Benjamin Cisterne Lighting Designer

Biography

Benjamin’s reputation is for finesse and a gutsy approach to design, based in light. Benjamin is known for creating bold designs that are integral to a project. He works collaboratively on all projects and has been involved in all forms of museum, exhibition and performing arts projects professionally for 15 years. Benjamin is passionate about the capability of light in spatial design, performance and its role in art. Benjamin has extensive experience working both nationally and internationally with diverse teams and projects. He splits his time between exhibition / museum specification and performing arts design where he is especially well-known for his work in dance.

Benjamin’s lighting design for Sydney Dance Company’s 2 One Another was nominated for a 2012 Green Room Award. His other work for Sydney Dance Company includes Project Rameau, Contemporary Women, Emergence, Les Illuminations, 2 in D Minor, L’Chaim!, Scattered Rhymes, Parenthesis and Frame of Mind.

Note

The design of Forever & Ever in 2018 represented the next big step in many years of collaboration between Antony and myself. We drew from years of visual conversations, becoming very influenced by simple designs of early computer graphics. We worked predominantly with light and design, the space to take light and be defined by light. Over the years we have developed a common aesthetic and an obsession with timing. This manifested in an inherently connected work where, along with the reference imagery and movement, the music defines every light sequence and change.

When Forever & Ever was originally created in 2018, it presented an opportunity for Antony and I to take some of the trickiest things we have developed with timing and colour transitions and scale them up to Sydney Dance Company size. We have used this to explore the contrasts of high and low tech ideas in light and how those can define space both through size and scale. It is a work of contrasts and big changes following the rhythmic pulse of Julian’s music.