QUICK RESPONSE
iPhone or a similar device connects it to the web, where the artist’s initial thoughts and emotions towards the surrounding area are held. The work is deliberately esoteric: there are no maps to find the small square codes quietly dotted on lampposts, street signs and fences around the cities. There are no accompanying instructions. Carlile’s work is designed for an audience as curious as himself, and the information unlocked by the codes is a reward for the viewer’s fastidiousness.
Carlile’s background in graphic design is evident within the work. Each piece of text is subjected to a meticulous thought process before Carlile selects an appropriate typography. For instance, one code, reading ‘Rough Estate’, is spelled out in speared letters that hint at the threatening nature of the virtual content, while simultaneously arousing suspicion in the viewer towards the surrounding space. ‘I carefully analysed every typeface I had accumulated in my sketchbooks,’ explains Carlile. ‘My objective was to assign a typeface to every emotion in my written observations,
the codes are placed further emphasises this idea, drawing attention to the mass of information we digest in a single moment. The complexity behind the codes – both in their production and their intricately crafted and categorised typefaces – dramatically contrasts with the passive nature of Carlile’s journeys around the city, which he embarked upon without time-keeping devices and which were led solely by intuition. Yet it is the question of whether it is possible to intimately engage with landscape in a modern, urban environment that truly resonates.
So far Carlile has left 40 active codes across Edinburgh and the artist is set to widen his explorations to the Glasgow area. It is fitting that this constantly expanding public art project has maintained the free spirit of Carlile’s initial walks and is hitherto without a clear destination or end.
‘MY OBJECTIVE WAS TO ASSIGN A TYPEFACE
TO EVERY EMOTION’
developing an interest in conveying feeling with the subtlest use of form and as little information as possible.’ The sheer volume of communication that permeates the urban environment within which
To read Thomas Carlile’s quick response codes on your mobile phone, download the BeeTagg Reader Pro app at www.beetagg.com, the App Store for iPhone or from www.thomascarlile.co.uk
12–19 Aug 2010 THE LIST 105