JAMES TAYLOR-FOSTER
ArkDes (The Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design)
Sweden, Stockholm
james taylor-foster is a writer, cultural critic, and curator of design and digital culture trained in architecture. They are the curator of contemporary architecture and design at ArkDes, and have developed a number of curatorial projects in Stockholm including Cruising Pavilion: Architecture, Gay Sex and Cruising Culture and Space Popular: Value in the Virtual, alongside public installations with Studio Ossidiana, Swedish Girls, and others. They curated WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD – the first museum exhibition to explore the culture and creative field of ASMR, currently touring. Most recently, they worked with Joar Nango and collaborators to present Girjegumpi: The Sámi Architecture Library in the Nordic Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Their first collaborative collection of essays, softspot, was published in 2021 (InOtherWords).
WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The Design of a Feeling
ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is a term that describes a physical sensation: euphoria or deep calm, sometimes a tingling in the body. In 2020, the first museum exhibition to explore this culture, community, and creative design field opened at the Design Museum in London. As curator of this exhibition, this paper will explore the unusually significant role that exhibition design has taken in constructing an immersive, sensorial display environment for visitors. WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD explores the design story of an evolving internet movement through a series of forty immersive audio, visual, and tactile works, each investigating how people around the world are using new and existing tools and materials to navigate our complex world. Sometimes all that’s required is 1km of sausage pillow!
More info: https://arkdes.se/en/exhibitions/weird-sensation-feels-good-the-world-of-asmr/
digital culture, design, architecture, public life, contemporary society