Abstract
The problematization of the idea of creativity resulting in the revision of concepts about autonomous, creative, and human self has been a reality since the end of modernism, or maybe even longer. Postmodernism, as well as theories of posthumanism and new materialism, dealing with categories such as materiality, virtual reality, transgression, hybridization, etc., offer some reflections on the idea of non-human creativity, which is no longer an attribute immanently assigned to human, but a result of interaction between human and non-human elements, including the affective friction of bodies made of matter. Mostly inspired by the theories and methodologies of posthuman studies, studies in new materialism, and new media studies, the article aims to answer the question about the types of creativity appearing in a new YouTube phenomenon – autonomous sensory meridian response videos massively published in recent years. The article is an attempt to give a comprehensive account of the idea of posthuman creativity – with its sub-types like sensual creativity or techno-creativity – visible in extremely popular, however under-researched, autonomous sensory meridian response artworks. The paper puts forward the thesis about autonomous sensory meridian response being a model artistic phenomenon in which the entanglement of human and non-human matter results in a form of posthuman creativity. Numerous examples of autonomous sensory meridian response videos have been analysed, pointing to the specific modes of creative collaboration of human and non-human elements on the film set. In conclusion, it has been shown that autonomous sensory meridian response artworks become the product of posthuman creativity resulting from mutual, affective interaction of bodies.
Highlights
The analyses will start with defining the autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) phenomenon and identifying those of its qualities and properties we find most important, corresponding to the ideas developed within posthumanism and new materialism (NM) regarding the creativity of matter
The article put forward a thesis that creativity emerging from ASMR artworks can be called posthuman in the sense that ASMR works are created by both human and non-human factors
The author believes the concepts taken from the theory of NM have turned out to be extremely useful in the conceptualization of the idea of creativity in ASMR
Summary
Is creativity a solely human quality? Traditional humanistic discourse, anthropocentrically focused on the mind-endowed human being as the “crown of all creation”, sees creativity as something that belongs inherently to human beings and sets them apart from a machine that “can never do anything really new”, as Ada Lovelace is believed to have commented on the Charles. The work of ASMRtists is seen here as an example of artistic activity involving both human and non-human elements, situated at the intersection of the practical aspect of human creativity, perceiving and appreciating the creativity of matter and the means of technology, while ASMR videos are seen as an example of artistic works resulting from the interlocked activities of both types of creativity, a product of their intertwining activities The author places this phenomenon primarily in the context of NM and posthumanism, while seeing these philosophical trends as inter-corresponding on multiple planes of interest, including the interpretation of the creative quality as non-inherent to the human subject, but being the result of a combination of various factors, and especially the activity of non-human matter combined with human activities. The author will try to contribute as thoroughly as possible to answering the question about a new type of posthumanist, neo-materialist creativity emerging within the studied phenomenon
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