Benedict Phillips: 3D Thinkers in a 2D World

Title:

3D Thinkers in a 2D World

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Performers:



• Benedict Phillips

Symposium:

• ISEA2009: 15th International Symposium on Electronic Art

Venue(s):

• Waterfront Hall , Belfast , Ireland

Artist Statement:

Performance lecture, printed materials (posters, flyers, text info for presentation); bookworks and artefacts for presentation

3D Thinkers in a 2D World is a performance lecture by conceptual artist Benedict Phillips. Developed out of his 14 years of research and creative projects around dyslexia, he aims to expose the inner workings of what he describes as the dyslexic ‘3D thinking’ experience. This includes some of the unusual advantages available to those who think in a ‘dyslexic’ way.

By unpicking his creations such as The DIV*, Benedict highlights and examines presumptions about intelligence, communication and perception to unravel numerous misconceptions surrounding dyslexia. He shifts the focus away from the traditional emphasis on reading and writing to explore the unforgiving rigidity of formulae and social structures within the 2D ‘lexic’ world. Through this work Benedict offers insight into how to invert society’s perception of dyslexia and, by breaking away from excepted rules and regulations, to empower the lexic and dyslexic alike.

Benedict’s ongoing collaboration with fellow dyslexic adults, architects and technologists sees the ‘3D thinker’ expressed in a variety of forms, from designs for database and web navigation to intelligent architecture. His ongoing body of work on the subject embraces new media, photography, installation, performance and public discussion. 3D Thinkers in a 2D World is the public interface for this work, and strives to facilitate the debate around who should inform the dyslexic agenda.

* subverted from ‘div’ which in the UK slang means ‘an idiot’ or ‘stupid’, to ‘DIV’ or ‘Dyslexic Intelligent Vision