Today, apparently, is the official Guinness World Record Day, and people are celebrating accordingly. As per to the Daily Mail, various record-setting attempts will take place today, including those for the farthest backwards basketball shot and the most people eating breakfast in bed. Kicking off the festivities last night near London’s Tower Bridge was a gathering of the largest-ever crowd of people in penguin costumes. As for records in the visual arts? artnet News has you covered with a round-up of the best art-related Guinness World Records.
Syrian artist Moaffak Makhoul and his team pose in Damascus with Guinness World Records award for the largest recycled material mural, March 31, 2014. The mural, seen behind them, measures 7,750 feet. Photo: Louai Beshara, courtesy Agence France-Presse.
Largest Mural of Recycled Materials
Moaffak Makhou
Earlier this year, Guinness officially recognized this gorgeous Damascus mural, a 7,750 foot-long marvel created by Makhou and his team from bicycle parts, mirrors, cooking utensils, soda cans, and ceramic shards (see “In Syria, Mural Sets New World Record“).
Menahem Asher Silva Vargas with part of his Guinness World Record-holding Harry Potter memorabilia. Photo: Rebecca Blackwell, courtesy AP Photo.
Largest Collection of Harry Potter Memorabilia
Menahem Asher Silva Vargas
Based in Mexico City, Silva Vargas shattered the old record of 807 with his 3,097 pieces of merchandise related to the Harry Potter book and film series (see “Guinness Honors World’s Largest Harry Potter Collection“). Though a world record is rewarding, the cost of collecting on such a scale adds up quickly: “My salary, my bonuses…it all ended up here,” he told the AP.
Graffiti from CBLOXX in London’s Leake Street Tunnel is part of Femme Fierce’s record breaking mural.
Photo: Street Art Utopia.
Largest Spray-Painted Mural By Multiple Artists
UK female street art collective Femme Fierce
This March, to celebrate International Women’s Day 100 female street artists, hailing from the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Europe, took over London’s Leake Street Tunnel. Femme Fierce transformed the street, a legal home to graffiti famously tagged by Banksy, into the world’s longest spray-painted mural by multiple artists (see “Women Street Artists Set New Guinness Record for Largest Mural“).
Map of the “World’s Longest Painting” route in Ann Arbor
Photo: Courtesy http://www.artistsingh.com/
World’s Longest Painting By an Individual
SinGh
The Transcendental, an 11,300-foot long painting the Kalamazoo-based artist SinGh, was created for the 2013 edition of ArtPrize. The record, however, came with a price for SinGh: a lifetime ban from the popular Michigan art show (see “Artist Banned From ArtPrize Forever“).