Category: Origami

The Return of Origami from Space

Well my busy spell at work has ended a bit sooner than expected, so I have some time now to get caught up on a bunch of long-standing projects. First off, I’ve been thinking about a second origami book, and tossing around ideas for a topic or theme. One of the more promising ones is to expend my repertoire of Origami from Space models with a constellation of related models. The other night I came up with a concept for one. I’m not sure whether to call it Space Probe or Radio Satellite, but over the last few days I folded several versions, experimenting and refining it.

Here’s two of the best so far. One version uses a 12×12 grid and the other 16×16. This model is a but unusual for me in the that it starts with a grid and uses some box-pleating, but it’s appropriate to the subject. The base is similar to my War Elephant, in that it embeds a Hydrangea tessellation in the middle of the paper and proceeds from there. Some day soon I hope to take some pictures on a black background with some salt sprinkled on it to simulate outer space. Meanwhile I also have an idea to fold a Sputnik.

Animals out of Paper Live

Last night I went to see the play Animals Out of Paper, to which I contributed a few origami models, and many more of my designs were folded by others for use in the production. The play was really excellent on a number of levels. Animals Out of Paper was written by Rajiv Joseph and this production was directed by Merri Milwe and starred David Beck, Nairoby Otero, and Maneesh Sasikumar. Talo Kawasaki was the origami consultant.

This production was in a funky church on the Upper West Side. Off-Broadway theatre is a bit like bar bands for actors. You have some incredibly talented people working on a very low budget, doing great work without the accompanying fame. In this case the play had only three characters, which means that the writing and the acting have to be very good cuz there’s very little else. The story centers on the relationship between an origami master, her protégé, and her protégé’s math teacher who also happens to be her suitor. The actors really brought there characters to life with energy and charisma. By the end, you really care about them and their situation, which is more than you can for the typical modern movie.

Along the way there’s drama and humor, and a good amount of subtext and symbolism without getting cheesy, and a good deal of exploration of the creative process, particularly with respect to the question of loss and loneliness. Origami is the vehicle for all this, so there’s also a good deal of origami culture, actual technical knowledge, and even some in-jokes. The playwright is not (as far as I know) an origami guy but obviously cares a lot and spent some time at origami conventions and talking to folders, and he really got that stuff right. I have a friend who works at NASA and I was thinking this is how Steve must feel when he watches Star Trek. I mean, it sounds like the actors understand how a spaceship actually works.

Animals Out of Paper is an excellent play, very well written, and this production was brought to life with excellent actors, direction and origami. Unfortunately last night was the end to the run, so you’ll have to wait for another revival to see it.

Paper Galore!

Back around Xmastime Brian Webb of OrigamiShop.us gave me a bunch of paper, to fold a bunch of things. Well this project is now complete (or at least the first batch); all that remains for the weather to clear up so I can get out to the post office. I folded some nice models and discovered some interesting papers along the way. Here’s the rundown.

Bear Hide – This was the first paper I tried, and the first thing I folded, naturally enough, was a Bear. Next was a Moose. The Bear was from an 8” square and the Moose from a 16” square. This paper looks and feels a bit like plain brown paper wrapping paper, except it’s thicker and tough, much link Wyndstone. Very foldable, perfect for models like these. An excellent paper, didn’t even need to wetfold. I’ve already used up my stock; must reorder.

Grainy – this came in a packet of 50cm sheets in a variety of colors. It’s another very nice paper. Bright colors, a bit on thick side, but not super-thick, with a bit of shine and texture on the surface, and springiness in the folds. I folded one of my Roses out of a 8” square. It came out very nice, better than the ones I usually fold out of kami. I also folded a Dragon from a 16” square. It also came out really nice. I had to wetfold a couple spots where the layers built up. Another really excellent, foldable paper.

Thai Duo – this paper is on the soft and thick side, and has a fuzzy texture. One side is either brown or blue, and the other is white (or at least a whiter shade of pale). I’ve been looking for a long time for a good paper for two-colored models, and this quickly became my favorite, at least for brown and blue subjects. I only had one 16” square so I divided it into four 8” squares. I made two foxes and two walruses and they all came out great, even at that small size. Again, no need for wetfolding. Imma order some more of this in brown to make a larger fox and some in blue to make a narwhal. Having finally found the right paper I can put those models to rest.

Rhino Hide – I made an Elephant because I don’t have a design for a rhino and didn’t feel like coming up with one. I used a 12” or 14” square. Rhino hide is another really good paper. A lot like Grainy but maybe a bit thinner, shiny one side.

Lokhu – this was paper I didn’t know before. The paper is thin, with a bit of a fibrous sheen to it, a bit soft, very interesting. I folded a Giant Squid out of 19” sheet. The model has a lot of layers which made it appropriate for thin paper. I had to wetfold it at the end so the tentacles would keep their curl, but it turned out great.

Agua – this is another paper I didn’t know before. It’s very beautiful, and thin but strong, with a texture on one side and kinda waxy on the other, and very crisp to fold; it almost resembles origamido paper. Normally I don’t work in style that requires this kind of paper; my preference runs to the ticker side. So I tried a few models to see what would work. I folded one of my roses, which came out nice enough, but perhaps not as soft and sculptural as I’d have liked. I folded one of my Penflower tessellations. That came out quite striking looking. Getting warmer. Then I tried on of my new Butterflies. These came out absolutely fantastic. Just the right kind of model to take advantage of the thinness and crispness of the paper. The winds are nice and sharp and the texture adds a lot to the appearance. The paper was thin enough to the legs and antennae, even working from a 6” square.

There’s lots of other papers still to explore, so I hope to have an update in the springtime. Meanwhile, thanks Brian!

Animals Out of Paper

I recently completed a new origami commission. It’s a pair of dogs to be used in a revival of the play Animals Out of Paper by Rajiv Joseph. This is my first commission for the legitimate theatre. The dogs are based on my Timber design, although I modified the proportions to give them each an individual character. The paper, provided by Talo Kawasaki, the production’s origami consultant, is 18” Canson in bright red, so the models are large and also quite sturdy.

Animals Out of Paper is playing in February at West Park Church on 86th Street in Mahnattan. You can find out more about the production here.

Origami Shop USA

My friend Brian has recently opened the North American franchise of Origami Shop at www.origamishop.us. For those of you who don’t know, Origami Shop was started by Nicolas Terry in France and is probably the premiere place to get high-end papers for origami for complex models. They have a great variety of papers in large sizes, many of which you can’t get elsewhere, and they have reviews of the different papers detailing things like thickness, texture, and what kind of folding they are appropriate for. Of course you never really know until you have that paper in your hand and start folding. So once a year or so I’ve been placing an order to restock my favorites as well as sample a variety of new papers. The only downside is the expense and slowness of having paper shipped from Europe.

Until now, that is! Brian now can ship to addresses in the USA and it arrives within days. Woo-hoo. I noticed on the website that some of the papers have an accompanying photo of a model, but many don’t. So I offered to Brian that I’d fold a bunch of models for his site, in exchange for the exposure, if he’s send me some paper. Brian graciously agreed and sent me quite a lot of different kinds, including a few I’d never heard of, and some suggestions for things to fold out of the different papers.

As luck would have it, the package arrived on Boxing Day, just as I was loading of the family for a trip upstate to visit my parents. It’s pretty relaxed up at their house so I had some time to dig in and start exploring. I folded one of my Brown Bears out of a paper called Bear Hide. (I think I may have seen it before but under another name. Brian and Terry seem to be rebranding different kinds of paper out there as “Rhino Hide”, “Lizard Hide”, etc., after Elephant Hide, which is the name in the origami community for Marble Wyndstone, the gold standard for heavy paper for complex models. For a while Origami Shop was the only place you could get Elephant Hide, at least in the States.)

Bear Hide is a great paper. I don’t think I’ve ever folded a nicer Bear in fact. And believe me I tried quite a few when I was doing the photos for my book, but they were all either the too thick, or to thin or the wrong color or whatever. I liked it so much I folded another, and then a Moose, and another Moose.

Then I tried a paper called Grainy. Brian had suggested I fold one of my Roses out of it. I almost felt bad taking a big sheet and dividing it down into smaller squares, but I made 5 squares out of it, the largest of which is 2/3 the original size, so it’s still pretty big. This paper is a bit thicker than I normally use for the rose, but it came out quite nice. I had to wet fold the tabs that tuck underneath to finish the model, but that’s it. For the big remaining square I think I’m going to use it to fold a Dragon.

I hope to fold a bunch more models in the days ahead and send them to Brian when I have a boxful. So look for them to appear on origamishop.us later this winter.

Christmas Cabaret

I’ve been really busy the last couple weeks with the Xmas Cabaret, a big fundraiser at Michelle’s school. Learned like 35 songs on sax and (one on) ukulele. It was a ton of fun. Last time I did one of these shows was three years ago, and I remember working my ass off because I hadn’t played a live show in years and needed to get back into playing shape on the sax, plus learning the tunes while transposing, skipping around the songs, and making my sound fit in with the group.

This time it was alot more relaxed, mainly cuz I already knew the people, and knew what to expect, and also cuz my chops are up and I can sight read and transpose and all that no sweat. Since Michelle L., the director, also runs the school choir, for this show she picked less traditional songs, by artists like Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Harry Connick Jr., Billy Squier, and some more mellow stuff like The Carpenters and Bing Crosby. It was the same crew, and great to see them all and perform together again. Mike L. on piano and musical director, his wife Michelle as show and vocal director, Brian and Kristen running the stage and props and sets and tech and all. Plus a dozen or so singers. The band was rounded out by George on drums and Shredder on guitar, both excellent musicians. They even let me sing the Clarence Clemons part on Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Six words, twice! They drafted Lizzy to do the sound, so she got some good experience running a mixing board.

It was a week solid of rehearsals, with performances Friday and Saturday night and matinee Sunday. And in between I taught an origami event at the Museum of Natural History in the city. I had been thinking of bagging it, but alot people signed up so I went. Even had a chance to check out the OUSA holiday tree before my class started. I’ve been donating models to them for a few years now and they have assembled quite a collection. In addition to my new stuff this year, I my stuff from previous years was well represented. The class itself went well. I was teaching models from my book Origami Animal Sculpture, starting with the Octopus since that was prominently displayed under the tree. Also got to the Common Loon and the Narwhal. Not bad for two hours. It’s funny, though, the more I teach the more I find ways to simplify the models to make them easier to get a across. I think if I had to do this book over it’d be that much more refined. Ah, well, a lesson to apply to the next one.

And, as you can imagine, tonight I’m pretty tired so I’m catching up on my rest.