Computer History Museum | Oral History of Auriea Harvey @ComputerHistory | Uploaded September 2023 | Updated October 2024, 15 hours ago.
Interviewed by Charlton McIlwain and Marc Weber on 2022-01-24 in Rome, Italy
© Computer History Museum
Auriea Harvey was raised by her mother, a punched card operator and jazz singer, who encouraged her and her three siblings to think about the world at large. She would take her kids to the airport and the Indianapolis Art Museum, for example, to expose them to international life and broaden their minds. Auriea went to computer camp at eight years old where she learned the BASIC programming language and got a Commodore VIC-20 the year it came out (1980). In spite of her earlier interest and abilities, when she turned 13, she lost interest in computers, thinking they were ‘for boys.’ She would later return to computers with a passion.
While always interested in art, she went to Chicago for a portfolio review day at the Art Institute and got favorable feedback from fashion critic and Parsons School of Design instructor Tim Gunn, who encouraged her to apply to Parsons. She did and was accepted, focusing on sculpture with Rona Pondic. Later, she met the man who would become her husband in 1999 and moved with him to Ghent, Belgium where they engaged in sculpture, web interactive art and video games. They started a website, Entropy8.com, from which to experiment and showcase their work and won the very first two Webby Awards. They continued to explore multimedia, but 3D using games as their medium, exploring themes of fantasy and mystery, often with people of color in lead roles.
* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102792808
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102792809
Acquisition Number: 2023.0009
Interviewed by Charlton McIlwain and Marc Weber on 2022-01-24 in Rome, Italy
© Computer History Museum
Auriea Harvey was raised by her mother, a punched card operator and jazz singer, who encouraged her and her three siblings to think about the world at large. She would take her kids to the airport and the Indianapolis Art Museum, for example, to expose them to international life and broaden their minds. Auriea went to computer camp at eight years old where she learned the BASIC programming language and got a Commodore VIC-20 the year it came out (1980). In spite of her earlier interest and abilities, when she turned 13, she lost interest in computers, thinking they were ‘for boys.’ She would later return to computers with a passion.
While always interested in art, she went to Chicago for a portfolio review day at the Art Institute and got favorable feedback from fashion critic and Parsons School of Design instructor Tim Gunn, who encouraged her to apply to Parsons. She did and was accepted, focusing on sculpture with Rona Pondic. Later, she met the man who would become her husband in 1999 and moved with him to Ghent, Belgium where they engaged in sculpture, web interactive art and video games. They started a website, Entropy8.com, from which to experiment and showcase their work and won the very first two Webby Awards. They continued to explore multimedia, but 3D using games as their medium, exploring themes of fantasy and mystery, often with people of color in lead roles.
* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102792808
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102792809
Acquisition Number: 2023.0009
