Contributing Artists - Harriet Brisson

For most of my life as a professional artist, I have been interested in geometric form as the basis for my work in art. This began when I was an undergraduate at the Rhode Island School of Design working toward a BFA degree and continued into my graduate studies towards a MFA at Ohio University. I retired from teaching ceramics and design at Rhode Island College in 1997. Since then I have been concentrating on sculpture.

In 1976 my late husband, David, and I exhibited our work in the "Virtual Realities" Exhibition at the Carpenter Center at Harvard University. This was the catalyst for our attempts to bring artists, scientists and mathematicians together to share and exchange ideas specifically of concern in both the Arts and Sciences.

Since then I have participated in many exhibitions, conferences and symposia dealing with the ways in which art and science may interact and ideas may be shared, while each discipline maintains its individuality.

I am committed to the idea of the collaboration of the arts and the sciences. Thus, I am truly gratified to be a participant in the High Performance Computing in the Arts (HiPArt) "Spirited Ruins" project.

Artist's Statement:

Water is beautiful. It is an essential element in our world. In its pure state it is a clear colorless liquid. Untouched, it is static and may be as smooth as glass and reflective like a mirror.

It flows with gravity, slowly, quietly or faster with great force, depending on the incline of the plane over which it moves.

Wind moves water in gentle ripples or as huge powerful waves that destroy everything in their path.

Water may be controlled by the environment and contained within natural boundaries - as while meandering slowly down a quiet river between meadows and trees. Or it may be a raging torrent in a stony mountain gorge producing plumes of white froth.

Water provides us with energy, transportation, recreation and aesthetic experiences.

Fountains contain and control moving water. They may function practically to purify water.

They have, as well, an aesthetic function.

Virtual Fountain provided by Nancy Moskin

Technical Description

Sensors detect the presence of a viewer in physical space and send an event to turn on both the real (fig 1) and virtual fountains (fig 2). A microphone in physical space picks up the sound of the burbling fountain and the audio is continuously sent along to VR. In VR space, an avatar's proximity turns on both real and virtual fountains.