EXQUISITE CODES
The SHIM "Exquisite Codes" project began in 2020 as a response to the Covid pandemic lock-downs. Using the surrealist Exquisite Corpse concept of an interactive and absurdist parlor game applied to a time when actual human connectivity was at a nadir. The game allowed many artists to contribute to a single shared art object that was playful and unpredictable, but that could be produced remotely, "stitched together", shipped easily, and yet maintain a "corporeal presence" that contained the same auratic shadow of a typical art object.
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Bla-Bla Projektraum, Berlin
June 15, 2023
211 State Street, Bridgeport, CT
June 16, 2023
The model was simple. Any group of artists can be understood as a single entity, or body, and be uploaded into a digital space where each individual can be seen separately. This part, the code, is an essential part of the new version of this idea. The QR code placed near the object instantly lets the viewers into the digital space where the original art objects exist. This creates a simultaneous effect of binding the analog and digital into one coherent practice. Low cost, high value, near zero carbon footprint (printing of the codes, or corpses is done locally), no shipping costs, no customs.
Finally SHIM can now accelerate artists accessing the analog gallery space and their own Artsy data and sales archive; a near perfect way to travel art without all the attendant risks and costs, all the while building community among artists, and the global audience.
