iPhone QR code wins an award

A painting that doubles as an iPhone QR code has been announced as the winning entry in the Bold Horizon National Contemporary Art Award 2011. The announcement was made at an awards ceremony at Waikato Museum on Friday, 5 August.

The entry titled Blue Poles is by New Zealand artist Andre Hemer, who currently resides in Sydney. As the winner, Mr Hemer receives $15,000 in prize money.
Award judge John Hurrell, who selected Mr Hemer’s entry from amongst 42 finalists’, praised the high standard of entries received. “This year there was an especially high standard of application and so, because of space limitations, some shaping was necessary to fit the available space,” he said.
“The winning work by Andre Hemer is a painting that doubles as an iPhone QR code, linking to a Google map showing where Jackson Pollock's famous Blue Poles (1952) is located in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. This American painting was purchased by the Whitlam Government in 1973 for $2 million. Possibly the most important twentieth century artwork in the Southern Hemisphere, Pollock's work is referenced by Hemer to speak of cultural capital and national status globally, and the aspirations of a New Zealand artist looking at it from afar.”