The Colonial Gaze via QR Codes

click here to make the link if you
 do not have a SMARTphone to hand 

Dr David Hansen [1] wrote to us saying “I found a desk note when I had an idle 10 mins., and offer the following as a possible start for a review of images of the place Tasmania”.

We did ask David to think about it and we followed his advice. First up we ‘GOOGLED’ the 30 images he suggested. 

The thing is that all the images are by-and-large available in the public domain and on the Internet – and in a variety of contexts. 

Yet seven IMAGEsearches led to a DEADend. However, some of the DEADends are in the process of being ‘unblocked’.

Interestingly, the GOOGLEsurf – arguably almost any  such search – alerts the ‘surfer’ to all kinds of subtexts and interpretations – sometimes contentious imaginings. In turn the surfing often provides a new – or at the very least other – layering’s of cultural insights and other information. 

But does one follow that idea to somewhere interesting? If one were to take the conventionally 'ethical' course we'd still be looking for permission to publish.

However, enter stage left the now somewhat ubiquitous QRcode (Quick Response Code) which offered us, it seems, an opportunity to share the surfing. Which in turn, also allows our co-surfers to draw their own conclusions, make their own observation and imagine their own stories.  Enjoy the CYBERjourney back and forth through time!