Haroon Mirza: Aestival Infinato (Solar Symphony 11)

About

Mirza will temporarily attach a photovoltaic panel to an interior wall of the Skyspace which, when activated by direct sunlight, will use the sun’s energy to power an immersive audiovisual installation. The electricity generated by the sun will be perceived both visually via the illumination of the LEDs and acoustically through a connection to a loudspeaker.

As the amount of sunlight changes, fluctuating with both the time of day and weather conditions overhead, the intensity and patterns of the LEDs and audio output will adjust accordingly, creating a direct interaction between the environment and Mirza’s installation. This harmony between Aestival Infinato (Solar Symphony 11) and the environment extends from the ideas and language of land art, referencing a long history of human creativity in relation to the sun, of channeling its power, and giving it a shape and voice. Mirza often combines and layers the work of other artists with his own and has previously responded to works by Jean Tinguely, Alexander Calder and Anish Kapoor.
 
Mirza has won international acclaim for installations that test the interplay and friction between sound and light waves and electric current. He devises kinetic sculptures, performances and immersive installations, such as The National Apavillion of Then and Now (2011), an anechoic chamber with a circle of light that grows brighter in response to increasing drone, and completely dark when there is silence. An advocate of interference (in the sense of electro-acoustic or radio disruption), Mirza creates situations that purposefully cross wires. He describes his role as a composer, manipulating electricity, a live, invisible and volatile phenomenon, to make it dance to a different tune and calling on instruments as varied as household electronics, vinyl and turntables, LEDs, furniture, video footage and existing artworks to behave differently. Processes are left exposed and sounds occupy space in an unruly way, testing codes of conduct and charging the atmosphere. Mirza asks us to reconsider the perceptual distinctions between noise, sound and music, and draws into question the categorisation of cultural forms.