In the psychedelic south-east corner of the Glastonbury festival site a rocket has been built to carry Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos on a one-way journey to Mars.
The construction is not a hallucinatory vision but an installation designed by the political campaign group Led By Donkeys in collaboration with Block9, an area of Worthy Farm known for its immersive stage designs and diverse music genres.
“Send them to Mars … while we party on Earth,” reads the giant billboard, with Musk dressed in an orange astronaut-could-be-prison inmate jumpsuit positioned in the circular window of the rocket.
The billionaire’s hand is thrown skyward, recreating a gesture he made at a rally celebrating US president Donald Trump’s second inauguration, which appeared to be in the manner of a fascist-style salute.
Fellow billionaires Zuckerberg and Bezos, followed by Trump and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are seen queueing to board the rocket.
Next to the rocket installation is a Tesla with the licence plate “fascism” recently crushed by the 98-year-old second world war veteran Ken Turner in a tank; a giant shipping container adorned with the Block9 logo is now placed upon the decimated electric vehicle.
A Block9 and Led By Donkeys shipping container crushes a Tesla. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian
Speaking to the Guardian, the Led By Donkeys collective – Ben Stewart, James Sadri, Oliver Knowles and Will Rose – explained the thinking behind their latest work: “Elon Musk and the tech bros say they want humans to become an interplanetary species. They say the great priority of humanity should be to colonise Mars. That’s not just mad, it’s dangerous.
“It encourages the notion that Earth is temporary and expendable, that we don’t need to cherish and protect it because we can just move on. In reality Earth is the only place where humanity can thrive. The problem is, we’re trashing it.
“If Musk and Bezos really want to live on Mars, fine, go for it, do it. Just don’t expect the rest of us to come with you. That’s why we’ve built a rocket at Glastonbury so we can send them to Mars while we party on Earth.”
Gideon Berger and Stephen Gallagher, the duo behind Block9, said: “Led By Donkeys are national heroes. They consistently call out bullshit on behalf of the people of the UK. Their activism sits perfectly alongside Block9’s own values and we are delighted to work with them on this collab.
“Seeing as the tech bros are so keen on Mars, it seems only fair to help them get there. Our installation captures the moment when we wave off our least favourite public figures to a far and distant red planet. Goodbye for ever, Elon.”
Led By Donkeys explained why they chose the festival for their latest installation. “Glastonbury is a pretty special place,” they said. “It has enormous cultural heft. Even if you’ve never been, you probably have a Glastonbury moment you remember. It’s a place where artists feel free to come and say something and despite what some commentators would have us all believe, it still has a radical edge.”
A series of mugshot-style images of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg complete the work, each clutching a placard.
Led By Donkeys started by flyposting over billboards and posting its work on social media. Photograph: Phil Fisk/The Observer
This year’s Glastonbury festival, renowned for its activism, is expected to be politically charged against the fraught geopolitical backdrop.
The Irish-language rap trio Kneecap have drawn controversy over alleged statements they made concerning Gaza. One of the members has been charged with a terror offence and senior politicians, including Starmer, have said they should not be performing at the festival.
“The right gets terribly exercised about what it calls ‘cancel culture’ but the single most policed and punished area of commentary is around Palestine,” Led By Donkeys said. “Kudos to Glastonbury for not canning the Kneecap slot despite huge pressure, including from the prime minister. Starmer’s got a country to run, yet there he is telling us all who should and shouldn’t be allowed to play the West Holts stage. It’s nuts.”
Led By Donkeys started by flyposting over billboards and posting its work on social media. Within weeks, it had raised hundreds of thousands of pounds from donations, and became more ambitious in its messaging. Among its most well-known action was the lowering of a remote-controlled banner reading: “I crashed the economy” behind Liz Truss in the middle of an onstage talk voicing her support for Trump’s re-election, prompting the short-lived former PM to leave.