Artist David Ilan is creating a tribute portrait of Michael Jackson comprised entirely of dots. But this isn’t your average pointillism project— every one of these dots represents a real person, and Ilan is hoping 1,000,000 fans will help him finish the job.
But two years ago, Ilan felt it was time to add more meaning to his art. It was then that he invented the concept of “1 dot =1 person,” and found a way to connect his art with his charitable side.
Ilan’s first project was Points With Purpose, a project designed to give voice to victims of sexual assault. He was also commissioned to create a portrait for Special Olympics Southern California, a project that included dots from celebrities like Danny DeVito and David Beckham. And last year, his Presidential Portrait of Barack Obama captured the attention of the Smithsonian.
So how does this process work? Simple. Through his website, fans sign up (for free) to be part of the project, and David Ilan places a hand-drawn dot on the portrait.
“The dots are all the same size and each one is vital to the finished portrait,” Ilan says of his work. “In essence, people are working together to create a drawing. It gives people a certain kind of strength knowing that they are important and necessary in the drawing.”
So far, over 250,000 people from more than 180 countries have had a dot placed on Michael Jackson’s tribute portrait in their honor, including celebrities such as Diana Ross, Mickey Rooney and Maya Angelou. Ilan believes that it will take at least 1,000,000 fans to complete the project. To sign up for your free dot or read more about the portrait, click here.
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