CAPE TOWN- Local artist Jooj broke the Guinness World Record for the largest display of origami butterflies at the Youngblood Arts and Culture Development gallery on Thursday night.
His installation included fourteen original artworks and almost 30 000 individually folded hanging butterflies.
“I started doing this with the intention of marketing my art but eventually breaking the Guinness World Record became a bit of a personal challenge of whether I could actually do it,” said Jooj.
In 2015 he fell in love with the traditional Japanese method of origami when he created a piece for his wedding that showcased more than 5,000 UV varnished butterflies.
“I started this installation two years ago, so on and off when I could spare some time I would just cut some paper and leave it in the oddest spaces and just fold, fold, fold.”
An independent auditing firm, The Audit Pro, was responsible for the official count of the origami butterflies. “When the auditors came to count the butterflies they had planned to take five hours and it took us around eight hours to count. It was quite a painful experience,” he said in jest.
A Guinness World Record adjudicator awarded the certificate to the artist at the First Thursday showcase. The previous world record was set in Japan with more than 20,226 butterflies.
“I'm hoping people like the installation. I always say to people why don't you create something and put it in public and just see how weird that feeling is,” said Jooj.