Dead Pixels are annoying little dark bits you'll see on your screen when a bunch of teeny tiny subpixels are permanently off. It might be a broken transistor or just a pixel that's stuck on black. Or if you're messing around with Google Earth, it might be an 82-centimeter by 82-centimeter square of burnt grass.
We're not sure which came first: Either this guy was playing with Google Earth and had a "Wouldn't it be cool if..." moment, or he's just a pyromaniac with a flair for the geometric who likes to exhibit his work on Google Earth.
Either way, Dutch artist Helmut Smits somehow came upon the decision to burn an almost 3-foot by 3-foot square of ash into the grass somewhere out there in the world in the name of art in public places. When it's viewed from 1 kilometer above the ground (3,280 feet), it looks just like a dead pixel on your monitor at home.
We don't think anyone has found it yet, so happy hunting!
Emily's Rochester Merrypad 
How To: Upgrade a Wall Outlet to USB Functionality
Like us on Facebook
RSS Feed (Atom)
Hand-Crocheted Hamm...
Re-Growing Green Onions: Grow Your Scallions Back on Your Windowsill
Recipe to Feed a Crowd: Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef
Comments (9)
So. Awesome. Makes me wanna go out on the hunt for it!
It's on a canal, so it's probably somewhere in northern Europe. He's Dutch - look in the Netherlands or Belgium.
I just tried and according to Google Earth, the imagery date for Rotterdam (where Smits lives and works) is May 27, 2005. He did it in 2008, so I doubt we're gonna find it before the people at Google Earth update the images...
A man, a plan, a dead pixel: Exipdaed anal panama!
@elcheapo: ahahaha! this post made me smile...
I used to have a fuchsia dead pixel, it'd disappear if there was white behind it... lol I got rid of that monitor... then my nephew got a nintendo ds... the dead pixel had come back to haunt him.
Okay, I have to ask. If no one has managed to find the thing yet on Google Earth, why is everyone so sure it looks like a dead pixel?
An obvious element missing in the discription is the latitude/longitude alignment of the square. If not north/south by east/west, then you have a diamond or such. I'd like to see someone paint mall parking lots or roofs with images/symbols/words easily visible in GE from a mile or so, i.e "SEE ROCK CITY" that was so prevalent in the south several decades ago.
i read online that this is just a conceptual piece of art.. you can't find this pixel in google earth
but i think this is a funny idea :)