For A Dyson Sphere: Haroon Mirza

Artist Haroon Mirza was born in 1977 in London where he lives and works. He 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 and 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. He has been was awarded the Silver Lion of the Venice Biennale, the Zurich Art Prize, the Nam June Paik Art Center Prize, the Calder Art Prize, the COLLIDE International Award, among others.

Associate professor of visual culture at Montclair State University Charlotte Kent, PhD, has a particular interest in historical frameworks for art practices, with a research focus on contemporary digital culture and the absurd. She writes for assorted magazines and various academic journals. She is an Editor-at-Large for the Brooklyn Rail.