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ASMR Southbank
Performance (20’) with ASMR artist WhispersRed
Southbank Centre, London, 2015
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Our mood is affected by sound, both consciously and unconsciously. In medical contexts, sound therapy is already used to treat disorders and improve wellbeing. The flourishing online ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) community aims to trigger states of euphoric cerebral ‘tingling’, which many users experience while listening to highly detailed recordings of sounds that are ordinarily quiet, such as as whispers, lip movements, clicking, brushing, and white noise. This popular phenomenon triggered this project, exploring whether the sounds and spaces of the Southbank Centre itself could be turned into therapeutic instruments. Working with noted ASMR artist WhisperRed, audience members were taken on a virtual audio tour of the location, WhisperRed as an effective tour guide, communicating the space with the sound of objects specific to each of the floors of the centre, which were overlaid and expanded in an intuitive composition. The series of performances focused on a sensitivity to aural environments and the way that technology could be harnessed for healing effect.