Reexamining Interactive Technologies: Brent Richardson

Guest Author: Laura Reese, OVAC Intern

Brent Richardson, Mutual Concessions,
1941 radio, audio, coin receptacle, 42x17x17. 

Brent Richardson

Norman

What was your concepts and inspiration for these pieces?

Culture has embraced various intangible ways of life, such as: email, online banking, Facebook and videogames, just to name a few.  While these innovative technologies show promise for a more advanced future, with them come numerous negative effects on the simpler lives lived before our current digital age. The art I create aims to highlight the tension between the positive aspects of technology, and the inevitable problems also found within these same systems. 

Are these works interactive?

These works are interactive, and it is the interaction that activates the concept of both piece.

Brent Richardson, Information Wants to Be Free,
Computer program, Apple ii, arcade button, 40x17x16. 

What are the advantages of working media like this?

My favorite part about working with technology, especially interactive technology, is that each person assess the piece twice, once before the interaction and once after. The outcome creates an internal dialogue between the preconceived idea about the artwork and the informed view of the artwork. The real beauty is in the dialogue, because it places the viewer as a key ingredient in the concept. 

Where else can audiences see your artwork?

Currently I also have work in a show in Waco, TX at the Croft Gallery. The show is titled, The Art of Reading, and will be on display through the month of March. I also have a website, brentrich.com.


View, purchase and experience Oklahoma's emerging young artists' work at Momentum on March 9 & 10 in the Farmer's Public Market at 311 S. Klein Ave in Oklahoma City .