Hacking the QR code for a sustainable future

In the last few years, the QR code has become a ubiquitous tool and the ultimate symbol of commercial transactions. It is instantaneous, mercantile, quantitative, digital and anonymous. It has become a normality in our lives and often it passes unnoticed. But for Argentinean visual artist Elisa Insua there was an opportunity in the mundane, a chance to shift expectations and to refocus on what is important.

As part of the Personal Structures exhibition, Elisa Insua presents ‘DNA of the Future II’. This work of art, currently displayed at Palazzo Mora in Venice, intends to hack the QR code and reformulate it into quite the opposite. It aims to invert the logic of the QR code as we know it  - commercial, impersonal, immediate, quantitative, abstract - and transform it into quite the opposite. And above it all, it functions as a bridge, a tunnel, that transports visitors to the possibility of creating a new sustainable model of economic development, the possibility of imagining a better future.

DNA of the Future II - Elisa Insua

Supporting Patagonia Azul

Amid current environmental crises that threaten all life on Earth, seeking long-term solutions becomes crucial. This search inspired Elisa Insua to create ‘DNA of the Future’, a QR code made out of single-use plastics that are a clear reflection of our society and shows where this culture of immediacy, accumulation and profit-seeking at all costs has brought us. In order to change course, Elisa Insua partnered with Rewilding Argentina, a non-profit created in 2010 working on strategies of conservation and remediation that benefit the fauna and flora, as part of her artwork for Personal Structures 2022.

Visitors can scan the QR code with their own devices and discover about the titanic marine conservation project led by Rewilding Argentina on the Patagonian coast of Chubut, Argentina. Working restlessly, this organisation is keeping coasts clean and free from waste, restoring marine ecosystems, creating protected areas to preserve species which are on the verge of extinction and building awareness in local communities.

As part of this effort, ‘DNA of the Future’ was made available for sale and all the proceeds of the auction went to supporting this conservation project by Rewilding Argentina in the Patagonian coast of Chubut.

 

You can visit Elisa Insua's artwork at Palazzo Mora until the 27th of November or discover her work by exploring the virtual tours online. Discover more about the artist on her profile online and on Instagram.

Hacking the QR code for a sustainable future

In the last few years, the QR code has become a ubiquitous tool and the ultimate symbol of commercial transactions. It is instantaneous, mercantile, quantitative, digital and anonymous. It has become a normality in our lives and often it passes unnoticed. But for Argentinean visual artist Elisa Insua there was an opportunity in the mundane, a chance to shift expectations and to refocus on what is important.

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