What
is The Wall?
I had an idea
the other day for an art project that's never been done before.
I'm calling it The Wall.
I want to build a giant electronic display in New York city. It
will scroll the contents of this website vertically.
But what are
the contents? Do I make them? No.
You
make them! Anybody with ten bucks can buy a block on the wall
to display whatever they want. To be part of The Wall. Everybody
contributes to a collective artwork. Nothing like this has been
done before.
Really?
What's the big whoop?
There are
several things here that have are totally new, as far as I know:
- It's the
first real-world object that can be viewed and modified online.
Every time a block is added on this site, the picture and link
will appear on The Wall in NYC.
- The art
concept is mine. What is actually displayed is not mine. Instead,
anyone can pay to be a part of this big work of art and be seen
by thousands of people.
- This art
project is fully financed by its very contents.
It's like
the phrase, "15 minutes of fame", except here it's a
block on the wall. Alone, you would probably never be able to
get your stuff seen by thousands of people. Now you and I can
be a part of something that will.
SO
when are you going to build it?
I don't have
the money to build the wall right now. (And neither do you.) The
money will be raised through people buying space for putting up
their images. In a few days, am going to open a forum where the
people who submitted images can post and discuss the best ways
to build this wall. I don't want to seem like I'm dictating all
the rules here.
How
are you going to drive traffic to this website, i.e.
to my link?
Okay, so anybody
can contribute to this big large wall. Who cares about it? Well,
it's going be famous! There are three stages:
- STAGE
ONE: We are in it right now. I want to get enough pics
on this wall to show that there is something interesting going
on. Once I raise around $300, I will then submit a press release
and get it on the news!
in this stage, blocks
are FREE!
- STAGE
TWO:
Once some articles have been written about it, newspapers and
online sites are going to find out what's going on and write
stuff about it also. Everyone who reads these articles will
come to the site and then go tell their friends. Their friends
are going to tell friends. More people will start buying space
on the wall.
in this stage, blocks
cost $10
- STAGE
THREE:
Once enough people buy space on the wall, we will have raised
enough money to build the art exhibit. Currently I am thinking
that we can get eight large screens together to scroll the contents
of the webpage. The screens might be donated for two months
by a company that wants to support this project, such as Samsung.
I still have to look into sponsorship of that kind.
in this stage, blocks
cost $20
The
wall is also partly a social experiment. If you wait until stage
2, the blocks won't be FREE anymore! So hurry up and put
something on the wall while it's still FREE, and you'll
be propelling us forward into stage 2, when everybody will start
coming to the site!
What
do I get out of it?
That depends
on why you posted your pic. If you are selling something you will
get lots of customers showing up at your website. You may want
to promote yourself and your works. So far I have been in contact
with a model seeking work, an artist selling his work, a gallery
hiring artists, musicians looking for gigs, and my friend who
wants to "meet a hot girl".
What's
in it for you?
So I'm going
to be putting up your images on The Wall, I will be promoting
The Wall, and I'm going to be responsible for building The Wall.
What do I get out of it? Well, I'm thinking that after the actual
Wall is built, people will continue adding images to it, and I
will be able to make a profit from that. Plus if I can make an
unusual art project and have thousands of people see it, I will
already be very happy.
But
what can you really put on a small block?
First of all,
the blocks aren't that small. Online, the real resolution of a
block is 40x40, when you mouseover it (which you'll be able to
see once I put the Flash viewer up in a few days). On the physical
wall, the resolution will be more like 100x100.
Secondly and
more importantly, if people are interested by your graphic they
will be able to click a link and view more stuff which you
host on your website. For example, you might have a poem about
a rose that you'd like to people to read. You buy a block, put
a picture of a rose there, and link it to your site.
And yeah,
yeah, if you want to advertise your company website you can do
that too. You're probably going to get a lot of traffic. Just
make it tasteful.
Why should I buy a block on The Wall?
Here's what you are getting as far as I can see:
- Being a
part of something totally new and exciting.
- The more
people see the wall, the more people will catch a glimpse of
YOUR stuff.
- If they're
online , they can click a link and go see your website. Then
they're your audience.
What can you
really put on the wall? Anything you like. Hopefully something
eye-catching and interesting. As long as it's not
profane -- this is a work of art which I will be showing in New
York City, so I have to keep things clean!
What's
this about 10% to Charity?
Whoa
you must be psychic, I was just about to talk about that. My goal
in life is to help ease people's suffering and raise quality of
life for as many people as I can. In this spirit, I will contribute
$1 from every block I sell to the charity which receives
the most votes in this poll:
This
site
or this one may help
you make an informed choice.
Who
Are You?
My
name's Greg Magarshak. I'm a Ph. D student at NYU. My dream is
to ultimately make a billion dollars and help the poor and suffering
people of the world. I have a long way to go -- currently, I live
with my parents and can't get a full-time job until I finish my
Ph. D -- conditions of my fellowship.
So while I'm
studying, I decided to do some fun projects that might make money
and may actually get some recognition. |
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This is my first
real project. You guys who are contributing to The Wall all share in
it. In the future, I plan to open my own company to develop and market
inventions I came up with over the years. But may be quite far away,
considering I need capital to start. For now, this project is something
I'm proud of, because it's something new and interesting in art, not
just a copy of someone else's idea.
Here's what
I'm currently working on:
- Getting a place
in New York where thousands of people will be able to see The Wall.
- Making
a press release so that this ambitious project will appear on
the news.
Until you guys start
contributing stuff to this site, I can't start either one of these endeavours.
So buy your own block, and join the fun. What have you got to lose,
ten bucks?
(PS: On the other hand, $10 is a lot of money in some countries which
we should all be helping.)
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