This is my Barcode Marilyn Monroe portrait made with 1,944 barcodes. I used the UPC barcodes from DVDs of the 22 films in which the actress appeared. There is a video projector behind the print, so when a barcode is scanned, the projector highlights a precise column of barcodes. Each time a barcode is scanned, the video monitor plays a short clip from corresponding Marilyn Monroe films. Scan a barcode and Marilyn Monroe opens a door; scan another barcode and she closes a door. This looping technique links all of her films, seamlessly shifting from black and white to color. I offset the barcode tiles in the portrait to add a wiggle in the mosaic inspired by the paintings of Gerhard Richter. The visual pattern accents Monroe's curly hair and round checks, and is also used to reference her curvy body.
Date Created
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August 2003
Date Updated
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June 2011
Image Dimensions
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55 x 55 inches
(139.7 x 139.7 cm)
Pixel Dimensions
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23,540 x 23,540
Pixels Per Inch
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428 ppi
File Size
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123.8 Megabytes
File Format
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Photoshop
Barcodes Generated
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40
Total Barcodes
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1,944
Hardware
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MacPro G4 Tower
2 x 3 GHz Dual-Core Xeon
4 GB RAM
Software
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Mac OS 10.6
Adobe Photoshop CS4
Adobe Dreamweaver CS4
Microsoft Excel 11
Mozilla Firefox 3
