About One Million Points of Light
A global project One Million Points of Light was launched by British artist Andrew Pepper in February 2006.
It's aim is to produce a collaborative work which can be seen globally, anywhere there is an Internet connection and computer. This might include your home, a gallery, library, restaurant or public space. One Million Points Of Light is currently being seen in 92 countries!
The concept is simple - you, the visitor to this site, are invited to "switch on" a block of 'Internet' light on the project's homepage. and position this anywhere within a screen made up of one million points. Over the following three years the screen will fill as more and more blocks are illuminated. Eventually the finished image will have been 'drawn' by many individuals from hundreds of locations around the world.
How to take part
Click on "Take Part" in the blue menu bar above or go here. You will then have a chance to select a location for your block of light (you can illuminate several at the same time if they touch each other along their side). Then simply enter your name, location (or a message) and a web site address you would like to link to. If you do not have your own site you can link to any site you find interesting and would like other people to visit.
Watching the light
Each time someone clicks on a block of light their click is recorded. By placing your cursor over any of the blocks you can not only read the message it contains but also view how many people have visited the associated web site. A Top Ten list also tracks the most active blocks of light. Become one of the people who shapes this developing global image.
The Cost
The link to your web site is completely free of charge and will attract hundreds of visitors to your homepage. There is a tiny 'illumination' charge of £2.50 to activate each block and this funding is used to keep the image visible, 24 hours a day, until 2010. You can pay instantly, and securely, online using any major credit or debit card. The project is self funding and is expected to just about cover its costs.
Who will light up next to you?
The site has already received more than half a million clicks with some days registering over 7,000 - a lot of people are watching. If you would like to know more about the project, there are a number of frequently asked questions listed below, or take a look at the News section in the blue menu bar above.
Once all the blocks of light are illuminated a three-dimensional holographic image will be made of the One Million Points Of Light Project resulting in a sculptural installation made entirely of light!
Andrew Pepper is a British Fulbright and Lionel Robbins Memorial scholar. More details about his work with light, holography and installation can be found at www.apepper.com.
Frequently Asked Questions 
Can I take part even if I don't have a web site?Yes. You can include any web site link you find interesting. Use the link to connect to a friend's site, a favourite gallery, art project, community group, fund raiser - in fact anything your would like others to visit. The only restriction is that we do not accept links to illegal or adult related sites.
Can galleries show this work?One Million Points of Light can be show in any space with an internet connection. It is hoped that galleries might choose to show the site in their spaces - which they are free to do. This will mean that not only is the growing page of illuminated pixels a virtual visual work, but that it can exist in many places at the same time: at home on your computer, in airports on passengers laptops, in libraries on their community computers and in galleries which choose to install it there.
Why do I have to pay for being included in this project?The aim of this project is for it to be self funding. Your contribution will, in the first instance, be used to maintain and administer the project and make other artists and art organisations aware that it is active. Once all ten thousand blocks have been illuminated, some funding will be used to keep the project operational, and any surplus will (we hope) be used to form a new grant giving organisation for the visual arts.
What advantage is there to being involved in this site?You will not only be contributing to the finished image but will provide visitors with a link to other parts, and sites, on the Web. We hope that people will visit www.OneMillionPointsOfLight.com on a regular basis, watch it grow and explore some of the new links which individuals include.
Where did the colours come from?
They are sampled from a reflection hologram made by Andrew Pepper. The image of the original work was enlarged until each pixel was visible. These colour were then selected and loaded onto the site.
Pepper has produced a number of works, over the years, using reflection holography, the majority of which display a green image. He wanted to restrict the colours available so that the resulting pattern (once all the ten thousand blocks are illuminated) will be "slightly subdued and based on existing points of light.".
Why can't I switch on one pixel of light?A single pixel is too small to see on its own. It is also so small that it would be almost impossible to click on. It is for this reason that we are offering 10 x 10 blocks of one hundred pixels. Some people have already chosen to illuminate more than one block but 100 pixels is a great place to start.
Isn't this just another advertising site?It uses advertising software which has been developed as part of the online pixel advertising boon, was started by Alex Tew in 2005. He developed the original Million Dollar homepage and made over a million dollars in less than 5 months.
The difference here is that it is not possible to display advertising images and users cannot upload their own images. It is not designed to attract advertising 'click throughs' to commercial sites but provide an abstract surface with links to art related sites and projects. Visitors can explore the illuminated pixels and see where the link takes them. No advertising material is included on the main home page.
What are those numbers next to the blocks?
They show how many visitors have clicked through, from the block of light, to the connected web site.
Are you making millions on this?Probably the only person to make over a million dollars using pixel advertising is Alex Tew, the person who came up with the original idea. It is almost impossible to repeat his success as he was the first to launch a site and therefore generated a great deal of publicity. - and income. He was also selling each block of pixels for one hundred dollars (about £56 Pounds each). We are charging much less (£2.50) simply to cover the costs of running the site and to encourage individuals (not only large companies) to become involved and help build the final image.
To give you some idea of the costs involved, if all of points of light are illuminated, the cost for simply collecting, and processing, the credit card transactions is several thousand pounds.
Why do some pages have advertisments provided by Google?These not only provide an extra source of funding for the project (if you click on them they generate a small advertising commission which is used to maintain the project), but they provide contextual links to related sites and services.
This project was only made possible because of the sudden interest in Pixel Advertising. This has resulted in a mass of pixel sites, software and services. By viewing the contextual adverts visitors can begin to follow this massive explosion in revenue generating ideas - or thay can choose not to click on them at all.
| 