James Taylor-Foster
Selected writing 2015 – 2022
  • About
  • Category
  • Title
  • Publication
  • Year
  • Curatorial
  • ✶ WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD
  • 2022
James Taylor-Foster
editor & writer of essays & reviews,
architectural designer,
maker of exhibitions
Selected writing 2015 – 2022
  • ✶ WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD

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 in Stockholm, is the first to be dedicated to this feeling—and the field of creativity that is growing around it.


Fig 1. The Arena in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Ed Reeves, 2022)

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR is the second incarnation of an exhibition that explores the design story of an evolving internet movement through a series of 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 Week in the United Kingdom, the exhibition also includes an interactive studio space created by Julie Rose Bower.


Fig 2. The Arena in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Ed Reeves, 2022)

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


Fig 3. Binaural microphones in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Ed Reeves, 2022)

Fig 4. The second incarnation of WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD opens on May 13, 2022 at the Design Museum in London. An exhibition trailer premiered on Nowness on International ASMR Day 2022.


Fig 5. Bob Ross in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 6. Binaural microphones in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 7. Tobias Bradford’s immeasurable thirst/that feeling in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 8. Postures in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 9. Julie Rose Bower‘s Meridians Meet in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 10. View into the Arena in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 11. Exhibition booklet for WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Agga Mette Stage/Alexander Söder, 2022)

Fig 12. Exhibition tombstones in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Agga Mette Stage/Alexander Söder, 2022)

Fig 13. Exhibition rhinestones in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Agga Mette Stage/Alexander Söder, 2022)

Fig 14. Spread from the companion booklet to WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum by Agga Mette Stage and Alexander Söder with Emil Engel (2022)

Fig 15. Spread from the companion booklet to WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum by Agga Mette Stage and Alexander Söder with Emil Engel (2022)

Fig 16. Reverse cover and Participant Guide from the companion booklet to WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum by Agga Mette Stage and Alexander Söder with Emil Engel (2022)

Fig 17. Some of the team behind WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 18. The design movement of ASMR, a documentary film and interview by Dezeen


Assistant Curator Esme Hawes Project Managers Nicola Underwood, Justine Boussard  Exhibitions Coordinator Giulia Cozzi 3D Design ĒTER (Dagnija Smilga, Kārlis Bērziņš, Niklāvs Paegle with Martins Stark 2D Design Agga Mette Stage, Alexander Söder with Emil Andersson
Meridians Meet is developed by Julie Rose Bower in collaboration with Tom Wilson, Anna Cocciadiferro, Nathan Taylor, Dani Mayes, and Yosuke Watanabe, with thanks to Shure, Stage Sound Services, Queen Mary University London, and Ultrafabrics. The ASMR triggers survey present in the exhibition is developed by Dr. Giulia Poerio, University of Essex and ASMRNet, with audio by Clau Nader, Tom Swart, Quaint ASMR, ASMRPlanet, Studio Goblin, Simon Willmoth, Sarah Steed, and Agnieszka Janik McErlean. This exhibition has been created and presented in collaboration with ArkDes, Sweden’s National Centre for Architecture and Design. It was first shown in Stockholm (April 08-November 01, 2020).
May 13 — October 16, 2022
The Design Museum
Watch the exhibition trailer on NOWNESS.
Selected Press BBC Radio 3 Arts & Ideas, BBC Breakfast, Dazed, Evening Standard, The Telegraph, The Times, The Economist, The Economist Podcast, British Vogue, Creative Review, Creative Boom, Yahoo!, CNN Style, Culture Whisper, Felix Online, Mr Porter, Dezeen, ArtReview

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Are.na

James Taylor-Foster
editor & writer of essays & reviews,
architectural designer,
maker of exhibitions
  • CuratorialI.
  • ProjectsII.
  • PublicationsIII.
  • SpeakingIV.
  • WritingV.
I.Curatorial
  • ✶ WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD2022
  • Mira Bergh × Josefin Zachrisson: Utomhusverket2022
  • ✶ Solicited: Proposals2021
  • ✶ Studio Ossidiana: Utomhusverket2021
  • An Exhibition About ASMR2020
  • Architecture Projects: Skeppsbron + Brunnsparken2019
  • Cruising Pavilion: Architecture, Gay Sex, Cruising Culture2019
  • The Craft of Swedish Videogame Design2019
  • Petra Gipp and Mikael Olsson; Sigurd Lewerentz – Freestanding2018
  • Space Popular: Value in the Virtual2018
  • You Are Not Alone2017
  • In Therapy2016
  • Keeping Up Appearances2015
II.Projects
  • ASMR, An Exhibition Trailer2022
  • Plug-in Poesi2020
  • ✶ Interdependence: Stockholm and pandemia2020
  • Future Architecture Rooms2020
  • SOFT GOSSIP2020
  • Mukbang Veneziano2020
  • Körper2019
  • Architecture on Display2018
  • Boxen at ArkDes2018
  • The Stones of Venice: A Kimono2017
  • Misunderstandings (A Reliquary)2016
III.Publications
  • ✶ softspot2021
  • Living on Water2017
  • Elemental Living2016
  • People, Place, Purpose2015
IV.Speaking
  • ✶ Scaffold #612022
  • ✶ Protagonist of the Erotic: An Island2021
  • A Future for Exhibitions2021
  • Future Architecture CEx2020 Focus Talks2020
  • Modevisningar är den flyktigaste formen av arkitektur2018
  • Exhibition Models2017
V.Writing
  • Studio Ossidiana on the Sentimental Scale of the City2022
  • A Strange Sort of Weight2021
  • What’s Mine Is Theirs: an interview with Max Lamb2020
  • No Time to Stand and Stare2020
  • ✶ Screen Glow Sedation2020
  • On Norra Tornen2020
  • ✶ Don’t Fear a Snowflake2020
  • Making Believe with Charlap Hyman & Herrero2019
  • Foreword: On the Manifesto2019
  • On Practical Futurology2019
  • ✶ To Speak As If In Capital Letters2019
  • In Riga, A Conference On Architecture and Migration2019
  • Baltoscandia: A Complex Utopia2018
  • On the Cruising Pavilion2018
  • A Weak Monument2018
  • A Diary of Virgil Abloh’s First Louis Vuitton Show2018
  • ✶ The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.2018
  • ✶ Virgil Abloh, Editor in Brief2018
  • Sigurd Lewerentz: Villa Edstrand2018
  • ✶ On Liquid Modernity2017
  • ✶ #003399, #FFCC00; The Meaning of a Flag2017
  • Pillars of Society: “Jantelagen”2017
  • Exhibiting the Postmodern2017
  • Future Architecture and the Idea of Europe2017
  • Domains of Influence2017
  • Concrete Mountain2017
  • Ingress: Black Rock City2017
  • In Dialogue With Gravity2017
  • Rem, Redacted2016
  • Media States, Or The State of Media2016
  • A Piece of England to Call One’s Own2016
  • Upon This Rock (I Will Build My Church)2016
  • The Design of the Species2016
  • Venice Isn’t Sinking, It’s Flooding2016
James Taylor-Foster
editor & writer of essays & reviews,
architectural designer,
maker of exhibitions
Selected writing 2015 – 2022
Curatorial
  • ✶ WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD 2022
  • with ĒTER Architects, Agga Stage and Alexander Söder, and Julie Rose Bower at The Design Museum, London, presented in collaboration with ArkDes, Stockholm
Back

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 in Stockholm, is the first to be dedicated to this feeling—and the field of creativity that is growing around it.


Fig 1. The Arena in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Ed Reeves, 2022)

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR is the second incarnation of an exhibition that explores the design story of an evolving internet movement through a series of 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 Week in the United Kingdom, the exhibition also includes an interactive studio space created by Julie Rose Bower.


Fig 2. The Arena in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Ed Reeves, 2022)

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


Fig 3. Binaural microphones in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Ed Reeves, 2022)

Fig 4. The second incarnation of WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD opens on May 13, 2022 at the Design Museum in London. An exhibition trailer premiered on Nowness on International ASMR Day 2022.


Fig 5. Bob Ross in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 6. Binaural microphones in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 7. Tobias Bradford’s immeasurable thirst/that feeling in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 8. Postures in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 9. Julie Rose Bower‘s Meridians Meet in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 10. View into the Arena in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 11. Exhibition booklet for WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Agga Mette Stage/Alexander Söder, 2022)

Fig 12. Exhibition tombstones in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Agga Mette Stage/Alexander Söder, 2022)

Fig 13. Exhibition rhinestones in WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Agga Mette Stage/Alexander Söder, 2022)

Fig 14. Spread from the companion booklet to WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum by Agga Mette Stage and Alexander Söder with Emil Engel (2022)

Fig 15. Spread from the companion booklet to WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum by Agga Mette Stage and Alexander Söder with Emil Engel (2022)

Fig 16. Reverse cover and Participant Guide from the companion booklet to WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum by Agga Mette Stage and Alexander Söder with Emil Engel (2022)

Fig 17. Some of the team behind WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR at the Design Museum (Nelta Kasparian, 2022)

Fig 18. The design movement of ASMR, a documentary film and interview by Dezeen


Assistant Curator Esme Hawes Project Managers Nicola Underwood, Justine Boussard  Exhibitions Coordinator Giulia Cozzi 3D Design ĒTER (Dagnija Smilga, Kārlis Bērziņš, Niklāvs Paegle with Martins Stark 2D Design Agga Mette Stage, Alexander Söder with Emil Andersson
Meridians Meet is developed by Julie Rose Bower in collaboration with Tom Wilson, Anna Cocciadiferro, Nathan Taylor, Dani Mayes, and Yosuke Watanabe, with thanks to Shure, Stage Sound Services, Queen Mary University London, and Ultrafabrics. The ASMR triggers survey present in the exhibition is developed by Dr. Giulia Poerio, University of Essex and ASMRNet, with audio by Clau Nader, Tom Swart, Quaint ASMR, ASMRPlanet, Studio Goblin, Simon Willmoth, Sarah Steed, and Agnieszka Janik McErlean. This exhibition has been created and presented in collaboration with ArkDes, Sweden’s National Centre for Architecture and Design. It was first shown in Stockholm (April 08-November 01, 2020).
May 13 — October 16, 2022
The Design Museum
Watch the exhibition trailer on NOWNESS.
Selected Press BBC Radio 3 Arts & Ideas, BBC Breakfast, Dazed, Evening Standard, The Telegraph, The Times, The Economist, The Economist Podcast, British Vogue, Creative Review, Creative Boom, Yahoo!, CNN Style, Culture Whisper, Felix Online, Mr Porter, Dezeen, ArtReview

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