Some trends have come and gone before I even got a chance to ignore them.

QR (Quick Response) codes can store a lot of information in a space not much bigger than a bar code. They were designed for tracking parts through factories and for attaching machine-readable labels to the finished products and on their packaging.

But then the techies got involved and started attaching QR codes to everything. "Point your smartphone here and read our special offer!" The pundits predicted a new form of communication based on QR codes. QR code consultants and marketing experts sprung up and there were even books on how to use QR codes to boost your business.

As the next greatest thing, QR codes for the masses never caught on. Somewhere, there's a warehouse full of old, unused QR codes. I just know it.

As a Techno-Impressionist artist, I believe that the real use for QR codes is in creating art. So I've taken some old QR codes that I found lying around the studio and created art from them. Our marketing department came up with the term "QaRt" codes. And some of the images take QR codes into the 3rd dimension.

Many of the examples that follow can actually be read on your smartphone. It's amazing how you can shmush up a QR code and still read the data.