‘The Transcendental’ included in The Guinness Book of World Records.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The Guinness Book of World Records has confirmed that an over two mile-long painting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by controversial artist Gurmej Singh is the longest ever created by a single individual, securing a spot for him in the next edition of the lauded record book.
The painting has been named “The Transcendental,” and was being displayed along the Grand Rapids River. Singh, who describes himself as a “stunt painter,” says that the painting’s purpose is “to raise awareness about Liberty for Women, well-being of women, and role of women in our society.”
Singh, who goes by the street name “SinGh,” initially submitted his work to ArtPrize, the world-renowned international art competition two separate times, only to be rejected both times. His submission to the 2013 competition was rejected just before the September 18 opening of the ArtPrize exhibition because it violated rules for being too big — it did not fit into the 35-foot space allotted to Singh by the competition — and because Singh had changed the focus of the piece without notifying ArtPrize officials.
Singh, claiming he had verbal permission to display the painting beforehand, set the painting up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where it took over sidewalks, bridges, and the sides of buildings. Police were notified within two hours and orders given for the painting to be removed.
However, Singh had already notified the Guinness Book of World Records, who certified that the painting – which had a record-breaking length of 11,302 feet and 2.11 inches – was indeed the longest in the world.
Now, ArtPrize’s loss is Guinness’ and Singh’s gain.
Singh is no stranger to controversy, as just one year earlier, another work of his was rejected by ArtPrize for its highly controversial aspect. In 2012, he created a piece that was an effigy of deceased Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein hanging from a noose, which was taken down almost immediately by ArtPrize coordinator Greg Gilmore.
On his blog, Singh recounts how unhelpful the city of Grand Rapids and the ArtPrize team were, saying “I told them that if they had wanted we could have done this together but they chose to stand against me.”
Ultimately, however, Singh doesn’t appear to have any regrets, saying “the battle had been won. The world’s longest painting had been created, Guinness World Record was [a]chieved and, the city of Grand Rapids had just witnessed history!”
The record for the longest painting ever created by anyone, regardless of how many people were involved, still belongs to 827 children in Eritrea, Africa. In November 2011, they created a painting that measured an astonishing 23,510 feet and 5.98 inches, more than twice as long as Singh’s creation.
[Photo courtesy of Gurmej Singh’s blog.]