I’m not sure what it is about barcodes that fascinate me. Nearly every product that we purchase nowadays has one. There’s something robotically apocalyptic about them; they’re simple, black and white, numbers, vertical, parallel lines, nothing else. They represent encoded data, but for some people they’re more than that. I’ve seen people with barcode tattoos on the backs of their necks or on their arms, wrists, etc. Apparently, people get tattoos of barcodes because it’s a statement against becoming “products” of their material society. It’s supposed to be an ironic play on the uniqueness of our American culture (which tends to promote liking the same music, wearing the same style of clothes, etc.) Have these people caught onto something or is this just another rebellious trend for self-expression?
Yesterday, I walked by Dr. Schaberg’s office to see his office hours and I couldn’t help but notice the piece of paper taped to his door that has a barcode on it. Unless someone happens to have a portable scanner from a grocery store, I guess we'll never know what that particular barcode means to our professor (although it'd be interesting if the barcode on his door read something plain like “Melon” or “Pencils”).
I took that bar-code down yesterday because it was attached to my old office hours. It was lodged in a book that Routledge sent me, with its tacky side still protected by the unsticking paper cover, and so I just thought I'd put it on my door to see if anyone noticed it. I'm glad you did, Maria. I totally agree with your sentiment: "There’s something robotically apocalyptic about them; they’re simple, black and white, numbers, vertical, parallel lines, nothing else."
ReplyDeleteSome believe barcode tattoos to be a sign of the apocalypse speculated about in the Christian Bible which states people will "receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark of the beast". I personally do not agree with the mythological connection, but imagined what the sinister mark might look like. I make Temporary Barcode Tattoos for fun. FREE BARCODE TATTOO! offer on my website: http://www.barcodeart.com/barcode_tattoos.html
ReplyDeleteAccording to the all-knowing Wikipedia, The Bar Code Tattoo is an award winning young adult book about the government forcing people to get barcode tattoos at a certain age. Little do they know that the tattoos also store all sorts of information, leading the company that creates them to be able to take over the world. Kayla Reed, teenage insurgent, decides to form a community and fight the masses.
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty apocalyptic.
Schaberg is owned by the man, great. You were the last one left too.
ReplyDeleteBarcodes serve a great purpose: they label. It is simpler for humans to label an object than it is for a human to label another human. Such as is the case in race which biologically doesn't exist but culturally does. Suppose for example that Loyola began to label people by these categories: Gucci Mane fan, liberal intellectual, Bush-folk, and frequent Wal-Mart shopper. Some people would embrace their categories, while others, deservedly so, would be pissed. If a person is placed in a group above others they think everything is fine (even though probably just for them), but the underprivileged group is forced to suffer. If humans one day all have to wear the same barcodes that might not be so much of problem, but when special ones are made for special people, be careful.
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