Sitting and Smiling

src: i.ytimg.com

Sitting and Smiling is an endurance art performance by Benjamin Bennett. In a typical performance, Bennett looks into a video camera which is recording him while sitting and smiling motionless for four hours.

Bennett uploaded his first "Sitting and Smiling" video on July 28, 2014. Over the next years he uploaded similar videos at a rate of about one per week. Currently, his videos have earned more than 12.8 million views with over 160 thousand subscribers.

Bennett cites Claire Bishop's 2012 Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship as an inspiration for his art.

Video Sitting and Smiling

Critical response

One reviewer commented that "One of the strangest aspects of this project is its apparent lack of explanation."

A burglar broke into Bennett's home by kicking down the door during one performance. Bennett resolved to continue the performance. The burglar came to Bennett and saw him sitting and smiling, and promptly left the house.

Other reviewers said that the performance was "bizarre", "tip of the creepy iceberg", and "bonkers".

Bennett has received praise for preserving the mystery of his art by refusing any opportunity for interviews on the popular television show Tosh.0.

Maps Sitting and Smiling

Incidents on stream

As previously mentioned, during the fifth instalment of his stream, a burglar broke into his house. Breaking the lock, the thief then said "Hello?" and quickly left. The incident generated attention online and the video currently has over 2 million views.

In a separate incident in his fifty-second livestream, Benjamin clearly urinates himself, with a wet puddle seeping out from under him and drying into a wet patch on his floor. He never acknowledges this or breaks his composure and continues to sit and smile to the camera.