benji sheppard /// @banjofromnowhere
Benji Sheppard, Design Academy Eindhoven 2026 graduate, multimedia designer and storyteller from St. Augustine, Florida, creates work influenced by experiences in the conservative South, religious deconstruction, and class division. He communicates complex experiences through various mediums, from steel to sound, adapting the approach to each project's unique demands.
i’m scared of you was a walkthrough installation combining spatial audio, metal sculpture, lighting and temperature effects to replicate the overstimulating experience of American Christian churches and their violent nature. The sound is projected from 3 directional speakers, and the space is occupied by a series of 8 steel-framed skeletons, forcing guests to squeeze in between sharp bodies in the dim, hot light to reach the preacher’s pulpit. The installation was exhibited on 11-12 January 2024 at Design Academy Eindhoven. It was accompanied by an audiovisual soundscape, displayed prior to the main installation.
mini preview installation + accompanying video
Video and audio are sourced from digital archives of church services and events, recorded footage and foley, and choir music sung by my young siblings, still living in the religious environments depicted in the installation. More fantastical elements such as sounds of flies, decay, and the crumbling of the walls around you serve to amplify stress in the installation, while synthesized sounds of clothes rustling, whispering, and people moving create an impression of being not quite alone in the room.