Exhibiting Poetry in Public Places Using a Network of Scattered QR Codes

Abstract

Our goal was to remove poetry from its usual setting, exhibit it in public places and let the unsuspecting citizen engage with it in a way that he is unaccustomed to. We thus came up with codepoetry, a poetry game in the city. A large number of QR barcodes, spray painted on walls around central Athens using a large metallic stencil, tempt passers-by into scanning them using a smartphone in order to reveal a random poem from a curated online collection to which participating modern Greek writers and members of the public have contributed. The experience is further enhanced by allowing visitors to leave comments underneath the verses. The public context in combination with the use of smartphones and the feeling of playful discovery, helps familiarize the audience with poetry and demystifies this form of expression.