I have been slightly disappointed lately in my work. Not so much the quality of the pieces, but how they are (or are not) moving. I continually receive high praise from critics and gallery owners as well as viewers, but the work is simply not selling. This may be due to the poor economy or the fact that it's sculpture and people don't know what to do with it, or maybe it's just me. So I am diverging from my previous paths of MCM based work and trying something a little different.
I experimented with a combination of Sculpture and New Media earlier this year in an attempt to marry the two. Using bar codes attached to sculptures, I tried to create real world hyperlinks that people could interact with on their smart phones. Although largely unsuccessful, the idea was not without merit. It is this idea of bridging the "real" and "online" worlds that has led me to working with QR codes.
QR codes are simple matrix bar codes designed to be read vertically as well as horizontally. This allows a greater amount of information to be stored, like a full http website address. My goal is to not simply attach QR codes to sculptures but to make the sculptures QR codes themselves. These sculptures will be links to media content pertinent to either the location or the purchaser of the sculpture. Links can be anything from a personal or corporate website to links to new media video art or a simple text message. I'm trying to create these works in three dimensions so that they appear not only as flat, scanable, images from a single angle but as city-scapes or mineral forms viewed from many angles. In small form these sculptures can be hung on the wall (an area that allows for greater placement in homes for sculpture) or in large form, can become seating and gathering points for corporate buildings or apartment complexes.
I am hoping that this new work will be better accepted by audiences and the fact that it's almost exclusively customized to the owner might be more of an attraction for buyers.
