

He had a friend continue posting videos on his behalf, which the court said violated the terms of said probation. After he became popular, his neighbors found out about his status and he was prompted to move a few times, which resulted in his second arrest and probation of 5 years in which he was not allowed to own a computer. Things that make this video incredibly uncomfortable to watch:Įdward Muscare (above) was a registered sex offender.

Now, I cannot talk about the weirdness of YouTube without mentioning this guy: If you’ve never heard of a number station, sit back and have a listen: Sitting and Smiling is Just the Tip of the Creepy Internet Iceberg. In a typical performance, Bennett looks into a video camera which is. This particular video requires no introduction.Īudio is sometimes way more terrifying than video. Sitting and Smiling is an endurance art performance by Benjamin Bennett. Now, not all creepy YouTube videos are inherently rife with sexual innuendo or mental breakdowns:

A creepy, strange little video that eventually landed him an interview on “Tosh.0,” at which point he had become, as my co-worker so lovingly described him, “the most popped-collar douchebag on the planet.”Īlso, if you happened to click on the train wreck above, you may end up with this gem in your recommended videos. For 4 hours.īut this is just the beginning of strange and creepy YouTube videos, and not all of them involve performance art. The performance artist has taken to live-streaming sessions of himself facing the camera, doing nothing other than sitting and smiling. Take for example, the latest in what-the-f**k-did-I-just-watch, is Ben Bennett. This article is dedicated to those moments where you’re not sure if this is art, or just very unnerving. Or on the flipside, people end up being incredibly creeped out and don’t know what to do with themselves. For the most part, the results usually invoke some meaningful dialogue or provoke some insightful thought. Retrieved 31 August 2021.It’s weird when performance art and the internet meet. "Art That Makes You Experience the Pain of Passing Time". "This man is filming himself smiling for four hours a day". "Sitting and Smiling is Just the Tip of the Creepy Internet Iceberg".
Scariest videos on the internet iceberg series#
"Artist Benjamin Bennett Films Himself Sitting and Smiling for Hours at a Time in His Series 'Sitting and Smiling' ". "This Man Sits, Smiles, And Stares At You For Four Hours, Creating A Black Hole Of Existential Angst (Enjoy!)".

It takes concepts like mindfulness (it is perhaps not coincidental that Bennett's cross-legged pose recalls the stance of meditation), attention to the present, and discomfort with the speed and busyness of modern life and pushes them to until they are unpleasant, even unbearable. Sitting and Smiling is, therefore, an extreme version of engagement with the present. Other reviewers said that the performance was "bizarre", "tip of the creepy iceberg", and "bonkers". One reviewer commented that "One of the strangest aspects of this project is its apparent lack of explanation."
Scariest videos on the internet iceberg full#
My inbox is full of people asking me why I'm doing this, but I don't think that question is really applicable to this type of activity."īenjamin Bennett, 2015 interview with Vice Media He does seem to break composure a bit and makes sounds while crying, but then returns to sitting and smiling. ĭuring streams 238 and 257, Bennett cries intermittently during the stream. He never acknowledges this or breaks his composure and continues to sit and smile to the camera. In a separate incident in his 52nd livestream, Bennett clearly urinates himself, with a wet puddle seeping out from under him and gradually evaporating over the remainder of the footage. This incident stacked attention online and the video currently has over 7.4 million views. When he was unable to open the door he said “Hello?”, then proceeded to shut the door and leave. Incidents on stream ĭuring the fifth stream, a burglar attempted to make a scene of entering his home. He speaks in an extemporaneous and reflexive manner, describing his subjective experience in real time, with subjects such as philosophy of mind, consciousness, and nonduality arising out of his self-reflection. On February 24, 2019, after reaching 300 Sitting and Smiling videos, Bennett began a new video series entitled Walking and Talking, in which he walks and talks continuously for four hours, or until his camera battery runs out.
