MOMA Art Exhibit Turns 2d Codes into Art
QR codes, which are a type of barcodes that can call up multimedia on cell phones (see Around the World in 80 Days example to the right), are now embraced by the art world. The MOMA art exhibit ““Talk to Me: Design and the Communication Between People and Objects” aims to unleash (and critique) the world of interactive, ubiquitous communication into the art world:
Scan the label on Adi Marom’s robotic, height-adjusting footwear, for instance, and a video of the shoes in action will pop up on your phone, along with a link that allows you to read and enter comments on Twitter. (Viewers whose phones aren’t smart enough can access all this content on MoMA’s excellent Web site for the show.
I’m no Luddite, but I have mixed feelings about smartphone-assisted viewing. Exhibitions that come with hash tags and video links, in my experience, sacrifice one form of engagement for another.
It didn’t help that I happened to be reading Gary Shteyngart’s “Super Sad True Love Story,” a dystopian satirical novel that meshes almost too perfectly with the world envisioned by “Talk to Me.” In the book thoughtful conversations are almost obsolete and every face-to-face interaction is governed by a portable, Orwellian device — a descendant of the smartphone — called the “äppärät.”
Something close to that future can be glimpsed in a section of the show titled “I’m Talking to You,” which includes helmet-masks that replace facial expressions with emoticons and a “muttering hat” that channels your words directly to your own ears. (Alas, they’re for display only.)
For every one of these, though, there’s an object with practical and potentially life-changing applications. Consider the EyeWriter, inspired by a paralyzed graffiti artist, which transforms ocular movements into drawings. Or the Muslim prayer rug designed by Soner Ozenc that lights up when pointed toward Mecca.
Most of these innovations are grouped under the rubric “Life,” which also features edifying graphs and charts on things from household energy use to tooth brushing. The idea here is that behavior can be modified through clever data aggregation and display. Read the rest Art Review: Art That Interacts if You Interface (nytimes.com)
Related articles about “Talk to Me: Design and the Communication Between People and Objects”
- Talk to Me Exhibit Explores Symbiosis Between Man, Machines (wired.com)
- Talk to Me art show at MOMA (textually.org)
- Core77 Gallery: Talk to Me at the Museum of Modern Art (core77.com)
