Ben Sloat

Considering the etymology of the word "photography" as the "graphics of light" - in this series, light serves as a central subject and material element, and is often in relationship with its surrounding environment.

For some works, daylight becomes an activating mechanism, and the piece visually changes in response to light shifts during the day, never holding a fixed position. For some of the neon based works, at night they become a light source that defines the surrounding architecture.

Neon is used in a number of projects, and is considered as simultaneously a light graphic, a sculpture, a cultural object, and a contour drawing with architectural properties. 


"Academy of Light (Weymouth)", found materials and neon, 4'x20', commission for MIO, 2021


A commissioned work in Weymouth, MA, a location where Frank Lloyd Wright lived briefly as a child. This piece considers his tile design and use of architectural movement/adjoined materials.


20ft long and made of 700+ brick like shapes, the materials transform from exterior (brick, siding) to interior (tile, aluminum) to cultural ones (photography, fabric). Meanwhile, neon cloud forms circulate and seem to transition from one to another. 

detail of adjoining materials

Artist talk for Concord Art on "Academy of Light - Weymouth"

"Formation (neon clouds)" variable sizes, neon installation, Kunsthal Charlottenberg,  Copenhagen, 2015


Rendered in neon, these pieces in a Chinese lucky cloud motif, seem to move in sequence around the space, transforming from one shape to another.

"Formation (black neon clouds)", Cohen Gallery, Granoff Center, Brown University, 2017

"CMYK", neon, pigment, small stones, VanderNoot Gallery, Cambridge, MA 2017

Neon rings, in the colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow, are installed in a corner with glossy black stones, completing the subtractive color spectrum while generating various modes of refraction.

"Academy of Light (Augusta)", prismatic acrylic, found light, slideshow projection, gold wallpaper, dimensions variable, Byrd Gallery, Augusta, GA, 2015


In this show at the Byrd Gallery at Georgia Regents University, a central hanging structure made of hexagonal prismatic acrylic is met with variety of light sources, including a projected slideshow.

"Academy of Light (Augusta)", detail

"Academy of Light (Copenhagen)", 48" x 103", prismatic acrylic, steel & aluminum armature, lightbulbs, NLH Space, Copenhagen, 2011


A large hanging piece is hung in the window of NLH Space in Copenhagen, and changes color with the conditions of daylight. At night, sensors light up internal bulbs.

"Academy of Light (Copenhagen)" - detail

Music video by the band Mammut Is In Love, filmed in the "Academy of Light (Copenhagen)" installation, 2011

"Dan Ju Zhe Mi", each 36" x 36", neon installation, Lunder Arts Center, Cambridge, MA 2017


A phrase translated from the Chinese meaning "the one in the center cannot see the whole", this neon work, which can be thought of photographically as a graphic of light which is simultaneously a contour drawing and a sculpture which defines the architecture around it.

Its ancient script refers to Chinese cultural history, while it's projecting blue and red lights suggests commercial signage as well as the lights of police.


"Dan Ju Zhe Mi" viewed from outside. Over the course of the day, this piece goes through various optical changes. In bright daylight, it reads as a flat text piece, at night, it takes on a strong architectural dimension.

Using Format