17/08/2026
Benedict Davies, multidisciplinary conceptual artist, just asked us not to think of an elephant. And guess what?
Exactly. We’re thinking about an elephant. 🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘
Benedict’s installation at the Wharfside Arts Hub (see poster visual for dates) is a fascinating collection of drawings, photographs, sculptures, films and sounds.
But back to the elephant in the room. Why exactly is his exhibition called Don’t Think of the Elephant?
The phrase references a book by cognitive scientist George Lakoff. He said if you tell someone not to think of an elephant, they have to picture an elephant in their mind. It's impossible to avoid.
Says Benedict, ‘This is a show about looking. About what we look at and what we don’t look at. It is also a show about how we look, and how the way we look changes the things that we see.
‘Lakoff’s elephant is an example of the limits of these systems of looking: a very simple command is made impossible by the way our minds work. Attention is similar. We tend to think that we pay attention to things because they are important, but we can only judge what is important through the things we have already paid attention to.
‘As a neurodivergent person with ADHD, these concerns are also deeply personal to me.’
The exhibition takes a playful and magpie approach to genres, using all kinds of media to explore the theme.
Do go and see this free exhibition at the Wharfside. It’s a thought-provoking experience, and Benedict is a very welcoming host.
And DO try to not think of an elephant.
See…
Impossible!
