A Rebellion Against Despair?
A workshop and discussion exploring how we feel about ecological futures.
Tue 10 June 2025, 12pm - 4pm at International House, Loughborough University

(Photo credit: Studio Hyte)
To mark the first installation of Studio Hyte’s broadcast sculpture Infrequent Frequencies, this discussion will interrogate how we feel about the future in the face of ecological crisis.
Taking a quote from Infrequent Frequencies as its title and starting point, it will draw on speculative design, artistic labour, activism and research into the political power of feelings to explore connections between how we feel and what we do, and interrogate whether doing differently might change our emotional orientation to the future for better.
All attendees will be able to contribute to the discussion and given a free publication, which forms part of Infrequent Frequencies.
Panellists
Ben Cain is a graphic designer who produces functional and speculative works oriented towards a socially and ecologically just future. He was a Creative Director and Co-Founder of the speculative Design Agency Studio Hyte.
Marianna Coulentianos is a mechanical engineer turned design researcher who leverages principles of socially-engaged design, front-end prototyping, and participatory methods for equitable sustainable development. She is interested in post-growth futures and in the role of low techs in an equitable and ecological transition.
Dani Admiss and Luiza Prado are both members of Sunlight Liberation Network, a community-driven learning project for creating ‘greener’, fairer and more regenerative art practices of all kinds.
David Bell is Curator of Loughborough University's Arts Collection. He was a member of Out of the Woods, a writing collective exploring theory and struggle within, against and beyond ecological crisis.
Infrequent Frequencies
Commissioned by LU Arts, Infrequent Frequencies is an installation by the design collective Studio Hyte. Drawing on workshops with undergraduate students from the University’s School of Design and Creative Arts, it speculates on what daily life and broadcasting technologies might be like in a future of degrowth and intermittent energy. Rejecting despair without denying the scale of the ecological crisis, it encourages an engaged hope in response to the challenges our world faces. The work is powered by solar technology developed by the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology at Loughborough University.
Accessibility
International House is a single storey building with step-free access into the building and an accessible toilet.
If you have any access requirements or anything you would like us to be aware of when running the event, please let us know via the booking form or email LUArts@lboro.ac.uk in advance of booking and we will do our best to accommodate them.
Parking
Please note that visitors are now required to register their vehicle and pay to park on campus. There is a flat evening rate of £1 after 6pm. There are various ways in which you can register and pay (both in advance and on arrival).
More information on visitor parking
Artists
Luiza Prado
Related Projects
Rehearsals (for a world we could live in)
The programme explores practices of world building which enact and perform more just and liveable worlds, alongside the concept of the rehearsal. Read more