Can ASMR Be Considered Art?

The term “autonomous sensory meridian response” (“ASMR”) refers to a novel genre of audiovisual expression consisting of videos, mainly published on YouTube, that are designed to induce a pleasant tingling sensation on the skin of the viewer’s head, neck, shoulders, and arms, leading to the relaxation of their entire body. The media-based works of ASMR belong to the so-called “self-soothing devices”: their aim is to influence viewers in such a way that they relax, unwind and fall asleep. In this article, I ask whether the phenomenon of ASMR can be called art. The essay briefly outlines the issue of ASMR’s manifold relationships with art, not only by referring to historical examples of various trends in media art that may indirectly influence the phenomenon of ASMR, but also to contemporary conscious attempts to introduce this phenomenon into venues traditionally associated with high culture, such as museums. I also consider what cultural trends in society and contemporary human needs ASMR responds to. I conclude the essay with a reflection on the understanding of art, the main determinant of which I consider to be the affective moving of the body of the viewer of a particular artistic creation. In the case of ASMR, the sign of this movement is a specific tingling sensation felt on the viewer’s skin that appears when they are in contact with the artwork.