A teenager in the US set a world record for building the tallest tower made out of toothpicks and glue, after he first set a popsicle-related record a few years ago
A teenager has broken a world record by building a replica of the most famous monument in France, and one of the most famous buildings in the world. The replica was completely constructed out of toothpicks.
Eric Klabel, from Ilinois, US, built a 17.32ft-tall replica of the Eiffel Tower. According to the creative teen, his dad’s job as a civil engineer inspired him to get interested in building from a young age.
He told local media: “When I was younger, I just got really, really interested in building things out of popsicle sticks.” As a result, in 2021, when he was just 12 years old, he built an impressive 20ft-tower from popsicle sticks, earning him his first Guinness World Record.
It comes after a sandwich shop owner made his bid for a nightmare seasonal record, turning his cafe into an audio torture chamber by crooning a horrific 684 Christmas tunes over 42 hours of festive hell. While that record was broken, Eric gained another world record in in October when he took on a project using toothpicks, as per local US media outlet UPI.
He said: “The annoying thing about toothpicks– compared to popsicle sticks, they’re just so incredibly tiny.” Eric managed to use nothing but toothpicks and glue to build a model of the Eiffel Tower that stands at 17.32 feet tall, capturing the record for the world’s tallest toothpick sculpture.
In a complete contrast, an artist has broken his own world record by creating the smallest ever sculpture – so tiny it can’t be seen by the human eye. David A. Lindon, 56, took 34 attempts to create “The Yellow Smiley Face”, which measures just 11.037 by 12.330 microns.
He had previously held the World Record for the smallest handmade sculpture, named The Lego Brick, which measured 0.02517mm by 0.02184mm. Additionally, David spent six weeks trying to beat his own record, using crushed diamonds and microscopic fly hairs to create the piece- which he says is roughly the size of bacteria.
David, from Bournemouth, said: “What I do is completely mad, but it’s basically fine art. I’d like to try and leave something as a legacy. I’m so pleased I’ve been able to create this.”
He added: “I got into making the sculptures because I saw a TV programme that inspired me. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, ‘I can give this a go – I think I can get a microscope and I think I know how it’s done.’
“I thought I could probably go a bit smaller. I find myself now inspired to see how small I can go. I’ve broken my own world record – it was a Lego brick which was incredibly small – and now I’ve gone half the size again. It’s the same size as bacteria.
“I had to borrow a Nikon microscope from Amsterdam, and was very kindly sent a more powerful lens so I was able to work with that. It took me about six weeks and 34 attempts to create this marvelous micro masterpiece – a very tiny smiley face.
“What it’s made out of is top secret – but what I can say is that a lot of my artworks are made from very fine microscopic migments. I use crushed diamonds and I attach those onto the end of my tools to allow me to carve and shape.
“I use hairs off the back of a fly for paintbrushes – they have to be so tiny you can’t see them with the human eye.”
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