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The Arts Intel Report

Weird Sensation Feels Good: The World of ASMR

Until July 13
2 Concorde Rd, Kowloon City, Hong Kong

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, or A.S.M.R., is a tingling sensation that spreads across the body in response to certain sounds or touches. The sound is often a soft whisper—and those whispers have become a full-blown social media phenomenon, with videos now numbering in the millions. In a new exhibition, curator James Taylor-Foster explores the psychology behind A.S.M.R. “It’s a weird space of public intimacy that requires a certain degree of vulnerability,” Taylor-Foster told The New York Times. Forty works across different media are on view, including a hyperrealistic tongue that secretes saliva and a room dedicated to the gentle painter Bob Ross. It’s a show for the senses. —Elena Clavarino