Benji Jeffrey

I am an artist, educator, musician and performer, exploring the complexity of performing in the everyday while abandoning the distinction between high/low culture. I am interested in mining the gap between being and appearing through the manifestation and deconstruction of characters, primarily through video, sound and performance. I am a popstar, a composer, a conductor, a drag queen, a costume designer, a director, a graphic designer and a videographer. I can do anything, and so can you.

My pedagogy revolves around centring joy, enthusiasm and friendship within an art practice. These three elements, which are the tent poles of my own practice, are something I use as a proposal for ways of working which encourage building sustainable practices, attempting to eschew the harmful trope of the tortured artist.

I am currently undertaking a PhD titled 'Playing the Fool: Reappraising foolishness through joyful, intersectional performative practice'. This practice-based research focuses on the colourful, mischievous and misunderstood character of the fool. Often dismissed as simple (having too little) or mad (having too much)(Wilford, 1969), they embody wisdom transcending rationality and legibility, destabilising entrenched binaries such as normal/abnormal and order/chaos. Through my research I am exploring how this transgressive character be embodied to encourage joyful, unconventional performative practice.

• MA - Moving Image (Royal College of Art)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Art and Design Education (Royal College of Art)
• BA - Fine Art (Chelsea College of Art and Design)