Unmute your volume, go into the kitchen, and make yourself some coffee now. Read the rest

If you don't get chills from the ASMR audio experience of Tingle Monsters, then you'll definitely get them from the looming tension and sheer overwhelming sexist dread that oozes throughout this ten-minute short film (especially in the expertly-created comments section that helps to drive the plot). It is weirdly kind of relaxing, until it's absolutely not. Here's the official synopsis:

An ASMR vlogger with a devoted fan base returns from an extended absence with a livestream that spirals out of control.

Writer/director/actress Alexandra Serio had this to say as well:

I was compelled to make "Tingle Monsters" because I believe that violence against women truly starts with words. With this in mind, I designed the film’s unconventional viewing experience to feel like a real ASMR livestream.

Shot in screenlife format with no extra score or sound design, the film is designed to transport viewers into a scenario they are already familiar with—the harassment of women on the internet—ultimately inviting the audience to examine the link between what we say and think about women affects their real-world treatment.

I firmly believe that through gender parity and telling women-driven narratives we can begin to change the world. But we must start by taking a sobering look at where we currently are. Tingle Monsters aims to do that.

Serio also did a great interview with Paste, offering a behind-the-scenes perspective on this creepy little capsule of awful internet intersections.

The movie is only ten-minutes long, and definitely unsettling. I haven't much followed the ASMR phenomenon, but Serio uses the genre conventions deftly here to create a creeping experience that — I suspect — accurately reflects the horrors that often accompany simply being a woman on the Internet. Read the rest

Frissons and solid information about coronavirus at the same time. What more could you ask for? Read the rest

To promote the new season of her show, the British comedy Sex Education (now streaming on Netflix), Gillian Anderson does a nearly four minute ASMR video. In her character of Dr. Jean Milburn, Anderson purrs and whispers, scratches and tickles the mics, open, pours, and sips wine, and does a number of other classic "braingasm" audio tricks. For X-Files fans and nerdy boys n' girls who've crushed on Anderson for decades, it might all be too much.

Image: YouTube Read the rest

For the first time ever, a collection of original paintings by the late TV painter Bob Ross will be exhibited on the east coast. "Happy Accidents" opens September 10 and runs through Oct. 15 at the Franklin Park Performing and Visual Arts Center in Purcellville, Virginia (which is just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Bob Ross headquarters in Herndon, Virginia).

Hyperallergic:

"...The exhibition will feature 24 original Ross paintings created on The Joy of Painting, the largest collection of Ross paintings to ever be displayed at a gallery. It will also be the first Bob Ross exhibition on the East Coast...

This past March, following a torrent of requests from Bob Ross fans, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art announced that it’s including a collection of the artist’s paintings, along with other items from The Joy of Painting (including the converted stepladder he used as an easel), in its permanent collection. Alas, the Smithsonian later said it had no plans to exhibit the new acquisitions. In April, Ross made his first museum debut when DePaul Art Museum in Chicago included four of his paintings in the exhibition New Age, New Age: Strategies for Survival...

Along with the unprecedented display of Ross’s paintings, Happy Accidents will also feature three workshops with Bob Ross-certified instructor Sandra Hill."

If you can't make it to the show and want to see the entire The Joy of Painting collection, go check out all six seasons of his art at TwoInchBrush. Read the rest

Apple wants you to "unwind with the whispered legend of Ghost Forest," with this ASMR video designed to send tingles through your body. Read the rest

Some people shiver with delight at whispers and certain kinds of soft sounds. A psychologist/neuroscientist at Manchester University named Nick Davis tells Wired about the science behind these "brain orgasms."

Image: Wired/YouTube Read the rest

The only noises to be heard are footsteps and video editing suites firing up. The nice ceremonies come later.

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“I got to work early today just to record this,” says IMGURian ZeusWaffle. Read the rest

Need to relax for a couple of minutes? Don those headphones and head over to Sand Tagious for some very satisfying slicing and smooshing of kinetic sand. Read the rest

In the five years since I first wrote about "Autonomous sensory meridian response" (ASMR) a folk-neurological condition that describes the pleasant shivers some people experience when hearing certain soft noises, ASMR has gone mainstream -- my ten year old daughter describes the texture of the slime she makes as "really ASMR." Read the rest

Carving soap bars into tiny cubes is apparently so satisfying visually and aurally that there's a whole series of videos depicting its many pleasures. Read the rest

My fourth-favorite ASMR fad is dogs eating popcorn. Lots of treats for pups lately! Sadly, the wave has already crested and the garbage YouTuberati is burying the good stuff with rented animals and 7 minutes of titles, music, jibber-jabber and other monetization padding. A good rule is to only click on videos uploaded by actual dogs. Read the rest

Erika Rejka creates intertwined metal shapes into sculptures that can be manipulated by the viewer. Read the rest

My only objection to Oscillating Fan Youtube is that the subculture fails to provide the model, make and specifications of their fans. Above is 10 hours of a Lakewood. Next up, an hour of a Lasko-brand box fan ("Finally!!!! I found one that sounds right!!!!! Thank you soooooo much!!!!," comments Cateia Jones.)

Here's a roaring, full-spectrum fan sound that I suspect has had a lot of processing done to it (or is entirely synthetic) despite being presented as a "classic fan sound." Read the rest

The apotheosis of ASMR. [via Reddit] Read the rest

The sound reminds me of a David Cronenberg film.

And here's how to make your own gold slime:

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