OUTPUT

EXHIBITIONS

PODCAST & RADIO

INFORMATION

INPUT


INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
FACEBOOK

MAILING LIST

VENUE HIRE

CALLAN WALDRON-HALL & JACQUES VERKADE:
say when you can feel it
07/04/23 - 14/04/23
The latest in OUTPUT’s ongoing series of postal exhibitions is a collaboration between artist Jacques Verkade and writer Callan Waldron-Hall. Their “say when you can feel it” is a booklet exploring the tender, fantastical and often misunderstood world of ASMR through a combination of poetry and imagery. Building on previous collaborative work, “say when you can feel it” investigates five pieces of media from some of the most popular ASMR content creators found on YouTube and how ASMR acts as both artform and medium, through collaged texts embedded in digitally rendered scenescapes.

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, a term used to describe a pleasant tingling sensation usually at the top of the head and spine alongside feelings of wellbeing, in response to particular audio or visual stimuli.

Jacques’ artworks reflect the pleasing, yet sometimes uncomfortable sensations of hyper-proximity found in many intimate pieces of ASMR media, capturing tactile sensations such as breathing, or finger nails drawn slowly across a microphone.

Callan’s texts draw on collage techniques, recontextualising existing media reminiscent of early ASMR content.

Both are keen to create immersive scenescapes— spaces for sensory exploration. In these almost-worlds, the lightest touch from a feather might feel both delicate and repulsive. The words present take on a physicality, at times drifting in the quiet, while others are burrowed into skin.

Jacques and Callan invite us to lean into the intimacy of ASMR, to embrace its potentially unsettling nature and interrogate our own relationship with comfort and restoration.

Over the past decade we have seen the ASMR online community develop, with content creators devising videos intended to trigger audiences’ ASMR for comfort, rest and relaxation. These videos range from the mundane, such as tapping on domestic objects or up-close whispered rambles, to more elaborate roleplays inviting audiences to participate – as patients undergoing eye tests, receiving haircuts, or even booking holidays to distant planets.

The scenescapes respond to the following YouTube videos and content creators respectively: