(U-WIRE) NORMAN, Okla. – Every cup of sugar loaded with coffee Riley Harmon purchases comes with a sense of self consciousness, a confirmation of his own existence and most importantly for his 2.5 million followers: a receipt.
Since August, Harmon, a junior at the University of Oklahoma, has been saving every receipt, complete with notes of commentary, and posting them on a blog entitled “proof of purchase: hopes, dreams, fears and a visa check card.”
“I realized that most people are voyeurs, and we all like to look into each other’s lives,” Harmon said. “In some ways, it was kind of an experiment because I was putting them online to kind of get raw feedback from people. It was about exhibition and putting yourself out there.”
Planning to finish out the year in receipts, the project is both for Harmon and for his audience. He sees it as a means of establishing his existence, each receipt proof he was in the moment, and each note left on the receipt a record of his thoughts, perceptions or the situations occurring in his life.
“I put it on the Internet so I could say, I was here, and I did this,” Harmon said. “I had a bill so I must have been there. I think somebody wrote, ‘I have a bill, therefore I am.'”
But, it’s for his readers as well.
“A lot of times, I’ll get a receipt, and as soon as I get it, I become conscious of what I’m going to write on it,” Harmon said. “If we’re becoming more conscious people just by taking a look at what we bought or what it meant to us, that’s always a good thing. It becomes an instigator for introspection. By me becoming introspective, they’re becoming introspective.”
The comments range from emo, to thoughtful, to sarcastic, to neutral descriptions. On a Crossroads receipt for a bowl of soup, Harmon recorded how as he and a friend sat complaining about girls, three girls across from them sat complaining about guys. On a hair salon receipt he explained the buzz cut, how it leaves him stripped of personality.
The blog is a means of expression, a creative journal that leaves Harmon’s readers hooked. But it’s not just the creativity behind the idea that draws in his audience, it’s the psychological connection.
“Riley’s a very introspective fellow.He’s very curious about his self and his actions, he’s very aware of his own place in the universe,” Mike Hilerby, assistant at the school of art and art history. “I thought it was a very good opportunity for him to explore his own awareness.”
Hilerby also said there is no question his audience gets something out of Harmon’s blog. When he first started his postings, people from all over the world commented on them.
“Psychology is Riley’s conceptual base, the current brain roots of his art making,” Heidi Mau, former art professor and mentor, said. “It is important to Riley that his art mean something and have some purpose. It is important for him to have a connection, in some way, to his audience.”
This connection has led to interesting results, and in some cases, unforeseen difficulties. In addition to his parents reading it every day, which Harmon admits is kind of strange, he reads his posts as well.
“I’ve always wanted to be as truthful and straightforward as possible, and express myself without a fear of anything, and that’s caused problems with relationships or friendships,” he said. “I had one girl that I took on a date once, and I wrote on the receipt afterwards.”
Harmon said the girl found the receipt and enjoyed the idea of being his muse. He said he thought it was strange and funny at the same time.
In a project that requires constant introspection, self-censorship isn’t the only problem Harmon has run into.
“It’s not time consuming, it’s just psychologically exhausting,” he said. “I have to constantly think what that particular receipt means and think what to write. I’ve got two and a half million people reading it, and what does that do to you? They’re consuming me and my life as much as I’m consuming whatever product or service I’m buying.”
Harmon’s documentation of his consumption has attracted attention outside of his faithful readers. He’s been offered a publishing deal, and his receipts were recently displayed at the exhibit Momentum: Art Doesn’t Stand Still located in Oklahoma City.
“Every time I see them on the wall, it’s really depressing,” Harmon said. “It’s not that much wall space when you get down to it. You think, that’s six months of my life, and it’s not very much.”
For him, looking back at those six months in receipts is the most interesting part. He said you start to see patterns and habits in what he’s spending and even what he’s writing about.
“There are stories and situations that progress over several receipts and there are thoughts that occur in lots of them,” Harmon said. “It’s really interesting to see what stays and what doesn’t. It really is an evolution process.”