OU Art Student Receives International Attention
Tuesday, August 4, 2008This story was first published in The Oklahoma Daily on July 15, 2008. By Laura Hampton The Daily, Staff Writer
Riley Harmon, fine arts senior, has received international attention for his simulated blood-drenched sculpture, “What It Is Without the Hand That Wields It.”
The art project, created as an assignment for professor Adam Brown’s robotic art class, was featured in the June issue of Italian “Rolling Stone” and has been selected to appear in the highly competitive Artbots 2008 talent show in Dublin, Ireland.
Using acrylic glass, medical bags and custom electronics, Harmon created a mechanical device programmed to drop a small amount of fake blood onto a wall as players die in a video game. He connected the device to a game server and sent out a press release to invite players from around the world to play the video game, “Counter-Strike.”
Set up in the basement installation room of the School of Art and Art History in April, Harmon’s creation was intended to show a physical manifestation of virtual violence.
“The idea of the sculpture is to manifest physically into the world things that are just in your head,” Harmon said.
Harmon found inspiration in the life around him. At the time, some of his friends were talking about obtaining licenses to carry concealed weapons, and he had just seen the movie, “No Country for Old Men.”
“It made me think about violence,” he said. “It has become a mechanical function of the way we live.”
Harmon said his sculpture sent a message about violence in general and was not meant to be a commentary on the evils of video game violence.
“The violence of video games is nothing new,” he said. “[Violence] has been passed down throughout the ages and has become ingrained in us.”
To help finance his participation in Artbots 2008, Harmon received a 1,000-Euro honorarium, approximately $1,500.
The stipend will almost cover a plane ticket, living expenses for the week and the cost of shipping his work overseas, Harmon said.
“The school is helping too,” he said.
“What It Is Without the Hand That Wields It” also was displayed in an art show in Tulsa in June and is a semi-finalist for an Adobe Design Achievement Award.
While the attention has been a great experience, he admits it was the last thing on his mind when he enrolled at OU as a film major, Harmon said.
“I wasn’t sitting there as a freshman saying, ‘I want to make robotic art,’” he said.
Robotic art is one of the courses offered as part of an art program focusing in new media, Harmon said.
“It encompasses a whole lot of areas including robotics, sculpture, computers and web,” he said. “That’s been important to me; I’ve grown up playing in all of those areas.”
The 2008 Artbots: Robot Talent Show exhibition is scheduled for Sept. 19 through 21 at the Trinity College Science Gallery in Dublin.