QR Codes. They’re still everywhere.

A quick Google search on the technology reveals that many writers in the webosphere consider QR Codes passé. For certain, there has been a rise and then sharp decline in the use of QR Codes in consumer advertising. But the codes haven’t disappeared altogether – and they’re not exclusive to marketing.

Enter contemporary artist Guillermo Bert.

Two years ago, Bert noted a resemblance between QR Codes and Native American blanket tapestry designs. In addition to the textile similarities, the objects also shared a related function: identification. Inspired, Bert created “Encoded Textiles, ” a project that preserves stories and poems told by Chile’s Mapuche people through barcode technology.

Photo credit: Jeannette Paillan, a Mapuche documentary filmmaker, was the inspiration for this 2012 textile, titled Lukutuwe (Fertility). Scanning the QR code embedded in the tapestry reveals a quotation from Paillan, in Spanish, about the importance of sustaining the Mapuche language. (Ronald Dunlap)

In 2012, Bert extended his project into academia, partnering with Arizona State University to develop “Encoded Textiles Arizona.” ASU’s Project Humanities embraced the idea, and since has worked to engage university students, faculty, and Arizona’s Navajo people in the process. ASU students interview the Navajo people about their lives and their culture, encouraging them to tell their stories in their native language. The recorded interviews are translated into barcodes and QR coded. The codes can then be scanned by Smartphones, which translate the codes back into augmented realities. Bert then fuses both culture and technology together by weaving these codes into tapestries that are displayed in art exhibits.

In what ways do everyday technology observations inspire your instruction, research and/or projects?

For more information about the project, visit:
http://humanities.asu.edu/encoded-textiles-project.

For instructional QR Code activities, visit:
www.edutopia.org/blog/QR-codes-teaching-andrew-miller

View the Coded Stories trailer:

References:

“Encoded Textiles Project.” Encoded Textile Projects. Project Humanities, n.d. Web. <http://humanities.asu.edu/encoded-textiles-project>.

“HOME « Coded Stories.” Coded Stories. Okapi Films, 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://codedstories.com/>.

Sandford, Maggie Ryan. “What’s a QR Code Doing on That Blanket?” Ideas & Innovation | Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian Magazine, July-Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ideas-innovations/Whats-a-QR-Code-Doing-on-That-Blanket-213870861.html>.