DIY pixelnotes

November 24, 2006 3:39 PM

A British artist names Duncan Wilson (site=down) covered a wall with 4 or 5 layers of post-it type notes, each layer a different color. As they are peeled away, neat shapes form. What are your bright ideas for a DIY version?

I nabbed some images, so here are two self-links to flickr for clarification:
pixelnotes_01_small.jpg
pixelnotes_05_small.jpg

I can come up with some ways to try to do this (on a smaller scale) but none of them are that great.

1) With Post-It notes. (too imperfect, too inefficient, would probably curl up)
2) Sheets of paper adhered together with a mild spray adhesive, mounted on thick cardboard, then cut with a utility/exacto knife
3) Same thing, but with a grid of reusable double-sided tape instead of adhesive.

Any thoughts for doing this in a 4'x6' space?

posted by ArcAm to media & arts (9 comments total)

Not post-it-notes, but you could hang a couple of wooden mini-blinds with something painted on each side.
posted by interrobang at 3:42 PM on November 24, 2006

Or, magnetic paint on the wall, followed by pieces of colored paper stuck to magnetic tape, which is available at most hobby shops..
posted by interrobang at 4:09 PM on November 24, 2006

i never knew about magnetic paint. that's amazing!

to clarify, i'd like to maintain post-it abilities.
posted by ArcAm at 4:16 PM on November 24, 2006

You could stick the post-its to this stuff. It'd be durable, and everything could move around as you like it.
posted by interrobang at 4:20 PM on November 24, 2006

Instead of pads of post-its, you could use stiffer paper (to get the range of colors and no curling) and repositionable glue.
posted by mendel at 7:06 PM on November 24, 2006

Super Mario Brothers sprites rendered with post-it notes
posted by weston at 7:09 PM on November 24, 2006

When I used to do layout at the school newspaper, we had a waxing machine that we'd use to make the back of the articles just a little bit tacky so that we could stick them on the layout pages where we wanted them. I bet you could layer a few largish sheets of paper together using one of those and then slice through with an exacto knife.

Another option would be to get a ton of those teeny little magnets and have them be corner pieces that would hold the intersection to four pieces of paper at once. Build the whole thing over a piece of metal. You wouldn't get the same flat effect that guy gets, but you could do something pretty interesting.
posted by jessamyn at 8:10 PM on November 24, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Don't use Post-Its or (most) repositionable glue. A friend of mine is an excellent artist who, to commemorate the fact that a director of a gallery was leaving, made a portrait of said director out of Post-It notes on a huge scale. The intention was for the piece to fall apart as the director left his post.

Curators/restorers are now spending absurd amounts of money trying to 'save' the Post-Its and the glue.

Unless you have a lot of money to spend on research... Your lovely wall decoration will fall down, and probably in chunks. Just give it time.

I think the best bet for a wall that looks cool for a long time is magnetic paint and magnets.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 5:13 AM on November 25, 2006

You could do this with post-its after all: Post-It Decor at Apartment Therapy, where they say "they've been up since January and have yet to fall down."

Or you could do a post-it mosaic. Pertinent note from that site:

post-mortem:
unless you restrict yourself to the new super sticky post-its you’ll likely have a few succumb to gravity after only a few hours. these deserters can be easily reapplied or replaced. with humidity, changing temperatures, and ventilation, more will eventually fall off. remember that the whole idea of the post-it mosaic is temporary, fleeting. nondestructive expression.

There are more pictures of Duncan Wilson and Sirkka Hammer's post-it wall at Apartment Therapy.
posted by heatherann at 5:47 AM on November 25, 2006