Artist uses smartphone to get around censorship for nudity

QR code Art

QR code Art

A photographer with a specialization in images of nude forms has discovered a way to use smartphone technology in order to avoid nude censorship of one of his pieces which is on display at Fredericton city hall.

The artist’s name is Jeff Crawford, and he received an invitation to display his art as a part of an artwork exhibit during the summer series for the Artists-in-Residence of the Fredericton Arts Alliance.

Crawford’s submission was a photograph which was entitled “Emersion”. It featured a woman lying in a stream in the nude with a breast that is visible to the viewer of the photograph. The image was displayed for one half a day before city officials removed it from the exhibit.

According to the city’s cultural development officer, Angela Watson, they had received complaints about the picture. She added that “And we have a few guidelines where we don’t display artwork that might be offensive to some age groups, some cultures.” For that reason, they felt that it was appropriate to remove the picture.

At that time, city officials requested that Crawford make a second submission of a different piece.

According to Crawford, what truly stood out in his memory about the request was that it asked “Do you have anything non-naked to display?” This made the artist very angry.

However, what followed was a creative new use for mobile technology in order to solve the struggles of both the artist and the city hall representatives.

A QR code was printed and enlarged and placed in the photograph’s original the location so that smartphone users could scan it. By using the barcode, the gallery’s visitors gained immediate access to an image of the photograph which had been banned from the exhibition.

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