This February, Dr. Vinson Eugene Allen (USA), a physician in Southern California, received a Guinness World Records title for the tallest 3D-printed sculpture of a human, unveiled during Black History Month.
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The massive sculpture by Dr. Allen from Gardena, California, stands 6.04 m (19 ft 10 in) tall, and achieved the Guinness World Records title on 5 February 2022.
Weighing about 1,500 pounds, the giant sculpture was shipped in 45 parts from Minnesota, where it was printed, to its final location in California. It took 12 weeks for a team of 9 people to print and then assemble the human shaped sculpture.
Named “The Statue of Inspiration”, the sculpture is a symbol not only of this record’s inspirational nature but also of Dr. Allen’s story and passion for his community, who says that “the great purpose behind the statue brought a team of wonderful people together”.
Initially, Dr. Allen created a sculpture that was placed on a freeway billboard in Los Angeles as part of an advertising strategy for his urgent care centers.
Dr. Allen is an emergency medicine physician and the founder of Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care facilities, located throughout Southern California.
Needing to catch the attention of drivers in such a congested and crowded environment, he knew he needed to go big, and created a massive 3D-printed sculpture that resembled the image of a doctor.
Days later, when patients and community started commenting on the impressive statue, Dr. Allen began to contemplate the idea of breaking a Guinness World Records title.
However, after some research, he learned that his sculpture didn’t meet the minimum requirements to break the record title at the time.
“Determined to continue to inspire the community, I started again. The obstacles were overwhelming not to mention where would I put the second statue,” says Dr. Allen
“The initial statue was designed before the Covid pandemic for advertisement. Then, the pandemic hit, and all production activities were shut down. As an emergency medicine physician with multiple urgent cares in Los Angeles (LA), we were an important source for medical treatments as primary doctors started telemedicine and the Emergency Departments were full. I stepped out front for the LA residents when resources were scarce, no jobs, no money and small quantities of food in stores. I began to test, feed and clothe the community.” – Dr. Vinson Eugene Allen
The idea of achieving a world record title stayed in Dr. Allen’s mind and his main goal behind it became clearer: he wanted to create the tallest 3D-printed sculpture of a human as a symbol to celebrate and empower his own community.
Dr. Allen adds that, “the advertisement statue changed in my mind to a beacon of hope (The Statue Inspiration)”.
Fast forward to February 2022 and Dr. Allen’s second sculpture met the record’s requirements and turned him into a new Guinness World Records record holder. He noted that the achievement was made even more special as it was verified during Black History Month, widely celebrated in his community.
“The obstacles were overwhelming, but as we shared stories about ‘Who wears a size 45 shoe?’, the fun of creation began to overcome the obstacles.”
“My advice to anyone and everyone is: Dream Big. Stay Focused. Let no one tell you what you can’t do!”- Dr. Vinson Eugene Allen
The previous record holder was James Bruton, who achieved the title with a sculpture measuring 3.62 m (11 ft 10 in) in Winchester, UK, on 20 October 2017.
