Haroon Mirza, Illuminated Amanita Harvest (Solar Cell Circuit Composition 22), 2023

2023

Medium

Solar cells, polyurethane resin, copper tape, electrical wire, magnet wire, LED tape, miniature painting by Brishna Amin Khan, cables on glass, and anodized aluminum

Dimensions

146.8 × 146.8 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-155884

Haroon Mirza's "Solar Cell Circuit Compositions" are composed of solar cells and copper strips to form a geometric mandala with a miniature painting integrated in the center. Mirza cooperated with the miniaturist Brishna Amin Khan from Lahore in Pakistan, who translates Mirza's descriptions of various scenes into traditional miniature paintings. An LED strip is inserted above the painting, which is linked to the solar cells via the energy circuit of the copper strips, which in turn influence the intensity of the LEDs depending on the ambient light. Mirza works on the glass surface with semi-transparent foils and polyurethane resin, giving a water-like apparence. In this series of works, Mirza combines traditional painting and mandalas as meditation objects with technoid elements, and through the alienation creates a contemporary transformation that links to phenomena embedded in myth and shamanistic rituals and brings together references between technology, nature and consciousness. In "lluminated Amanita Harvest" (2023) the light of the LEDs seems to illuminate the scenery like a halo, in which a person picks fly amanita growing on trees. The image is related as a storyboard to the video work "The Ancients call it Ataraxia" (2023), in which, in preparation for a shamanistic tea ceremony in nature, the mushrooms are gathered for a mind-expanding experience.