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:

 Choose a Charity
Which of these charities do you -- the visitors to my site -- consider most appropriate to donate to?
Save the Children
Cancer Research Institute
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Doctors Without Borders USA
Reading is Fundamental


Where does your heart lie?
 

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.

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.)