Blanck Mass encourages intense eye contact in the video for ‘The Rat’

Ever wanted to stare deeply into Benjamin John Power’s eyes? Now’s your chance.

When the video for ‘Please’, an earlier single taken from Benjamin’s latest album ‘World Eater’, was aired back in February, it dived into a tantalising, hypnotic and politicised world. Now his clip for ‘The Rat’ presents an equally penetrating vision, although in a totally different way.

Filmed all in one long take (possibly at Disneyland, on their ‘It’s A Small World’ ride), the viewer is pretty much encouraged to stare Benjamin straight in the eyes as he appears to glide around the attraction. He doesn’t blink much, and his eyes look directly into the camera. There’s a small reprieve when footage of a pile of writhing maggots takes over for a tiny bit. Then it’s straight back to another three minutes of Benjamin staring into your soul.

In a statement, as reported by Stereogum, Benjamin said: “The video itself is a bit of fun and was filmed on a family vacation, but somehow I feel it represents discontent within a capitalist regime and a world full of sugar-coated sh*t”. Kind of intense for “a bit of fun”, isn’t it?

Watch the video for ‘The Rat’ and see how long you can maintain eye contact below.