'Biggest drawing' just a big hoax

(Credit: Erik Nordenankar )

A Swedish art student who claimed to have created the "biggest drawing in the world" using a GPS device and an international package delivery service has admitted that the drawing is a hoax.

Erik Nordenankar had claimed that he placed a GPS device in a briefcase on March 17 and then sent the case on a 55-day trip around the world with DHL. He originally stated on his Web site that he had given DHL specific travel instructions on the route that the briefcase should take to yield the drawing. After the package allegedly traveled over 6 continents and 62 countries, it was returned to him in Stockholm, Sweden, where he downloaded the GPS coordinates that were recorded by the device to his computer to generate the image.

The technique is described this way: "My pen was a briefcase containing the GPS device, being sent around the world. The paths the briefcase took around the globe became the strokes of the drawing."

His Web site included two YouTube videos purporting to show the briefcase during its journey and delivery receipts for the package during its circumnavigation of the globe.

However, many visitors to the site pointed out that the route described in the drawing was unlikely to be followed by DHL pilots.

"Were the DHL pilots on acid?" asked one visitor.

Another visitor pointed out technical flaws in the project description.

"A GPS signal cannot penetrate dense materials," wrote a reader using the name Samppa79. "That briefcase looks dense enough to block the signal and the roof of a car or thick walls of an airplane blocks the rest."

Nordenankar has since posted this message to the bottom of the site--presumably because he doesn't want to spoil the surprise--admitting his hoax. "This is fictional work. DHL did not transport the GPS at any time."

A DHL spokesman told the Telegraph that the delivery company had allowed Nordenankar access to a warehouse in Stockholm for a school art project and that it was interested in discussing the hoax with him.

[Riquez-001]

Nice try Erik.
It doesnt matter so much it was a hoax, its a very creative idea regardless.

[wolf_c]

of course someone is going to have to do it know aren't they... most probably richard branson or some other stupidly rich fool will make a giant logo....

[kieranmullen]

It wasn't news before, why is it news now?

Pathetic news CNET.....

KieranMullen

[aaroberts]

I agree it was a very creative awesome idea. Cristo is probably writhing in jelousy. I'm not a big fan of abstract modern art, but this was truely and inspired idea.

[sanenazok]

What an idiot!

Should have looked into how GPS devices worked before putting this out.

GPS signal going through an airplane....right!

Next time hang a GPS unit around a goat's neck and sent it out to see what "art" is created.

Guess his idea beats the other Nordic artists who come up with such novel ideas like "people lying in bed in public."

[wlau]

You are the idiot if you think GPS doesn't work inside of an airplane cabin. It works perfectly fine and I have done it many times after the aircraft reaches allowable 10,000 ft. Way up in the cruising altitude 10,000 ft or higher there is a lot less multipath and other radio interference, and if you have a sensitive receiver like the SiRFStar III or Mediatek, you can easily pick up the signal inside of the aircraft ? you don?t even have to sit by the window. If you go above the clouds, you get an even a stronger signal because the clouds reflect some of the RF upwards, so you are actually getting signal from above and below. I once watched the altimeter on my GPS while the aircraft is climbing and descending through my entire flight and watched it land -- it was totally cool. I even placed my GPS in debug mode to look at the signal strength. As I said before, the signal was actually stronger in the air (above cloud) than it is on the ground! You should check your basic RF principal and how GPS works before calling someone an idiot. Obviously, if the GPS is placed in a very dense box and also inside of a well shielded cargo container like how DHL would transport it, then it?s less likely to receive enough usable signals.

[Composer_1777]

LOL! !!!!!!!!!! I would expect this stupidity only form an american, its nice to see other cultures can be as retarded.

[solitare_pax]

Reminds me of the nut in the American West who tried making the world's biggest smiley face by leaving pipe bombs in people's mailboxes a few years back. A clever idea here though - wonder if some rich person will try it with their mega-yacht.

[benjaminstraight]

Creative, just not true.