South Korea held one of the strangest competition in the world where contestants are judged for being best at doing absolutely nothing.
In Seoul, more than 100 people gathered over the weekend to do nothing. Officially, the event is called Space-Out competition which was started by a visual artist, Woopsyang, as a protest against the country’s hyper-competitive society almost 10 years ago in 2014.
CNN
She suffered severe burnout and this event provided her along with others a respite.
Spectators vote for the participant who’s best at zoning out for 90 minutes without falling asleep, checking their phone or talking.
Participants’ heart rates are monitored, while onlookers vote for their 10 favorite contestants. Whoever has the most stable heart rate among the 10 takes home the trophy.
More than 4,000 people applied to participate in the competition while the 117 contestants ranged from a child in second grade to people in their 60s.
This year’s competition was won by freelance announcer Kwon So-a, who took home a trophy shaped like the sculpture of “The Thinker.”
Charlie Miller/CNN
Doing nothing is “good for your mental health as well as your physical health because your body has to relax, but your body can only relax when your brain relaxes,” she said while talking to CNN.
