I have been searching for ASMR references within sound art. This article on Holly Herndon is one of the few I managed to find so far. I was familiar with her work before but never really went in detail in my research.
The article speaks of the body – technology dynamic in the digital ‘post-human’ (I’m somehow reluctant to use this word as I’m not sure I completely understand its’ meaning yet) era and themes very close to the ones I’m trying to approach.
It mainly focuses on two tracks off of Holly Herndon’s 2016 album Platform: Locker Leak and Lonely at the Top.
Lonely at the Top uses ASMR sounds depicting a relaxing experience. It uses concrete sounds and soft-spoken female voice.
The connotations around the female voice are also discussed here, which are generally interesting but I think especially important in the case of ASMR. It doesn’t take long in the online ASMR realm to notice that most performers are women. Also, whenever role-play is involved, there is always an authoritative figure depicted. This brings back to mind the passage in The Acoustic Mirror where the maternal voice is described as “the first model of auditory pleasure”.
‘reassurance of the maternal voice and the ways urban space is regulated by soft-spoken yet authorative female voices’.
However, this article lead me to another inspirational discovery: Katalin Ladik. It mentions her use of dressing sewing patterns as graphic scores which is something that ties in with my interests from last year.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26558042?seq=6#metadata_info_tab_contents