Experience ASMR at Artechouse's new 'Tingle Bells' exhibit in Chelsea
"Tingle Bells" exhibition uses ASMR to soothe visitors during Manhattan's hectic holiday season. Credit: Newsday/Scott Vogel
Calm, meditative, mindful — these are not terms one typically uses to describe the holiday season in Manhattan, a season more often defined by pushing, shoving, avenues clotted with tourists and inebriated revelers in Santa hats. This is what makes "Tingle Bells" in Chelsea something of a daring departure. The immersive exhibition runs until Jan. 5 at Artechouse, and combines trippy digital projections with a soundscape of rumblings, whisperings and tappings, all of it designed to induce an "ASMR-inspired" experience in patrons.
Desperately seeking the trendy serenity of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, I bought a ticket to Artechouse, entering a vestibule to watch an introductory video. "It starts as a gentle tingle in the scalp traveling down the neck and spine," it said, adding that while not everyone could expect to experience this tingle, I should feel, at minimum, waves of calm wash over me.
With that, I descended a set of stairs into Artechouse’s cavernous space, a former boiler room. Almost immediately, I was attacked on all sides by digital projections of Christmas ornaments flying around the space and ringing bells dong-dong-donging their way toward me. I flew drone-like over snowy, Christmas-bedecked villages, wandered into a forest of candy canes and watched spellbound as kaleidoscopic ice crystals morphed into snowflakes.
The new immersive exhibition uses projections and ASMR technology for a calming take on the holidays. Credit: Newsday/Scott Vogel
The whole thing left me dazzled and dizzy, so I sat on a nearby bench alongside several couples who stared glassy-eyed at the approximately 40-minute presentation. Gentle sounds like the clacking of typewriter keys and improv’d electronica were followed by massive rumbling noises resembling earthquake aftershocks. Slowly, I began to feel a not-unwelcome heaviness in my body, along with waves of, well, calm, and a buzzing if not tingling in my head. I noticed my breathing slow as well. I’d never felt so relaxed. On another day, surrounded by twirling Christmas packages would almost certainly trigger nervousness over my unfinished shopping list. Not this one.
And whatever ASMR couldn’t handle, Artechouse’s bar could, I soon discovered. Muscling my way past the cool crowd, and bypassing spirits-free libations like Symphony of Cider and Chocolate Bliss ($10), I ordered a Winter Caramel Sleigh generously goosed with spiced rum ($17), finding to my astonishment that I was completely free of holiday anxiety. Indeed, the peace I achieved stayed with me as I departed Artechouse, lasting until I arrived at Chelsea Market, a half-block away.
"Tingle Bells" runs until Jan. 5 at Artechouse, 439 W. 15th St., Manhattan, artechouse.com. Tickets start at $23.85 ; $17.92 for ages 4-15.
Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.
