Update or Die

Tá rolando na web uma verdadeira maratona para decifrar os inúmeros qr codes que aparecem no clipe “Integral” do Pet Shop Boys. São muitos mesmo, perto de duzentos mais de uma centena, e todos (até agora pelo que vi) levam a sites e blogs que ajudam a discutir a bola levantada pelo clipe sobre privacidade e liberdade na era dos panópticos. Pra quem ainda não está ligado, os qr codes são “imagens” geradas por um software que codificam uma mensagem e são lidas pela câmera de um celular, como se fosse um leitor de código de barras. Além disso, um site chamado “PetHeads” foi desenvolvido para que você possa “criar” seu próprio clipe a partir de frames em pdf e compartilhar no Youtube com a comunidade. Abaixo, o clipe no Youtube. Se preferir em maior qualidade, tem aqui no site dos artistas. Se quiser se juntar ao grupo, a cada mensagem decodificada um comment.

UPDATE: o blog colmeia tem uma lista com mais de cinquenta “decodificações”.

No site do projeto, ainda existe uma entrevista com a dupla que compõe o P-S-B, bem como dados sobre o vídeo. Segue abaixo na íntegra. Update or Die.

“About Integral:

Neil: The idea is that it’s sung from the point of view of the authoritarian New Labour-style government. “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to fear” is always used as a justification for ID cards. What we object to about ID cards is that they’re intelligent cards with a data strip that can link to a central database containing personal information which may be shared with America; when you say you don’t want that, they always say that if you’ve done nothing wrong you’ve got nothing to hide. But I think we all have a right to privacy. I feel it’s a move that suggests we have to justify ourselves to the state before the state will trust us, and I think it’s for us to trust the state and not the other way round. I think the government has to win our trust, not us win their trust. We put the lyrics on the website earlier this year when there was a fuss brewing about ID cards, and Chris had phoned me up to say that some junior minister had used the word “integral” in defending it. There was a big article in the Evening Standard about the song. But the song has got a wicked kind of humour as well. It’s meant to be someone giving a speech really, madly justifying all of this, with a lot of energy behind.

Chris: It’s quite authoritarian, the music.

Neil: Yes, it’s quite Stalinist, I think, and the music really reflects that. It’s really catchy, though.

Integral, the video:

The video sets out to amplify the message of the song.
The piece was conceived and created by The Rumpus Room as a multi platform project, having versions of the film for small hand held devices as well as large resolution screens. It is both a traditional piece of film and an interactive portal to online information and campaigns.

The video has over 100 QR Codes that are subliminal when watched in real time, but accessible to interact with if you navigate through the film using time controllers. The QR Codes are organised into sections that relate to specific issues of civil liberties.”