Cartoonist Joe Wos is searching for the person who can solve what he hopes will be the world’s largest hand-drawn maze. The Pittsburgh-based artist and performer is currently completing the extremely daunting task of creating the difficult puzzle. He expects the maze will take nearly 40 hours of following between the lines to reach the end of the intricate design.
Like many artists, Wos began drawing as a young boy. As he approached the 40 th birthday milestone, he decided it was time to accomplish some life goals and began on a path to break a Guinness record, according to Oddity Central . As a child the avid cartoonist used to devise mazes on massive pieces of paper that eventually adorned the walls of his home. Harkening back to low-tech days of old, the Pittsburgh artist decided a return to his youthful pastime could be way to get his name in the Guinness Book of World Record s.
After a bit of research about maze-related records, Wos contacted Guinness to see if they were willing to permit a hand-drawn variety for consideration. The answer was yes, but with a plethora of conditions. The powers-that-be would only judge the submission if it was at least 10 meters in size, was drawn solely by the applicant in view of at least five witnesses, and could be solved.
During an interview with the Huffington Post the artist had this to say about the monumental endeavor:
“It’s not that easy. One path has to remain open, but I have to keep about five paths available just in case I draw myself into the wrong path. And that would be terrible for the person who actually solves the maze because they may spend 30 minutes going down the wrong path as well.”
The extraordinary task officially began in July with hopes of completion by the end of this month. Every time he goes down a wrong path, he turns the dead-end into an illustration, adding to the attractive visual display on his masterpiece puzzle. Thus far, he has worked 50 illustrations into the project, some by paid sponsors. Friends, family, and Facebook users turned down his pleas to attempt to solve the highly-detailed puzzle once it is finished. A story in the Wall Street Journal did prompt 20 emails from folks willing to give it a shot and perhaps share a space in the record books as well. He is currently 99.4 percent sure it can be solved.
