Raymond Salvatore Harmon
(April 7, 1974) is an
American
cross-genre
media artist, painter, filmmaker, sound artist, and record
producer. His work in
new media and
experimental film touches aspects
of anthropological study, philosophic discourse, and contemporary
art. His preferred media extend from performance-based 16 mm
and 8 mm film to video circuit-bending and analog feedback
installations, as well as sound and visual conceptual installations
and guerrilla media actions.
Biography
Born in Jackson, Michigan in 1974 Raymond Salvatore Harmon has
lived widely throughout the US (New York - NY, Savannah - GA, Ann
Arbor, Louisville - KY, Eugene - OR, among many other locations).
Harmon currently resides in London, UK.
Over the course of the past ten years Harmon has been developing
and evolving the theoretical and practical applications of non
object oriented art. Utilizing new media, web based content and
interactive architecture in coordination with public performance,
graffiti style ad bombing, and web based social engineering
Harmon's work has carved out an over arching form of contemporary
media insurgency.
His work has been reviewed in numerous magazines/publications, most
recently in the LA Times, TimeOut London, Chicago Tribune, Flux
Magazine, Signal to Noise,
Wire Magazine,
New York
Times, Pop Matters, All About Jazz, Downbeat, Jazztimes, Point
of Departure, Foxy Digitalis, among others.
His work has been presented and screened at hundreds of festivals
and galleries throughout the world including -
The Museum of
Contemporary Art - Chicago, Unsound Festival - Krakow, Robert
Beck Memorial Cinema,
Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival,
Artist Television Access,
Chicago Underground Film Fest, Cement Media Festival,
Athens International Film Festival, RAW Tempel - Berlin, Axiom
Theater, Northwest Film Forum, Ann Arbor Film Festival, The Horse
Hospital, among others.
Harmon has produced highly acclaimed records from artists such as
Chicago Underground Trio, Andrew Bird, Jim Baker, Josh Abrams, Rob
Mazurek, Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre, as well as collaborated on
projects with
Alan Licht, Jeb Bishop,
Frank Rosaly, Keefe Jackson, David Grubbs, John Olson (Wolfeyes),
the Magik Markers, Spires that in the Sunset Rise, among
others.
As an experimental filmmaker his work is abstract, often
accompanied by his own electronic compositions as well as those of
his various collaborators. His recent works include spray paint
based painting, full scale immersive video and sound environments,
large format digital prints that are then hand manipulated and
painted on, and live video performances.
Harmon has performed improvised video with numerous musical groups
from a diverse background including Exploding Star Orchestra,
Rob Mazurek, Blood on the Wall, Diplo,
Wolf Parade,
Chicago
Underground Trio, Birth Refusal, Mandarin Movie, Dave Phillips,
HATI, Mikrokolektyw, Jason Forrest among others.
Many of Harmon's films contain layered subliminal content, the
source of this content is often derived from occult and mystical
texts. Utilizing texts such as the
Gates of Light (an early work of Hebraic
mysticism, kabbalah) and
Aleister
Crowley's
Book of
Lies, Harmon's occult based films work as advanced meditative
tools for use in occult rituals and the expansion of the conscious
mind.
Compared to experimental film maker
Stan
Brakhage and the painter
Mark
Rothko, Harmon's use of abstract imagery is more directly
influenced by the works of
Harry
Smith (both as a filmmaker and archivist) and
Nam June Paik. Much of the philosophical
discourse concerning the alchemical/mystical influences in Harmon's
occult filmworks (
YHVH, Tree of Knowledge/Tree of Life, Elementals)
mentions the works of 17th century English author
Thomas Vaughan and the
anonymous 13th century English mystical text "The
Cloud of Unknowing"
Timeline-
On September 21 2009 Harmon's video for
Thom
Yorke's "The Hollow Earth" was released. The film utilizes
images of the street artist
Banksy. The video
garnered heavy press attention (NME,
SPIN, Rolling Stone,
Pitchfork, etc) due to a press release stating
erroneously that it was an 'official' video. Youtube pulled the
video from distribution after 3 days (and 52,400 views) due to
copyright claims by Yorke.
On June 13, 2009 Harmon premiered a new cinematic occult ritual
"Liber Israfel" based on the work of the same name by
Aleister Crowley. He was accompanied by Rob
Mazurek in the role of
Israfel performing on
coronet.
In May 2009 Harmon premiered a new exhibition of his paintings at
Secret Project Robot Gallery in Williamsburg Brooklyn NYC title
"Dweller on the Threshold"
In 2009 Harmon created the
Equinox
Festival, a 3 day media arts fest dedicated to contemporary
spiritual discovery and mystical tradition. The festival took place
June 12-14 in London UK.
In January, 2009
PAJ published an
article by Harmon titled "On the Nature of Light: The Cinematic
Experience as Occult Ritual"
On November 11, 2008 Harmon premiered Hypnotic Brutality, a new
music performance film with the American noise band
Wolf Eyes, at the Copenhagen International
Documentary Film Festival.
In September, 2008 Harmon presented the first public performance of
his transcendental film Sigils of the Heptameron.
On March 7, 2008 Harmon presented a 3 channel video performance of
Aleister Crowleys Rites of Eleusis. This piece was reviewed in the
Fortean Times.
In November–December 2007 Harmon toured and lectured in Europe,
performing improvised video with Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star
Orchestra, and conceptualizing several new works to be unveiled in
2008.
In December 2007 Harmon was invited by Prof. Ryszard W.
Kluszczynski to lecture at the University of Lodz.
In April 2007 he celebrated the release of Chronicle, a feature
length music performance of the
Chicago Underground Trio. Which had
its theatrical premiere at the
Copenhagen International Documentary Film
Festival in November.
From October 2005 to October 2006 Harmon was the visiting Director
of the DANK German Cultural Center in Chicago. His programs were
featured in Timeout Chicago, Chicago Tribune, MetroMix, Chicago
Reader, WGN TV, among others.
In October 2003 Harmon was invited to lecture at the University of
Oregon and to present a new film piece commissioned for the
occasion "The Three Stigmata of Marshal McLuhan"
In April 2002 Harmon launched the
Betasound online record label. Whose free
online catalog contains works by artists such as
Luc Ferrari,
Derek
Bailey,
Noël Akchoté,
Mats Gustafsson,
David Grubbs, Frank Rosaly, Joe Daley Trio
among many others.
In February 2001 Harmon was invited to be a guest of the Cement
Media Festival in Eindhoven, Netherlands. He presented his large
scale video installation "Dreamlife of Sleeping Buildings" at the
Technical University of Eindhoven. This curated installation piece
included video works by Brian Frye, Kenneth Eisenstein, Eve Heller,
Sean Capone (Positron), Alexander Horn, Andrew Personnette, Suji,
and Randy Lee Sutherland.
Lectures-
- "On the Nature of Light: The Cinematic Experience as Occult
Ritual", Secret Project Robot Gallery, Brooklyn NY May 17,
2009
- "Painted in Light: Experimental Film and the Advent of
Improvised Cinema" , University of Lodz, Poland - December
2007 Goldsmiths University, London, UK - February 2008
- "Transcendental Cinema: Abstract Light and the Nature of
Visual Meditation" - New Nothing Cinema, San Francisco CA -
July 2007
- "An Empire of Signs Without Meaning: Marshall McLuhan and
the Media Revolution" - University of Oregon, Cultural Forum -
Eugene, OR - October 2003
- "Evolution vs. Revolution: Socio-communicative Developments
Inside the Art Paradigm" - Expressions School of New Media -
Oakland, CA - June 2002
- "Sublimate the Pretext: Delineation of Familiar
Architectural Roles in our Environment" - Cement Media
Festival - Eindhoven, Holland - February 2001
- "Implementing a Dialog: Proposal for Corporate Curatorial
Program of Media Art" - Royal Philips Laboratories, Eindhoven,
Holland - August 2000
- "Unpremeditated Appearance : Context and Content in Film
Presentation" - Around the Coyote Arts Festival - Chicago, IL
- May 2000
- "Deviational Iconography and the Blank Screen: A Search for
the Pure Image" - Carnagie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA -
May 1999
- "Cumulative Response: The Manifestation of Technology in
Public Art"- New School of Art, Marin, CA October 1998
- "Environmental Sound Design and the Virtual
Installation"- Jackson Community College, Jackson, MI -
November 1997
- "The Dynamics of Social Change: The De-evolution of Art in
America"- Olivet College, Olivet, MI - July 1993
Exhibitions/Installations (selected)-
Dweller on the Threshold
Secret Project Robot Gallery, Brooklyn NY, May/June 2009
Transcendental Territories
Inspire Fine Art, Chicago - April/May 2007
Isolated Instances
Heaven Gallery - Chicago - July 2004
Isolated Instances
Open End Gallery - Chicago - February 2004
Oneirographers Closet
(micro-installation exhibition) Feitico Gallery, Chicago, IL -
August 2001
Dreamlife of Sleeping Buildings (video installation) -
Technical University Eindhoven - Eindhoven, Holland - February
2001
Subliminal Scores for Improvisational Spaces -
Around the Coyote Festival, Chicago, IL - September 2000
Les Fantomes de Lumiere -
(film improvisation) Chicago Underground Film Festival - August
2000
Sprayed On In Light-
(interactive video performance) Outerpretation Media, Chicago, IL -
September 1997
24fps (frames per second) -
Gallery 114 - (exhibition) - New York, NY - November 1996
Filmography-
Curation -
Converging Histories: New Media works by Miroslaw Rogala and Rob
Mazurek
(05/10 - 06/04 2006 DANK Museum - Rough Space Gallery,
Chicago)
Conquer the Sky: The Life of Ferdinand von Zeppelin
(07/07 - 08/04 2006 DANK Museum - Sharpenberg Gallery,
Chicago)
Something's Out There - Harold Arts Residency (group show)
(09/25 - 10/10 2006 DANK Museum - Rough Space Gallery,
Chicago)
Alternate Currents: Images By, For, and About Music
(Empty Bottle, Chicago : August - December 2005
Rob Mazurek (August)
John Olson (September)
Guillermo Gregorio (October)
Carly Ptak (December)
Subliminal Subversion: Highlights from the 2003 Chicago Underground
Film Festival
(Select Media Festival - Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago Nov
2003)
Album Production -
Harmon has worked as a record producer for over ten years,
primarily for the
Delmark Records
label. Additionally Harmon is the director of the
Betasound internet
label.
Rob Mazurek Quintet - Sound Is
(Delmark 586) - 2009
Bog - The Philosopher's Stone (Bewhiched 289) - 2008
Chicago Underground Trio -
Chronicle (Delmark 578) - 2007
Jim Baker - More Questions than Answers (Delmark 562) - 2005
Kalaparusha and the Light - Morning Song
(Delmark 553) - 2004
Josh Abrams Quartet - Cipher (Delmark 547) - 2003
Subliminal 3 - Decidedly Against Going (Bewhiched 258) - 2002
Kevin O'Donnells Quality Six - Control Freak (Delmark 511) -
2000
Kevin O'Donnells Quality Six - Heretic Blues (Delmark 521) -
1999
Ein Sof - When We Tried We Failed (Bewhiched 201) - 1999
References
External links
Wikis
Map
Search