simple curiosity and popularity of both the exhibition and the millions of consumers of ASMR have created a widespread community, whispering each other to sleep.

*WEIRD SENSATIONS FEELS GOOD: THE WORLD OF ASMR is available to view at the Design Museum until April 2023.

A virtual tour of the exhibition is on our Instagram, @Nox.Magazine.

Explore more of James’ and Julie’s work:

http://www.julierosebower.com/

https://james.tf/\