Project Megapixels

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:53 am

I had an artistic revelation a couple of weeks ago.

Very recently links have been posted to the zoomable image of Black Rock City. And I thought this was cool since it was the 05 event and the last one I had seen was pre-03. Then today _thegypsy posted the link in her journal again and mentioned finding her tent. This led into a 5 minute conversation between us during which I realized what I want to do next year (this in spite of the fact that I swore I would not do big art again).

So here it is...

Using 1 meter square single color fabric swatches, create a 100 meter by 100 meter image that is only visible from a plane or space. Imagine working on the first piece of art specifically designed to be photographed from space!

None of this is set in stone. I may not even do it if I can't get enough participation.

Here are some of my thoughts that I've brainstormed or just had appear in my head late at night:

Putting the pieces on the ground to cut down on wind related issues. - Problem is that this will require something like 40,000 spikes.
Make the whole thing a huge shade structure so that it can only be seen from above in total - wind is a huge problem here as is internal support.
In order to reduce on site complexity have sections pre-sewn into 5m x 5m squares
If gathered together in one place the material would occupy 10 cubic meters
Need to see if they will take this photo again in 06.
Get help creating a web site where people can sign up for a piece of the picture. Must produce a clickable grid showing which pieces are already spoken for. Take their contact info, verify email, email them the colors they sign up for.
Raise the bar on community involvement by only providing 'infrastructure and organization' Each participant will supply their 'pixel'. This could involve 1/3rd of the population of BRC, but probably much less. Even 500 participants reduces the total number of pieces per person to 20.
Infrastructure will consist of: perimeter fence and lighting, 400 stakes and 22,000 meters of twine to lay out grid, industrial staplers and 100,000 staples.
Pixels will be stapled to the grid. Each participant will bring a piece 44 inches square which is a standard width for material and will leave enough spare for folding over the twine grid.
Organization will consist of the above stated web site, binders to hold the information for on playa use. Each page will show a 10x10 grid with pertinent info in the square.
Contact someone with a plane to take daily progress photos.
Overbook pixels. Can always use extra pixels to replace those that might blow away or not actually make it to the playa.
Plan to burn this, so material should be cotton.
Cut into sections for easy transport to public burn platforms
Line walk area after removal and drag a roller magnet to pick up loose staples.

The example photo below shows two 100x100 icons on the playa. I've estimated the correct size of the playa image based on the MAPS dome which is 60 feet across and is about 20 pixels across in this image. Neither of the icons shown are likely to be the one actually used at the event. I'll be taking suggestions and considering something that fits the theme.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:54 am

I like this sputnik! I have seen this type of thing at football games they put a card on the seat and at half time the are told to hold up the card to make a picture. count me in I really want to help on this one. my art is so small next to some of the art performances out there. with this I could be part of the biggest one. yes I want to be apart of this.
hope the picture split into tiles helps. Maybe thin plywood (or somthing like that) painted and nailed down 2" off the ground so people can't walk on it. and helps keep it down for the wind. paint on the tile like on the picture and number them. Yes very very good! I like this!

regionalchaos · Post by **regionalchaos** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:56 am

Count me in for a tile or ten.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:01 am

Cool. When I have a web site up I'll drop a note here. I need to figure out just how to do that (or find someone who knows how to make it happen). I'd really like to have a clickable image that let's people pick the piece they want and then show it as taken. I think it might also be interesting to not reveal the image beforehand.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:07 am

great if you give me a pic I can split in to tiles. We can do sections with numbered tiles. You need to pick colors that everyone can get. YES! I really love this sput!

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:13 am

Thanks Mozy. Yeah. I'm thinking that participants will be emailed a color sample that they can print (everyone has a color printer, right)

and take with them to the store.

Image choice will be tough.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:24 am

I think keep it simple maybe only four colors. color can differ between printers. maybe one type of paint or use a color wheel to keep control on the color.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:49 am

Exact color match probably won't matter at this resolution as long as they're close.

My friend Gypsy has suggested line art. It does have the advantage of using fewer pixels for a given image. All lines can be black or some other dark color like blue. The playa would be the background.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:51 am

I just heard back from Space Imaging. They said:

At this point we don't have any specific plans to image the burning man
festival. We may decide to collect it when we get closer to the event
for PR purposes. To guarantee a collection, you could always place an
order with us to task the satellite. The cost would be roughly $2,000.

I guess I could write that into the grant proposal.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:04 am

yes! I think this is going to work! you know they will take some pics, you just don't get this in the defalt world how can you pass it up.

I bow to your brilliance. this helps with my gifting I was thinking of a clay charm on a string but was not sure what the put on it. NOW I KNOW!!! yea!!!

CagedKitty · Post by **CagedKitty** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:18 am

With line art you're still going to need the "white" pixels for spacing, and who's going to want to bring the white ones? I say full color! And I'm in. I don't think I can fit plywood in my car though. So lets do fabric.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:22 am

Excellent Kitty! Yeah, 10,000 sq yards/meters of plywood is just out of the question.

You don't think the playa would be a good enough contrast for line art? No, it wouldn't be white, but it would still be a contrast.

CagedKitty · Post by **CagedKitty** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:26 am

It would be good contrast, but how do you space the lines without having squares in the middle? I guess measuring. And painting playa color on the squares to smooth out the lines.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:33 am

It just means putting a grid down and noting which spaces have pixels and which don't. No different really, except you have less work to do when it comes to putting out the pixels because there are fewer. The image could even be significantly larger and large blank areas could be bypassed (ie not gridded).

eta: like Mozy shows above. Purrfect

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:34 am

Maybe GPS? or use a grid layout and a 100 foot tape. This has kick me into high gear. I love to work out these type of problems. I find this very fun. mozy jumps up and runs around the studio. I love this shit!!!!!!!. sorry had to get that out of me.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:36 am

I know exactly how you feel Mozy. I say keep it simple WRT measuring. 100 foot tape is good. Heck, even twine with 1 meter marks on it is good enough for what we'll be doing.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 11:03 am

If you look at the sat photo you can see where the water truck is driving and just the contrast between the wet and dry playa in enough to show the lines.http://tinyurl.com/9vg2v

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 1:10 pm

In 1980, American artist Tom Van Sant used a system of mirrors to create Reflections from Earth, and in 1986, Desert Sun which were recorded by a satellite passing overhead.

French artist Pierre Comte used large sheets of black plastic to create "Signature Terre" which was photographed by the SPOT remote sensing satellite in 1989 (Roix, 1992). It has been reported that Pierre Comte is working on another project involving children to create an image of a child which can then be seen from space

I think we can top this.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 1:51 pm

Nasca lines

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:58 pm

Damn...not the first. But I agree that we can do better than spots on the ground. I would personally prefer to avoid doing the stereotypical 'man' however. We can do better than that too.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:36 pm

Me also.. the man was just to get a feel for It. this is a good day for me I just took a new job that pays $1000 more a month than the job I left for the same work. BM here I come. Sput I really want to make this happen!
so let me know anything I can do to do that.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 7:32 pm

I looked at the Nazca lines and thought, "Too bad we can't plant a field of wheat out there, do crop circles." Then I thought, "No, couldn't do crop circles but there's some visual inspiration there."

Of course, mandalas are a little trickier to grid out than a square image.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 7:43 pm

hey diane... hope your feeling better.
I am with you on that one diane. something that you just go wow!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:16 am

sputnik wrote:Damn...not the first. But I agree that we can do better than spots on the ground. I would personally prefer to avoid doing the stereotypical 'man' however. We can do better than that too.

How about increasing the scale by choosing an image consisting of several dark areas spread out over the breadth of the open playa? More sites to maintain, but the connect-the-dots style image could potentially be MILES across without significant increase of materials...

Count me in, regardless.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:49 pm

Yeah, that's a possibility, but making a really big image like that does mean maintaining continuity of some sort between the main locations (if I understand you right). That might be difficult with traffic passing around/over the pieces.

Mozy (and everyone really), in order to make this happen we have to keep the vibe up. We have to commit to doing this now. We have to get other people involved. Even with 100 people involved this will be a lot of work. I know that about this time last year we were very seriously talking about having an ePlaya camp with the bar and all, and then it evaporated. It's really tough to keep people who are only connected via these electronic bits engaged in the project. Once they feel no longer a part of things they fall away.

Get people around you interested. I have a good group going around me, maybe 5 or 10 right now. I'm hoping to build that up to 20 or so.

I'm seriously considering camping at the artwork and using part of it for a shade structure. Maybe this could become the fabled ePlaya camp.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 1:03 pm

Any suggestions.. that I can do to help with that. my wife and I are 2.
I talk about BM to my freinds but most just don't get it. I have not been in touch with the Collective in the bay that I hung with for 2 years. but I can start beating the bush to try to get more people. I saw the logo for them in some footage from BM from this year. most are long time burners.
I will PM you for more info.

regionalchaos · Post by **regionalchaos** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:08 pm

I can probably get a half dozen other burners from my crew to bring some pixels. It sounds like a great project.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:08 pm

Sounds good to me RegionalChaos. I'll be posting here when I have a web site ready for people to signup on. Please feel free to continue the discussion though, I'll appreciate hearing thoughts and ideas for making this come true.

Mozy bonz · Post by **Mozy bonz** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:19 pm

do you have an idea for the pic yet? I can start putting pic one here to get people to get more of an idea on how it would work.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:20 pm

Hey, Regional Chaos: I was just over at the JoAnn's Fabric on River Road tonight. Go to the back wall and there's all kinds of cotton fabrics for $2 - $5 a yard.

Project Megapixels

Would you participate?

Project Megapixels