Aaron Koblin

Take a gander at Ten Thousand Cents.

Using Amazon's Mechanical Turk service, Mr. Koblin has digitally rendered a one-hundred-dollar bill by parceling it out to be drawn by ten thousand random people in one tiny increment each, with fascinating results.

The end visual aspect is quite pleasing, especially if you have done this sort of artwork yourself (block-by-block type of stuff; not knowing what the finished product is supposed to be). The bill looks pretty great. But take a closer look, and you will see the variety within: the spot-on squares, alone with the mistakes.

Some of the participants took their work very seriously, considering the penny they were paid for their output. They went for color gradations, texture, scale– the whole shebang. Others almost seemed as if they couldn't be bothered to finish their tiny square: either they gave up right away, or even after what seemed like a solid initial effort. At times you may wonder what led the person to put down the mouse. Did their boss walk in? Teakettle begin to boil? Internet connection severed? We will never know. But watching these squares (okay okay, rectangles!) take shape before your eyes offers some interesting insights into human behavior.

If you are like me, you'll go for the (seemingly) blank, beige areas first, and marvel at how far some people go to get it just so. Then start clicking on each obviously-errant block to see why and how the mistakes were made. Watching as some folks take the hardest path possible can be maddening, indeed. It is balanced by the ones who take their time, consider the brush shape and size they will use, and then if they make it to a 3rd color, you know that they are in it to win it.

Have fun!