ASMR as a New Intimacy Practice in Western Culture

1. The project approaches a technologically-mediated, audio-visual cultural phenomenon known as ASMR from various scientific perspectives. ASMR videos, produced and used by the online YouTube community, will be understood as media-based, post-cinematic artworks that challenge notions of human intimacy practices and human/non-human subjectivity/agency, among others. ASMR is the name for both a sensation of tingling experienced by viewers in response to various stimuli (sounds, visuals, fragrances, haptics), and a new cultural phenomenon of videos published online. Although ASMR is currently making waves in Western cultural sphere, it is still awaiting an in-depth study. As ASMR is located at the intersection of various phenomena and draws on different aesthetics and practices, my research on ASMR will be conducted at the crossing of various fields of cultural studies, including sound studies, posthuman studies, affect studies, film studies, critical sleep studies, and gender studies.

2. In my project, I would like to:
• highlight the historical contexts of ASMR,
• find out if ASMR can be considered a new music genre,
• see if ASMR can be considered a posthuman/postgender phenomenon and why,
• explore what affects circulate between ASMR artworks, artists, and viewers,
• look into the science fiction discourse in ASMR,
• find out if ASMR can be described as ‘post-cinematic’ and why,
• approach ASMR from a perspective of critical sleep studies to find out whether and how it indicates neoliberal ideas of self-improvement and responsibility, and whether and how it transforms sleep into a digital commodity,
• see if ASMR can be called a new intimacy practice in Western culture.

3. In the project, I will be guided primarily by the idea of a “close reading” and “grounded theory” methodology used within the humanities research. The concept of “close reading” will be applied via deepened textual/content analysis of the media artworks through the lens of selected theories using methods derived from post-cinema studies, media archeology, posthuman studies, affect studies, sound studies, etc. This approach will be accompanied by the postphenomenological analysis of media apparatuses connected with media content and discourse analysis.

4. The phenomenon of ASMR depicted in media artworks and practices is hardly ever examined in terms of the cultural meanings that it brings with it. The existing research focuses mainly on the validity of ASMR physiology and its possibilities for therapeutic application. Therefore, the project intends to extend the frontiers of a growing and culturally important area of study.

5. Joanna Lapinska is the primary researcher.