LERA+ worked closely with American artist James Clar on this suspended light sculpture, part of a larger exhibition exploring technology’s influence on society. The sculpture is composed of several LED lights and metal rods, which required the design of complex connections at points of intersection. Previously, for similarly shaped light sculptures, the artist would design each light-and-rod connection by hand prior to 3D printing them, a time consuming and imprecise process.

In response, LERA+ created a custom plugin for Rhino that automated this process, saving the artist time and cost. In Rhino, the artist was able to define each connection, assign which sections would hold LED lights and which would plainly be steel rods, and run the plugin to automate the design of the connections. He could then modify the sculpture as he saw fit, and the connections would automatically adapt to the new geometry.

The plugin also optimized each connection so as to use as little material as possible for 3D printing while at the same time maintaining structural stability. In addition to the suspended sculpture, custom connections were also used for other wall-mounted artworks in the exhibition.