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What It Is Without the Hand That Wields It

Violence is a mechanical function of the human brain, hard-coded down through time by culture, genetics, and evolution. Mediated experiences of killing change our perception of violence and death. When players kill each other in a live public video game server for Counter-strike, a popular online first person shooter, the electronics communicate to valves, discharging a portion of fake blood. The trails left down the wall create a physical manifestation of nebulous kills. Once purely cerebral experiences are transformed into tangible occurrences.

Riley Harmon is a ghost, a hy|brid of sorts, across multiple spheres of research, creative activity, and exploration with a primary focus in art, computer science, and psychology. His work has been internationally published, showcased, and broadcast through magazines, television, and the web. He is currently in the last year of completing his BFA in New Media Art @ the University of Oklahoma School of Art, after which he plans to persue a MFA of similar studies. As an artist, his work leads him forward, like a stream of consciousness, to new research, books, work, experiences, and ideas. He has worked in both commercial and non-commercial venues in a variety of fields, including: IT, Film, Television, SD & HD, Web Development, Sculpture, Visual Effects, and technology consulting/research.

http://www.rileyharmon.com

Acknowledgements: University of Oklahoma, School of Art - art.ou.edu, Adam Brown, www.isisconceptuallaboratory.com, Kent Sheely, Josh Southerland, Hannah Kokjohn

Photo courtesy Douglas Mason