3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Cartoonist Looking for Solvers of World’s Largest Hand-Drawn Maze

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 06:04 AM PDT

Joe Wos, a Pittsburgh-based cartoonist and performer, is currently working on what he hopes will be the new world’s largest most difficult hand-drawn maze. Creating this thing is one daunting task, but nowhere as difficult as finding someone willing to spend approximately 40 hours trying to solve it.

Like all children, Joe Wos loved to doodle when he was young boy. He grew up to become an cartoonist, and as he approached 40 years old, he felt the need to achieve some “lifelong goals”, one of which was setting a Guinness record. He remembered that as a kid, he would create mazes on huge pieces of paper that often ended up on the walls of his home, and realized that could be his shot. After doing some research he learned Guinness had other maze-related records so he asked them if they were willing to acknowledge the world largest hand-drawn maze. They accepted, but with a number of conditions: Wos’ maze would have to be at least 10 square meters in size, it would have to be solvable, and drawn by him alone. Also, he needs five witnesses every time he goes to work on it. The 42-year-old cartoonist started this monumental project on July 27 and hopes to complete his intricate masterpiece by the end of September. ”It’s not easy,” he told the Huffington Post. ”One path has to remain open, but I have to keep about five paths available just in case I draw myself into a wrong path. And that will be terrible for the person who actually solves the maze because they may spend up to 30 minutes going down a wrong path as well.”

Photo: Pittsburgh City Paper

When working on amaze this size, it’s impossible to avoid mistakes, so whenever Joe Wos closes up a path, he turns it into an illustration. One time, he worked for 20 minutes on drawing a factory, before realizing he had closed off the exit. So he put an “out of order” sign on it and continued from another open spot. So far he has worked over 50 illustrations into his giant maze, including some from paid sponsors, whose donations have allowed him to raise funds to take the artwork to museums and fairs. If you’re wondering why it’s taking him so long to finish his maze, Wos said: “I can’t do it at hour-long stretches. I need complete concentration to do this.”

Photo: Pittsburgh City Paper

He also needs someone to actually spend between 30 and 40 hours solving the maze. He asked his friends and family, but they all declined the offer. Then he turned to a fellow board member on the ToonSeum, a small Pittsburgh cartoon museum, but he also said no. Finally he posted a plea on Facebook, but that also remained unanswered. Now, after his story was featured in the Wall Street Journal, Wos received about 20 emails from people across America willing to solve his maze. He’s considering taking the thing on a tour, so they can each have the chance to solve it in their own cities. Although there’s a small chance Wos inadvertently seals the winning path, he says he’s 99,4% sure it will be solvable.

Cartoonist Looking for Solvers of World’s Largest Hand-Drawn Maze was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Chinese Festival Organizers Create Human Zoo for Beggars

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 04:54 AM PDT

Beggars at a religious festival in Nanchang, southern China, have been ordered to either stay in specially-built metal cages or risk being removed from the city, in an attempt to stop them from harassing visitors.

Living in a country where begging is a very lucrative business, I know what it’s like to constantly be disturbed by various characters asking for money (not food, money), but what these Chinese festival organizers did is a bit extreme. According to a Nanchang official, in recent years the number of beggars turning up for the local religious festival has increased to a point where they’re actually making temple visitors uncomfortable with their lamenting and pleading for some pocket change. So this year, to make sure everyone attending the festivities will be left alone, they decided to separate the hundreds of beggars in small metal cages around the festival grounds, where people can still give donations if they wish, but without being followed around and nagged while they’re on a day out with their family. Organizers did point out that the beggars in this pop-up human zoo entered their cages voluntarily and that no one is actually forcing them to beg for a living…

“The beggars are quite comfortable in their cages, people send them food and water as gifts. In a way it is better for them there than having to find a place on the busy streets,” festival organizers said.” The beggars can leave whenever they like but they have to leave the city too, they can’t go into the fair,' they added. As you can imagine, this unusual way to keep beggars at bay attracted the wrath of human rights activists. “Do they want people to believe the region has no poor people and just put on a good show? These people need help. We should not be allowing them to be locked away in cages. These people are human beings too,” one said, while another commented “They are treating them like zoo animals. What will they have to do next – tricks for their food? This is nothing but public humiliation!”

Although organizers say the measure was taken for their own good, many Nanchang festival visitors said they were horrified by the sight of beggars sticking their hands out through the metal bars. The cages are reportedly so small that adults can’t even stand up in them, but judging from the photos they are just separated from festival goers by metal railings.