Rebuilding Christchurch, pixel by pixel

When raising money for a cause, even the smallest contribution can make a difference. But what effect could pixel-sized help have? If all goes to plan for Pixels For Christchurch, $100,000 could be raised for the city's rebuild. An art piece by artist Shane Hansen was split into 100,000 pixels made available for public purchase. As more kiwis buy a pixel, the art piece titled 'Arohanui Otautahi' will gradually be revealed.

Shortland Street star Kiel McNaughton enlisted the services of his whole family to get the project going – brother Isaac is taking care of the website/Facebook integration, and cousin Johnson Mckay (from agency FlyCreative) is taking care of the project's art direction marketing and sponsorship. "We wanted to do something from our own skill set using our time rather than just pulling $500 from our pockets to donate," said McKay.

The Green Room Verdict: As you may already be aware, selling pixels to raise money has been done before (check out The Million Dollar Homepage – a student fundraising his university fees ended up with US$1M from the idea). Integrating Facebook/Twitter by being able to post a message to friends is a great idea, and spurs people to see which blocks of pixels their friends have purchased – and then donate themselves.