Kinetic Pendulum Sculptures Harness the Visual Power of Light With Hypnotic Repetition

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Even the most cursory of glances reveals Damien Bénéteau’s exceptional command over light. For years, the French artist has played with illuminated surfaces, transforming them into dynamic and mischievous forces. What makes his sculptures so immersive, though, isn’t just how they explore or reflect light—it’s how they harness it.

Bénéteau’s work often incorporates pendulums to dramatize how light is constantly shifting. Monumental in size and minimalist in style, these monochromatic sculptures typically take the form of rectangular or square slabs, their centers hollowed out and ringed with light. Once the pendulum passes through these cavities, the magic emerges: light shrouds and circles around the orb, as if burning and melting it from the inside. The “hypnotic repetitions,” according to the artist, further enhance the “contemplative state” conjured by his sculptures.

One recent piece titled Variations in Duality, for instance, uses two pendulum functions, each moving in perfect harmony without ever touching one another. As the orbs gently swing back and forth through the rectangular base, they almost seem to vanish, disappearing into the sculpture’s black hole only to reappear once the light envelops them again. The visual effect is not only mesmerizing but somehow addicting, demanding rapt attention and repeated viewing.

Beyond these pendulum sculptures, Bénéteau has created reliefs that also manipulate light. As more monolithic compositions, the reliefs are rendered in black and punctuated with small, circular indents that are “hardly distinguishable from the plane surface,” per the artist. This time, walking around the relief is what reveals the miniscule variations in light and shadow, rather than luminous devices and mechanics within the sculptures themselves.

“Sculpting light enables [Bénéteau] to reveal hidden corners within spaces,” Florian Gaité wrote of the artist in 2015. “The dark, matte black surface contrasts with the dense light of the white LEDs, producing retinal persistence and aura effects.”

To learn more about the artist, visit Damien Bénéteau’s website.