QR codes have infiltrated society and are now, to my dissatisfaction, making their appearance in art museums around the world. At first QR codes seemed very practical to me, an easy way to guide the consumer to the right website. My first bit of dissatisfaction came when restaurants started subbing out paper menus for QR codes. Suddenly I realized how distracting QR codes are to their real-life, often paper, counterparts. Instead of putting my phone away to connect with the people I am sharing a meal with, I now have to bring my phone out to even access the meal. In many ways these QR codes distract us and make it more difficult to connect with our real-life surroundings. I will therefore argue that the QR codes in an art museum does that exact same thing, and thereby hinders the viewer from the aesthetic experience of the art museum.
A hot take is that I am actually really excited to put my phone away for the afternoon when I take the time to visit an art museum. Today our phones make us constantly accessible at all times in all places. Getting to disconnect and be present is a big part of the art experience for me. But now I find myself constantly having to grab my phone to get the full experience, and every time I bring out my phone there is another risk of being sucked back into the digital world. It is hard to resist. This whole generation’s addiction to screens is definitely a bigger problem, and I don’t have the solution, but I will argue that making phones a necessary prop in places where it is not needed, such as the art museum, is only adding to the problem.
The QR code is not just distracting but also disrupting the aesthetic experience.
The QR code is a way to provide more information for the eager viewer, and this constant need to always learn more about the artwork is not new, it is just in a new form; the QR code. The constant need to overanalyze and fill the artworks with deep meaning is a trend from before mobile phones, and it is in itself distracting. It is like visiting a museum to see and experience the beautiful art and then using most of the time reading labels about the art instead of viewing it. It is being fed the deep meaningful hidden message instead of interacting with the artwork itself. The QR codes are not themselves the center of the problem but they are adding a new aspect which makes the distance between the visitor and artwork even further. They minimize the aesthetic bodily experience of the artwork that happens in the meeting between the viewer and the art. Art museums today prioritize and set up these experiences in different ways. Balancing the aesthetic experience with surrounding information is always difficult, and the main aim when curating an exhibition is to refer back to the artwork and not distract from it. Curator Anne Grethe Uldall describes her considerations when writing texts accompanying artworks in exhibitions. She highlights how important it is to keep it short and present only one central point to make sure the reader turns back to the artwork as quickly as possible. Some art historians would even argue that there should not be a label text, and only artwork should take up space; everything surrounding should be minimized as much as possible.
This is the reason for the trend of white-cube art museums and galleries, especially popular with the abstract art of the fifties. That is a more extreme way. But the essence of this way of thinking is central in setting up an aesthetic experience. Anything that makes you want to look away from the artwork is disturbing that bodily aesthetic experience. It requires one’s full attention. I will therefore argue that inviting the viewer to take out their phone is distancing the viewer, mentally, from the artworks more than ever before. Therefore we should absolutely consider removing QR codes from art museums.
Sources
Sontag, Susan. “Against Interpretation.” In Against Interpretation and other essays. Picador, 1996. Uldall, Anne Grethe. “Strategier for udstillingstekster.” Passepartout, nr. 18, 9. year. 2001.
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