The DIV (2005)

This 32 minute long film was made during a seven week artist’s residency at Persistence Works - a prestigious studio complex in the heart of Sheffield. Named after Benedict’s created character ‘The DIV’ (Dyslexic Intelligence Vision) the film visits Benedict at key moments during a series of public events and conversations and records his investigations into public conceptions of difference. This includes his performance “The Invisible Apartheid of Words” where 60 plus people sat a 45 minute exam in becoming Dyslexic, presided over by The DIV, followed by footage of the Award ceremony where the participants discover with great joy that they are all Dyslexic! It also captures the beginnings of “Invisible Conversations” Benedict’s ongoing international photographic portraiture project. The story is punctuated by conversations with the artist, commissioners, and participants.

By inverting the social traditions of dyslexia as failure and the medical model of disease Benedict tells society where they can stick it and informs and delights in a truly impactful way.

“Everyone can be dyslexic, they just need to try harder” Benedict Phillips