A Dyson Sphere for Schumann Resonances (Solar Symphony 13)

Haroon Mirza is well-known for producing self-sustaining and independent works of art, utilizing electrical signals, sound, solar panels and complicated circuitry or exchange systems to produce dynamic audio-visual performances. Mirza’s A Dyson Sphere for Schumann Resonances (Solar Symphony 13) (2022) explores the possibility that one day mankind may be able to encircle a star with a swarm of solar panels in order to harvest its vast solar energy sources. Mirza investigates the fundamental notions of sustainability, viability and ecology for the existence of the human species.

The London-based artist’s piece for Noor Riyadh contains a plan to round the sun with an energy-capture system that originally appeared in Olaf Stapledon’s Starmaker, a little-known British science fiction book published in 1937. In 1960, English-American physicist Freeman Dyson popularized the theory and gave it its name. The space is inhabited by Mirza’s earthbound version of this hypothetical megastructure, which is centered on a blindingly dazzling tungsten light wrapped in photovoltaic panels. With each turn of the dazzling lights, Mirza illuminates this new technological dawn, and via a number of connections, the generated wattage spreads throughout the area, fueling the artist’s musical environment.