An iconic symbol of global commerce—and the good and bad that comes with consumerism—the UPC has captured the imagination of artists, designers and architects around the world, and has become a source of inspiration for art in myriad forms, from fashion to facades, from literature to graffiti. Below are just a few examples of the UPC’s appearance in art and culture.
The art of UPC
Shtrikh Kod, St. Petersburg
Russian architecture firm Vitruvius and Sons designed this building, which was erected in 2007. The building, called Shtrikh Kod (Russian for “bar code”) is a multifunctional trade complex located on Narodnaya Street, near the Volodarsky Bridge in St. Petersburg.
Image courtesy of Anton Chmelev
Banksy bar code art
Though there is no proof of its origin, many believe that famed British graffiti artist Banksy is responsible for this piece of UPC-inspired art in Barcelona, Spain, featuring a regal tiger’s escape.
Mad Magazine cover
Not everybody was happy with the prospect of the UPC. The popular satirical publication Mad Magazine dedicated the entire cover of issue #198, originally published in 1978, to a giant UPC bar code, with the subversive caption, “…hopes this issue jams every computer in the country … for forcing us to deface our covers with this yecchy UPC symbol from now on.” Throughout the next two years, subsequent issues featured humorous descriptive captions for the smaller symbol, including “Hair of man watching horror movie" and "Close-up of the gap in Alfred E. Neuman's teeth.”
Courtesy of MAD Magazine
Japanese UPC art
For years in Japan, retailers have been creating whimsical art using fully functional bar codes. Thought to give the consumer a small sense of surprise and delight, package designers have stretched the limits of their imagination to design UPCs that marry form with function.
Courtesy of Barcode Revolution
Scott Blake, UPC portrait artist
Portrait artist Scott Blake creates portraits using actual functional UPCs from products that have a thematic tie to the portrait’s subject. To date, he has created more than 30 portraits, including this one of Andy Warhol, featuring 940 UPCs from Campbell's soup cans.
Courtesy of Scott Blake @ BarcodeArt.com