Harwood is best known for his collaborative work 'Rehearsal of Memory' (1995) produced with maximum security mental patients at Ashworth Hospital (permanent Collection Centre Pompidou et du Musée National d'Art Moderne) and as the founder of Mongrel an internationally recognised artists group specialising in digital media.

Before this Harwood and Stefan Szczelkun set up the 'Working Press' (books by and about working class artists) in 1987. During his involvement with the Working Press Harwood produced the UK's first computer generated graphic Novel in 1990 'If Comix Mental' (a Gulf war satire). He has taught in France the Netherland's and conducted workshop throughout the world however his main teaching was at Guildhall University (1989-1994 ) helping to establish the MA in computer graphics and animation.

Harwood then went on to work at Artec (The London Art and Technology centre) throughout 1995-1997 where he ran a ground breaking training scheme for the long term unemployed. It was during his time at Artec that Harwood founded the Mongrel group which has won numerous awards including the ICA London’s Imaginaria award and the Clarks Digital Bursary.

Mongrel also facilitated the National Heritage and Natural Selection projects which explored racialisation and the new eugenics. It is closely associated with the formation of social software and software art through its development of Linker, HeritageGold and BlackLash. Harwood received the first online commission from Tate Gallery London for 'Uncomfortable Proximity' for which he won the Leonardo New Horizons Award for Innovation in New Media.

Harwood and his long-term collaborator Yokokoji then spent the two years working in the Netherland’s with the Waag Society and Imagine IC constructing Nine(9), a collaborative engine for celebrating the lives of those locked out of the cultural mainstream. In 2005 Lungs (Slave labour) was exhibited at ZKM's 'Making Things Public' (Bruno Latour & Peter Weibel) and was subsequently acquired for ZKM's permanent collection at (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe).