TOUCH MUSEUM
an immersive video installation inspired by ASMR
2015–2016
Touch Museum, Young Projects, Los Angeles, CA 2015-16. From left to right: Ancient Hand reflected on mirror wall, 1-channel HD video, 3:12m loop, 2015, Aftermath, 1-channel HD video (with mirror reflection), 7:40m loop, 2015, Ancient Hand (on transparent screen) and Net Search, 1-channel HD video, 3:40m loop, 2015
Touch Museum premiered at Young Projects in Los Angeles in November 2015, showcasing multiple video installations alongside an original soundscape by LA-based composer Deru. The exhibition also included a Youtube channel with videos exploring the perceptual phenomenon known as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR). The exhibition garnered widespread attention and was featured in prominent outlets such as The Los Angeles Times, Artforum, Hyperallergic, Gizmodo, The LAist, L.A. Confidential and on KCRW. In 2016, Touch Museum was also installed at Eastern Star Gallery in Brentwood, CA in 2016.
Weitz’s videos juxtapose the physical, textural experience of living with the more remote digital universe in which we’re so often immersed. As the installation progresses, the videos become more rooted in the ASMR world while still offering a more universal commentary on sensuality.
Deborah Vankin, The Los Angeles Times
Touch Museum 2.0, Eastern Star Gallery, Brentwood, CA, 2016
From left to right: Sole Archaeologist, 1-channel HD video, 4:24m loop, 2015 and Chains and Body, 1-channel HD video, 5:54m loop, 2015
Touch Museum, Young Projects, Los Angeles, CA 2015-16. From left to right: Ancient Hand, 1-channel HD video (with mirror reflections), 3:12m loop, 2015 and Net Search, 1-channel HD video, 3:40m loop, 2015
Touch Museum, Young Projects, Los Angeles, CA 2015-16. From left to right: Light You, 1-channel HD video, 8:00m loop, 2015 and Sole Archaeologist, 1-channel HD video, 4:24m loop, 2015
Self-Portrait Hair Caress, 1-channel HD video (vertical), 4:03m (loop), 2015
The intimacy of the show’s mazelike space and unearthly sounds allowed this simple gesture [hands caress the artist’s long corkscrew curls] to take on a strange, almost illicit sensuality—a horror movie in which no one is murdered but physical suspense radiates throughout.
Andrew Berardini, Artforum
Touch Museum, Young Projects, Los Angeles, CA 2015-16. Chains, 1-channel HD video with three layers of scrim on left and mirrors on right, 4:12m loop, 2015. In background on mirror wall: Ancient Hand, 1-channel HD video, 3:12m loop, 2015
Touch Museum, Young Projects, Los Angeles, CA 2015-16
Inside the Image (Chains), Corrugated foam, chains, color gels and encore, 2015
Touch Museum 2.0, Eastern Star Gallery, Brentwood, CA, 2016
from left to right: Self-Portrait Hair Caress, 1-channel HD video, 4:03m (loop), 2015 and Brain ASMR, 1-channel HD video with binaural whispers, 10:04m (loop), 2015