You can contact Ben at ben[at]glowingart.co.uk

Here are some of Ben Everard’s past projects

A Cry For Help (2024)

Ben created a series of light sculptures for the Lightwavres festival at Salford Quays and RHS Bridgewater Glow. The seven insects highlight the plight of bugs, whose populations are dropping around the world. Each sculpture interacts with the people around it. Commisioned by The Lowery and RHS.

The butterfly at Salford Quays

The damselfly installed in RHS Bridgewater during the preview event

The bee fully lit up

The damselfly set up under a tree

Getting up-close and personal with the fly

the spider proved popular with visitors

the catterpillar alternates between a grey daggar, goat moth and sprawler

Geometric nature experiments (2024)

Ben is experimenting with creating medium to large scale light art based around geometric representations of natural forms and procedurally generated animations based on environmental stimuli.

This geometric butterfly is the first prototype from a larger piece that is in development

As well as a butterfly, Ben is developing other insects including a damselfly

Islamic art (collaboration with Riaz Shafti) (2022 - 2023)

Ben colaborated with Islamic artist Riaz Shafti on some pieces of illuminated geometric art.

Ben and Riaz's art on display in North Street Gallery

A test piece for the Islamic geometric art project running sample patterns

Recycling 3D printer waste (2022 -> present)

3D printers can churn through a lot of plastic. Typically, this is PLA which is not easily recycled using commercial recycling.

Ben has been experimenting with small-scale PLA recycling to create jewelry, clocks and other objects. 3D printer filament is often highly coloured, and when melted, different colours can be swirled together to create marbling effects unachievable by other means.

Earings made from recycled blue and white plastic

Laser cuttable sheets made from 3D printer waste

PCBs as a creative medium (2021 -> 2023)

Printed Circuit Boards are usually rectangular and locked away behind enclosers so users rarely get to see them. However, they can be manufactured in almost any shape, and in a range of colours. Ben has been experimenting with bare PCBs as Christmas decorations. The highly reflective solder pads can work particularly well with LED illumination.

A Christmas decoration designed to show off the bare PCB

This PCB uses large amounts of exposed metal to reflect the light

Freeform LED circuits (2021)

Typically, circuits are made on PCB or breadboard. However, anything that carries current can be used. Ben experimented with attaching addressable LEDs to brass frames to create circuits.

A free-form seven segment display

LED Clock (2019)

This LED word clock was Ben’s first foray into using LEDs as a creative medium.

This clock has been happily running for five years

User interaction (2021 - 2022)

We interact with computers in a very limited number of ways. Typically, keyboard, mouse and gamepad. However, there are many more sensors that can be used to take input from a user. Ben experimented by building a series of alternative computer controllers.

Scroll wheels are surprisingly versatile as input devices

Combining tilt and slide controls to drive a game vehicle

The classic Frogger game, but you have to flap the book to make the frog jump

The first controller used a simple ultra sonic distance sensor to move a Pong paddle