MORPHEUS

Tonight, about 10% of the world population will have trouble sleeping. ASMR videos on YouTube – and their creators – are here to help.

Tonight, in Italy, over 9 million people will not be able to sleep a wink.

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Morpheus is a multiform deity, endowed with silent wings and visiting the dreams of mortals to gently accompany them towards a restful night. The Morpheus of the present manifests itself as a light and hyper-connected entity, that human beings seek for in a place that is, at same time, also one of the main sources of contemporary anxiety and sleep disturbances: the web.

ASMR (acronym for autonomous sensory meridian response), is a tingling sensation accompanied by chills starting from the top of the head and spreading throughout the body of those who experience it, inducing a state of pleasant relaxation, often a prelude to deep sleep. ASMR artists are youtubers who create and publish videos designed to arouse tingles and help their audience relax using specific sound and visual triggers such as tapping or brushing on a microphone, speaking in a whispered voice, chewing on food and even roleplaying imaginary characters or situations.

Their work, halfway between technological-artistic performance and magical gesture, is one of the fastest growing phenomenons of the web. With over 5.2 million ASMR videos uploaded to YouTube, the work of ASMR artists aims to induce a state of deep relaxation in the observer, producing sounds perceived as pleasant and staging situations often linked to the memory of the past or to relaxing experiences of the present.

Even if the phenomenon is not yet scientifically proven, the public consuming (and finding) ASMR contents as a sort of contemporary bedtime story is increasing. With COVID-19 disrupting our daily schedules and routines, ASMR has now become a daily ritual halfway between the world wide web and the pillow for thousands of people around the world.

This series currently features the work of four ASMR artists living in Italy and broadcasting in several languages. They are Arasulè ASMR, Luca ASMR, Tiny Seeds of ASMR, and Starling ASMR.