The Guinness World Record holder for the world’s largest 3D balloon sculpture has been hired to decorate a 550 ping (1,818m2) special exhibition at the National Taiwan Science Education Center.
The exhibition opened yesterday and is to run until March 8.
Chen Yi-wei (陳奕偉) provided different sculptures for nine different themes, including a park area for children where all the entertainment facilities — including a merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel — are made out of balloons.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The theme park-like exhibition is targeting the crowds of children and parents who visit the newly established Children’s Theme Park in Taipei’s Shihlin District (士林), close to where the center is based.
Chen said he and a team of 35 people had spent six days preparing for the exhibition, finishing yesterday.
The other themed parts of the exhibition include dinosaurs, houses and furniture made from balloons, Chen said, adding that there was another section of the exhibition where the team had crafted a floating balloon city.
The constraints of the exhibition site limited the height of the pieces exhibited, Chen said, adding that while the 38m high sculpture that won him the world record could not be reproduced, the team had made a 15m tall sculpture.
Meanwhile, as balloons are quite fragile and prone to popping or deflating, the center said that it has employed double-layered balloons, as well as having a team on standby to make immediate repairs in the hope that the sculptures make it through the 53-day exhibition.
Other measures, such as balloon treatment liquids, have been employed as well, Chen said.
Chen said that while most people consider balloon art to be simple knotting and tying of balloons into different shapes, it can be quite artistic.
Despite the preventive measures, the opening of the exhibition was accompanied by several incidents of popping balloons, necessitating immediate repairs.
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