Do Nothing Like a Pro: The Space Out Competition
On October 13, 90 people came to Tokyo's Roppongi Hills to take part in a Space Out Competition, where they competed to see who was best at doing nothing.
The goal of the competition was to stay as still and "spaced-out" as possible for 90 minutes. But just sitting and doing nothing isn't as easy as it sounds, and competitors couldn't check their phones, sleep or talk. Anyone found doing these things was eliminated.
Participants could choose to compete on their own or in teams. This year, 528 people said they wanted to join, but only 90 were chosen for the competition.
To win, competitors had to keep their heart rate calm and steady while also getting votes from people watching the competition.
Every 15 minutes, their heart rates were checked, and out of the 10 with the most votes, the team with the steadiest heart rate was named the winner.
Since the first Space Out Competition took place in South Korea in 2014, it has been held in a number of places around the world, including the Netherlands and Hong Kong.
It was created by an artist known as Woopsyang, who started the event after experiencing burnout.
Woopsyang created the competition to help people understand how important it is to take time for their mental health.
"We tend to think that doing nothing is a waste of time," she told the South China Morning Post. "But in reality, for modern people, such 'unproductive' time doing nothing is actually absolutely necessary."
The winner of the 2024 Hong Kong Space Out Competition, Denis Kwan Hong-wang, agrees.
The competition "is really a good reminder for us that we can calm down a bit in life, especially when we're really busy," he said to the South China Morning Post.
