ASMR
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, a recently defined physical condition wherein visual, auditory, or sensory stimuli produce a pleasurable physical tingling sensation in the head, scalp or peripheral areas of the body. Therefore, it can be named as 'braingasm.'
MAMA presents ASMR, a solo exhibition by the young artist Petra Cortright (US, 1986).
In recent years, Cortright gained recognition for her YouTube performance videos and digital paintings in Artforum, TIME, Flaunt Magazine, and the New York Times Magazine. Cortright’s work has been shown worldwide in various group exhibitions such as the Internet Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2009), the San Jose Biennial (2010), and the Lyon Biennial (2013), and the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art. Cortright has had solo exhibitions at Midnight Club in Berlin, Preteen Gallery in Mexico City, and recently at Steve Turner Gallery in Los Angeles.
MAMA shows Petra Cortright’s most recent YouTube performances. The artist and her body are central to these performances. She records her simple acts and actions with a webcam, and the results are often edited using the standard digital effects from the webcam’s software. Parts of Cortright’s body are enlarged, deformed or doubled. Alongside the video works are new digital prints, which have been specially produced for this exhibition. The title, ASMR, refers to the neologism: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, a recently defined physical condition wherein visual, auditory, or sensory stimuli produce a pleasurable physical tingling sensation in the head, scalp or peripheral areas of the body. ASMR, also called a ‘braingasm’, was only recently termed and brought forth to popular attention by way of online blogging communities. A significant presence in the ASMR community is the young women who have YouTube channels full of popular, tingle-triggering videos.
Petra Cortright’s solo exhibition is part of MAMA’s Internet Aware programme, which focuses on online and offline art and culture, where objects and images cannot be understood without knowledge of the systems, symbols, and possibilities created and offered by the Internet.
Curated by Gerben Willers with the contribution of Petra Cortright
About HOME
HOME is the leitmotiv by which we encourage conversation about conceptions regarding belonging, representation and identification. HOME is a fundament, the place you return to and anchorpoint for the journey onward. HOME (offline as well as online) is the start of feeling connect to others. Under the name HOME we also present exhibitions in the showroom of MAMA. In collaboration with young makers we express interpretations about HOME | IN REAL LIFE | NETWORKS.
