Endless, Glastonbury 2023

Endless attempts to grapple with the conflicts of sustainability, technological innovation, and societal need for a sense of progression. It is an endlessly evolving and progressing chord sequence in a halo of light and sound, a symbol of renewal, a meditative and immersive space, a never-ending resolving and evolving sonic progression. 

Having been invited by Team Love to create environmentally responsible work for Glastonbury 2023, we created Endless, which is developed from our experimental off-grid research project The Power of Art (2022); originally funded by Arts Council England and Stockton International Riverside Festival. 

Our off grid projects are motivated by the growing demand for outdoor, digital art, and the fact that these types of works are limited by having to be connected to power. Installing these works often requires the use of complex infrastructures with inefficient and unsustainable power systems. This is not only a challenge for Squidsoup when considering the environmental impact of our works in outdoor and rural locations, but also limits who can experience these works and when they can be experienced. 

Our continued aim is to find flexible and sustainable solutions for powering digital artworks, both large and small, in any outdoor situation, using our own works as guinea pigs. We expected there to be periods where Endless would not be running at full power, or at all. However the sunny weather played to our advantage and it was able to run 24/7 across the Glastonbury weekend. 

The off-grid power for Endless uses 6 solar panels and 28 electric car batteries to run this experimental light and sound installation, and was an experiment for us in testing the capabilities in using solar energy to power our works. The period of exhibition at Glastonbury allowed us a great opportunity to test the longevity of powering works in this way and to see where they may need tweaking and adjusting to withstand other exhibitions and public events.