Klik hier voor Nederlands
Benjamin Francis (1996) creates performances, films and installations that question the often concealed mechanisms of authority, power and control. Within specific environments, he explores what is deemed good and bad, desirable or undesirable, for instance in relation to posture, language and behaviour.
The performance film A Claim for Your Own Good (2025) centres on the fictional company For Your Own Good, which promises to eradicate unproductive and ‘dirty’ elements from society. The wealthy philanthropist behind this venture claims to be working towards a fully cleansed society. If everyone simply does what he believes is best for them, all social problems, he argues, will disappear.
Employees of For Your Own Good clean houses, offices and public spaces, but this act of cleaning extends far beyond the removal of physical mess. Their services are free of charge, but beneath this charitable façade lies an agenda of control: people are subtly pressured to conform to social norms of productivity and order. The cleaners in the performance relate to the company’s agenda in different ways. Some seek to carry it out as effectively as possible, while others engage in forms of quiet resistance.
Francis is interested in corporate culture and the subtle ways in which companies attempt to exert influence. He also explores cleaning as a metaphor for the exclusion of individuals and groups within society. The more you clean, the cleaner the environment appears – but what, and who, is removed in this pursuit of purity?
Written by Sarah van Binsbergen