On Standby

What if you could hear the energy consumed by your electronic devices when you're asleep? On Standby is a 10-hour sound art piece based on energy data collected overnight from volunteers in Malmö, Sweden.

As each device consumes power, even just a trickle, you'll hear a sound. The result? A unique, meditative symphony of the unseen energy that hums in our homes every night.

On Standby transforms overnight energy consumption data into an immersive listening experience.

Featuring the voices of volunteers, plus energy saving expert Nick Trapp from the Centre for Sustainable Energy Bristol, poetry from Anna Arvidsdotter, and reflections on the themes of sleep and rest, On Standby brings an entirely new perspective to the energy our appliances quietly consume.

The music plays out over the same timescale — one minute of data takes one minute to play back. You'll hear a unique sound every time a different device consumes half a watt hour of energy. If an appliance consumes more energy, you'll hear it more often. Some appliances consume more or less energy at different times of night, so the tempo changes too.