
Polyglot
Project showcase
Duration: 30min
Thursday, 22 October 2026 | 16:40 > 17:102026-10-22T16:40:00.000Z | Lectures
Polyglot is a generative typographic system composed of characters drawn from over 300 global writing systems. At its core is rule-based software that releases, accumulates and reorganises glyphs across time and space, constructing an evolving field of typographic presence. The work is time-based digital media, rendered entirely in light and motion. Encountered at room scale, projected characters accumulate across the walls and floor of a space until the viewer is enclosed within a living field of script, surrounded by the breadth of human written expression. On screen, the same continuous system unfolds through time, so that language is experienced as living and shifting rather than fixed notation.
Author
- Ben Sheppee is a British visual artist, director and motion designer specialising in large-scale immersive visual experiences for live events, architecture and performance.
As founder and creative director of Observatory, he leads the creation of design-led content for custom LED environments, projection mapping and broadcast, collaborating with agencies, brands and cultural organisations to deliver ambitious work at monumental scale.
Alongside this commercial practice, Sheppee maintains a fine art profile exploring language, identity and cultural syncretism through experimental typography, generative systems and...


