In a Second around the World

Creating a digital world
Exactly 42,800 dominoes were waiting for Walter Betz, a representative from the event partner “Radio Betz”, to start off the single chain reaction that would eventually cause them to topple. In line with the motto “In a Second around the World”, different motifs from the digital world were depicted in domino form after being set up over a four-day period. “The theme of the event refers to the increasingly simple and fast possibility of contacting people on the other side of the world within just seconds in the present day. Nowadays, e-mails and social networks make this no problem at all”, said Patrick Sinner, explaining the idea behind the project.

A spectacular Builders’ Challenge
Examples of the domino designs created and then toppled included the logos of the Internet giants Google, eBay, Facebook and YouTube, data storage media such as a CD and USB stick and the computer game project “A City of Dominoes”. Another highlight of the chain reaction was the “Builders’ Challenge”, in which the builders Christian Bernges and Julian Kaufmann built a 64-centimetre-long line of dominoes on top of an existing red domino wall in just 90 seconds as the chain reaction crept ever closer.

The pair completed their challenge successfully but the chain reaction came to a temporary halt en route to the structure. “In order not to endanger the further progression of the chain reaction, safety measures are always in place for such occurrences”, explained Patrick Sinner with regard to the connections between individual domino features. The chain reaction ended spectacularly with a pyrotechnic highlight in which a cannon released a shower of silver confetti, installed by a team from the event partner Radio Betz.

Smashing the Hessian state record
Within five minutes, a total of 38,642 of the 42,800 dominoes set up by the team had been toppled. This marked a new Hessian state record far above the previous record-breaking total of 37,014 dominoes.

Further motto-based events in the future
For Sinner, this event marks the start of a plan to relaunch his series of domino events and concentrate on a new theme-based focus. This was his first time creating an event with a themed motto and recording the dominoes as they toppled for publication of the video online. A continuation of the project is already planned for late summer.

The highlights:

• The first major domino setup focusing on a motto
• 42,800 dominoes constructed
• The first live recording for publication online
• A new Hessian state record