What the work is
Aaron Koblin’s The Sheep Market collects 10,000 drawings made by workers on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Each accepted drawing earned two US cents; the task asked for a sheep facing left.
How it was made
A drawing tool made with Processing recorded the creation of each sheep. The project’s website presented the collection and animations of the drawing process, preserving sequences of marks alongside finished images.
What works
The fixed instruction gives viewers a basis for comparing individual responses. Replaying a drawing shifts attention from the collected result to the sequence of decisions that produced one small contribution.
What does not
Participation is not the same as shared control. The payment and task specification belong in any reading of the work; an attractive collection alone cannot explain what the arrangement meant to its workers.
What it influenced
The project travelled beyond the browser into exhibitions, including Laboral in Spain and the Japan Media Arts Festival. These presentations document its circulation across online and gallery contexts, rather than proving a particular later influence.
Is it worth your time
Worth examining for participatory design. Compare several drawings and their recorded construction, then ask who sets the instruction, receives credit and controls the finished collection. The labour arrangement is part of the work’s design.
