The sport of doing nothing: Space-Out contest comes to Hong Kong, and it’s harder than you think
Event from South Korea requires participants to zone out in Central and have their heart rates measured while trying not to fall asleep or check their mobile phones
In today’s busy world, multitasking is a way of life and efficiency is a must which means it’s near impossible to turn off our brains at will. But one tournament champions the skill of doing absolutely nothing except competing against others in the same game – the Space-Out Competition.
The contest wants to prove that doing nothing can be very rewarding. There’s only one requirement to win: participants must not fall asleep or, even harder, abstain from checking their phones during the 90-minute event.
Space-Out will debut in the city at the end of March on the busy streets of Central. It is aimed at weaning technology-addicted locals off their devices to slow down the pace of life and promote a stress-free lifestyle.
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The idea to encourage busy people to use their down time in a way that does not involve consumption was first brought up by South Korean artist Woopsyang, who launched the event in his country four years ago.
The contest has since made its way out of Korea to Beijing, then the Netherlands and Taipei.
“Hongkongers are so busy all the time, never free from consuming information. Even when we take a break, our minds are still wandering off somewhere, or we are looking at our phones. So it’s time to let our brains rest and enjoy having completely blank minds,” organiser Carvin Chan Ka-kin says.
Hongkongers are so busy all the time, never free from consuming information
Chan and his college friend, local pop idol Alex Fong Lik-sun, decided to bring the idea to Hong Kong.