Dieter Missiaen

Bench Invasion is a moving and participatory performance that fosters a sense of community in public space. A brigade carrying portable benches sets up daily in unexpected places in the neighbourhood, inviting passers-by to sit down and simply chat. Every day at 4 p.m., in a new location each time, participants and their interlocutors converge on a public square, and their benches come together to form a large table. The artist serves a drink to the impromptu assembly and toasts to the beauty of spontaneous encounters.

According to Dieter Missiaen, our society is in dire need of time and attention to cultivate presence and benevolence. We are too fixated on our individual trajectories to take care of our interactions with others. On a human scale, Dieter’s urban intervention generates compassionate moments between strangers who would have otherwise only passed each other in the street. In this way, Bench Invasion combats urban loneliness and anonymity, one conversation at a time.