Video: South Korean town transforms abandoned factory with almost 500,000 CDS

Byeong Sam Jeon, Sung Hun Lee, Ho Il Kim and thousands of public volunteers (all South Korea) have transformed an abandoned tobacco plant in Cheongju, South Korea - which closed down in 2004 and forced many jobless locals to abandon the community - into a record-breaking “dream factory” that might even bring people back.

 

The factory was turned into a piece of art covered in 489,440 glittering CDs - the Largest display of compact discs ever.

 

 

It took 200 volunteers two months to complete, but the finished display was unveiled to the public during the 2015 Cheongju International Craft Biennales in Cheongju.

 

Cheongju International Craft Biennales Creative Director, Byeong Sam Jeon said: “Amazingly at the end, 27,912 people from 288 organisations in 31 cities of nine countries collected the total of 489,440 CDs counted by the official Guinness World Records.”

 

 

Contributors were invited to gather unwanted CDs and write dreams on them, in a bid to turn the discarded factory and discs into a beautiful artwork symbolising recaptured hope.

 

Behind the sparkling 180 m long and 30 m high façade, there is a Dream-CD exhibition and a Sky Walk where visitors can read the words.

 

 

The CD project created a spectacular exhibition space to host the Craft Biennale event, it refreshed the town's community spirit that had slumped since the factory shut down, and earned the town a place in history for its amazing Guinness World Records achievement.