On December 10th 2008, the longest work of art in history was created in Greece – measuring about 21 km in width and 15 cm in height, it stretched from the city of Marathon half-way across the classical marathon route to Athens: A clear world record.

Covered in the coloured footsteps of project founders Bosko Providzalo, Dave and Benedikt Morandi, the artwork symbolizes the incredible effort of the original marathon run in order to remind the world how much untapped human potential there is in the world, potential that can be released given enough drive and willpower – and that good messages can arrive even in bad times. This message should be a peaceful counterpoint to the recent riots in Greece.

The original creation of the painting – which involved three people walking the entire 21 kilometre distance on paper strips with paint on their feet, aided by a team of helpers – was a form of performance art. After its completion, the artwork, which was separated into pieces, was stuffed into a soft plastic hull, forming a sculpture measuring about 10 metres in length. The artwork thus exists on three different levels.

The last artist to be part of the project will add 21 more kilometres to the artwork, thus completing the full distance of a marathon run – 42.195 kilometres – and arriving in Athens on December 10th, 2050. This will form the conclusion of the ARTMARATHON.