At Bailes+Light, we blend light, sound, and sensory stimuli to craft playful experiences that captivate, inspire, and engage audiences.

From our roots in lighting captivating alternate-worlds at festivals to our sensory and kinetic installations now found in urban centres, our creations have delighted thousands across the globe. Our technology drives a multitude of experiences, from grassroots experiential installations to large-scale commercial exhibitions.

Simply put, we are a small technology-driven creative studio with lots of energy. We bring imagination to life!

We Put the Audience at the Heart of Everything We Do

Our team thrives on finding innovative ways to engage new audiences, communicate ideas, and build immersive worlds. Audience participation is central to our approach, fostering emotional connections that can inspire positive change. We love working in the real world while harnessing the power of technology to tell compelling stories, blurring the lines between what is real and what isn’t and weaving connections between the analog and digital worlds.

Collaboration Makes for Beautiful Creation

We collaborate with artists, designers, and research academics to create technology-based installations that tell compelling stories. We strive to capture the awe and wonder of discovery from the research process in the quality of our work. As artists and campaigners, we design experiences that drive positive social change and protect our future, while ensuring our creations and technology are accessible to as many people as possible. No challenge is too big or too small—we adapt our team to meet the needs of every project.

Our Ethos

We feel fortunate to do work that we love.

Our shared vision is to inspire positive social change through our work, creating environments that invite participation, foster connection, and inspire transformation.

Our mission is to drive change through sustainable practices, prioritising planet-first, eco-conscious design, and sharing stories about the natural world.

While our industry is small, we believe there is space for everyone. We take active steps to increase diversity at every level and encourage people from all backgrounds to join our Workshop Opportunities programme.

Our Story

Our journey began over a decade ago, when Benji Bailes and Dan Light, each bringing their own complementary skills and perspectives, came together to form a team that could transform bold ideas into reality. From the fields of Glastonbury to the subterranean tunnels beneath the Thames, and the vaults of Christie’s Auction House, the duo shares a passion for illuminating unique spaces and creating installations that complement their surroundings.

Benji, with a background in lighting for television, concerts, and clubs, provides the creative spark for new ideas, while Dan’s engineering expertise ensures our installations are innovative, uniquely crafted, and functional. Together, they’ve built a studio committed to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

Our experience with making a lot with very little continues to define us today

Our story began from a small room in Tottenham, where with limited resources (and space!) we managed to create a wide range of impactful projects. Our experience with making a lot with very little continues to define us today. Now based at Aldborough Hall Farm near Ilford, we enjoy the best of both worlds—immersed in the tranquility of nature while staying connected to the creative energy and resources of the city.

With over two decades of experience across the immersive and creative industries, we are united by a passion for pushing the boundaries of what’s possible

Benji Bailes (they/them)

Co-founder + Creative Director

Benji leads on the creative design for each project and ensures everything runs smoothly at B+L.

With a background in immersive technologies, they bring a compassionate and collaborative approach to experiential design, focusing on the emotion of the audience and the enrichment of space. Their approach is hugely sympathetic to building replica worlds, where crafting every tiny detail matters.

Having previously worked as a lighting director in television, a lighting designer/programmer for immersive theatre + live music, and on visuals at some of the UK’s most exclusive nightclubs, Benji possesses a sophisticated understanding of lighting design across a range of immersive environments.

Benji’s passion lies in linking immersive arts to activism, developing interactive and multi-sensory participatory installations that inspire audiences to connect with the natural world.

Dan Light (he/him)

Co-founder + Technical Director

Dan is the technical director at Bailes+Light. He’s the one who has the answers to the some of the knottier technical questions.

After finishing his education at the University of Exeter with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Dan has spent most of his career fixing and making things. Whilst freelancing his way around the lighting industry fixing broken moving lights he was also solving interesting problems with limited budgets in the festival world. These days you’ll find him up to his eyeballs in 3D CAD, driving one of the CNC machines in the workshop or making (intentional) puffs of smoke from circuit boards in the reflow oven.

Taz Patel (they/them)

Workshop Superviser

Taz originally joined the team in 2022 as a Workshop apprentice and has since risen to the role of Workshop Supervisor.

They ensure the smooth operation of our workshop and warehouse, overseeing the maintenance and repair of all our equipment and machinery. While managing the day-to-day activities, Taz carries out a variety of technical tasks and is involved in the physical manufacturing process when it comes to bringing Bailes+Light designs to life. This is everything from electronics fabrication and woodworking to 3D modelling.

Beyond the workshop, Taz spends their time wrangling cables and rigging lights at events and festivals such as Camp Trans and Waking Life, geeking out at live coding events, or exploring new ideas for combining tech and art with friends and collaborators.

Vanya Cantone

Producer + Studio Manager

As Producer + Studio Manager Vanya works closely with clients to bring our technology-driven installations to life, focusing on the delivery of project production whilst keeping our studio in check.

Vanya has a background in exhibition and event production, exhibition logistics and public programming. Vanya holds a BA in Interaction Design Arts from The University of the Arts London where she specialised in sensory design and multimedia installations. Vanya has more recently completed short courses in Woodwork Joinery and in Feminisms, Sexuality and the Archive at Goldsmiths, University of London.

In addition to Vanya’s work at Bailes+Light, Vanya is a practicing research-based artist who works across all mediums and has been involved in leading and delivering a number of socially engaged works.