“This is a tool for absorbing your soul.”

ShiliTV

ShiliTV, based in South Korea, presents a three camera setup of a non-sponsored visit to an ear cleaning salon. Laid on a medical couch, and surrounded on both sides by soft-spoken beauticians in medical garb, the subject of session is brushed with a variety of unique tools – including peacock feathers. The care and precision by which the saloneers work on is enough to lull you into a state of sympathetic softness.

Tags/Triggers: Intentional ASMR, Unintentional ASMR, Task Oriented ASMR, Cleaning, Soft Spoken

Aggressive soundscapes

FredsVoice ASMR

FredsVoice ASMR’s Ultra Fast FAW Barbershop Razor Shave Sounds is one of the most watched videos of the genre of YouTube (23 million views since mid-2020). It’s a thirty minute-long workout – FredsVoice is making sounds quicker than you might expect, lathering a microphone with shaving foam. Then, of course, comes the shave itself. This work is proof that slowness is not necessarily a trigger: aggressive soundscapes are just as enticing.

Tags/Triggers: Intentional ASMR, Fast ASMR, Microphone Sounds

Brushing the lens

Josie B ASMR

In this one hour and twenty minute-long pampering session, Josie B ASMR’s presence films the frame. She sits close to the camera, something commonly seen in one-on-one ASMR works, and speaks softly. The goal is to make the viewer feel safe and seen while, in this particular case, being showered with sounds connected to skin treatments and facial massage. None of the applications of cleanser, foundation, nor eyeshadow are applied to the subject, though – you are the subject, mediated through the lens.

Tags/Triggers: Intentional ASMR, Soft Spoken, Positive Affirmation

Endnote: in a part marketing ploy and part heartfelt attempt to make binaural sound recording on a smartphone more user-friendly, Samsung have published a how-to guide for recording “ASMR videos” on a Galaxy device.

Conscious voting

justicaeleitoral (The Supreme Electoral Court of Brazil)

justicaeleitoral is a YouTube channel owned by the courts of Brazil. Ahead of their 2022 general election, the institution published a playlist of ASMR works focused on one object: the electronic voting machine. Used since 1996, and considered by some to be one of the more successful digital voting methods, the device is—as a design object—straight out of the eighties. Intended to familiarise voters with the process, the videos were featured by John Oliver in his deep dive into (at the time of writing outgoing President) Jair Bolsonaro. See the complete playlist here.

Tags/Triggers: Intentional ASMR, Political, Learning, Object Oriented ASMR

Elephant folio

Julie Rose Bower for the Victoria & Albert Museum

Julie Rose Bower, who’s Meridians Meets is part of WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR, has been developing the ASMR at the Museum series since 2020. The works seek to tap into the inherent ASMR in a museum context, allowing for close exploration of delicate objects. In this episode, librarians Vicky Worsfold and Caroline Penn from the V&A’s National Art Library carefully fold an elephant folio – a really big book. See the expanding ASMR at the Museum playlist here.

Tags/Triggers: Intentional ASMR, Learning, Object Oriented ASMR, Soft Spoken

“Feels Like Prada”

David Sims and Ferdinando Verderi for Prada

In 2021, Prada released their Fall/Winter 21 campaign advert. Using the format of ASMR, the 60 second film presents a variety of garments and accessories as material objects. There’s a lot of leather, shining silver, and so on. Too short in duration and too artfully edited to be considered a work of ASMR, the ad is a good example nonetheless.

Tags/Triggers: Intentional ASMR, ASMR and Advertising, High Budget ASMR

Endnote: in connection to the extension of WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum, an exhibition in collaboration with ArkDes, we recently released a behind the scenes mini-documentary – Life of the ASMRtists. Watch it on NOWNESS.

Alone in an Australian Forest

Primitive Technology

We know very little about the protagonist behind Primitive Technology. We do know that the filming location for their 50+ uploads is tropical Far North Queensland, that the protagonist does not live there but commutes and camps on occasion, and that their in-the-wild training comes from research by praxis. Building fires, constructing tools, working with clay, building a hut from scratch – these are the types of activity conducted in complete solitude. You can support their work on Patreon.

Tags/Triggers: Unintentional ASMR, Slow TV, Learning, Task-Oriented ASMR

Ten Hours of Structured Study

KharmaMedic

Described as a “study with me pomodoro” (a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s), Nasir—a third-year medical student at King’s College London—films their own study session. It lasts for ten hours. Intended as a support video for those also studying towards a degree, the work also performs as as an example of Unintentional ASMR. Each upload of this kind creates a safe space: there are no unexpected sounds or movements. With two camera views and a timer in the corner of the screen, the experiencer can relax or fall asleep to the visual details and sounds of pen on paper, rhythmically relieved by ten-minute breaks.

Tags/Triggers: Unintentional ASMR, Slow TV, Focus, Support, Stillness

A Day in the Life of Ryo

それからの憂鬱 Sorekara Melancholy

Like most channels in the emerging genre of ‘ASMR vlogging’, the protagonist Ryo keeps themselves fairly anonymous. Throughout their uploads we never see a face in spite of the fact that the experiencer is invited into their intimate everyday – from waking up to falling asleep. As the channel’s name suggests, there is an air of melancholy to the tone and tempo of the uploads. They are mundane, bordering on banal: rice is cooked, walks are taken, and there’s a bit of tidying up around the house.

Tags/Triggers: Unintentional ASMR, Slow TV, Banal, Quietude