Tillamook, Oregon, USA – January 9, 2018 – Bob Pagani has been broadcasting his daily eight hours of sleep on the Periscope app and YouTube and has found people eager to watch him snooze from all over the world.
Pagani, a published author, radio broadcaster, visual artist and “reality hacker,” was about to take a nap in the chair in front of his computer back in August 2017 when he spotted his cell phone on its wireless charger in front of him. “I wondered what would happen if I turned on Periscope and just let people look at me while I napped,” he said. Much to his surprise nearly a thousand watched that first day and an idea was born. Since that fateful day, Pagani has been broadcasting his full sleep period, all eight hours of it, every morning starting at 4 AM Pacific time.
His audience has grown steadily, reaching as many as thousands of viewers every morning. Elated with the success of his unorthodox project, Pagani has added a phone line (971-249-2751) that viewers can call to leave messages. Pagani compiles the calls and plays them for his viewers while he sleeps the next night.
The calls range from the hilarious to the profane to recurring characters some callers play. He has gotten calls from Finland, Iceland, Great Britain, Australia and other countries in addition to the U.S. “I get called names a lot and some people are concerned about my health since I sleep sitting up,” he says, adding, “It’s all good so long as the calls are entertaining to the audience.”
Recently Pagani has begun simulcasting Bob Is Sleeping as the show is called on Twitch, in addition to Periscope. It can be found on either platform by searching for Bob Is Sleeping, or just go to this link:
Here’s a direct link to my account on Twitch: https://go.twitch.tv/bobpagani/profile
So what is in the future for this strange art project? Pagani will be sleeping in front of a live audience during the KBOO radio fundraising event at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland, Oregon on February 15. He has also started a Global Sleep Network. Its goal is to find people from all of Earth’s 24 timezones to broadcast their sleep cycle. “There should never be a minute of the day when you can’t watch someone sleeping online,” Pagani says.
Bob Pagani had a solo art show in August 2017 at the Bay City Arts Center in Bay City, Oregon. He has also given presentations at the Maccarone and Participant Galleries in New York City.
