Thousands Of South Korean Public Volunteers Turn Abandoned Tobacco Plant In Cheongju Into CD Artwork, Setting The Guinness World Record For ‘Largest Display Of Compact Discs Ever’
Thousands of South Korean public volunteers, along with Sung Hun Lee, Byeong Sam Jeon and Ho Il Kim, transformed an abandoned tobacco plant in Cheonju, South Korea into a huge CD artwork in just two months, reported Guinness World Records on Tuesday.
The old factory was covered in exactly 489,440 glittering CDs setting a Guinness World Record of the "Largest Display of Compact Discs Ever."
According to PR Newswire on Monday, the CDs were gathered from nine countries, including South Korea, China, Japan, and the U.S. from April to August to cover three sides of the abandoned Cheongju Tobacco Factory. The completed artwork was unveiled at the opening of the 2015 Cheongju International Craft Biennales on Sept. 16.
"Amazingly at the end, 27,912 people from 288 organizations in 31 cities of nine countries collected a total of 489,440 CDs counted by the official Guinness World Records," noted Byeong Sam Jeon, creative director of the Cheongju International Craft Biennales.
The contributors of the CDs were encouraged to write dreams on the discs in an effort to transform the abandoned factory and discarded CDs into a magnificent work of art representing recaptured hope.
"This project not only set a world record but testified to the power of a united Cheongju," said Lee Seung Hoon, head of the organizing committee. "Our citizens have volunteered their efforts to take full ownership of this event."
The Cheongju Tobacco Factory was built in 1946 and was not used for seven years until it finally closed down in 2004. In 2011, it was transformed into an exhibition hall by the Cheongju International Craft Biennales, setting an example of Korea's urban renewal.
"Hosting the biennale in the old tobacco factory will bring out great results not only in terms of function but also economics, because the venue can be used as an exhibition hall even after the biennale is over," said Byeon Gwang Seob, head of Cheongju International Craft Biennale's PR department. "It will be an opportunity to reinvigorate the area, which has been neglected for about 10 years."