The world of art continues to embrace mobile technology and, more specifically, QR codes. The codes are featured in a growing number of art galleries all over the world along with works from artists. They are most often used to provide information regarding a piece of art and its creator. However, the Artform Gallery in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is taking a new approach to QR codes.
The Artform Gallery is home to several enticing exhibits, each displaying a wide array of art from a number of mediums. QR codes have been making an appearance at several of the exhibitions in previous months, but a new exhibit takes their presence to a new level. The exhibit, called “Through the Looking Glass Project,” replaces traditional paintings with QR codes. Artist and Co-owner of the Artform Gallery, Seth Leibowitz, says that the codes present art in a more dynamic way than ever before.
Scanning the codes adorning the walls of the gallery will link visitors to a mobile website where they can see works of art from artists participating in the project. Juliette Bennett, one such artist, says that the codes represent the very nature of art.
“It’s evolving, new ideas, and if we didn’t have that, there would be no art,” she says. “It sheds a new light on how we can view art.”
Gallery director Sam Thorp believes that by using QR codes artists will be able to reach a wider audience. The codes are unlikely to replace traditional exhibitions, however, as “nothing replaces actually seeing the work in person.”
