PAPER ART: ORIGAMI

Origami is the art of paper-folding. Its name comes from Japanese words ori which means folding and kami which means paper. Traditional origami consists of folding a single sheet of square paper (often with a coloured side) into a sculpture. The artists needs to do this 1)... the paper.

The first origami show was held in 1959 in the United States. In 2014, a group of origami artists decided to have another exhibit. They planned to have it in Cooper Union, a college in New York City, from June 19 to July 3, 2014. It was called “Surface to Structure,” and 2)... from 80 contemporary artists. Their art showed how paper can be fold in more than thousands of different ways.

There were many amazing creations. One was a moving robotic origami piece. It was triggered by motion sensors on the wall. There was origami clothing. There were also little figures lit with led lights. The show included very large sculptures, 3)... that were less than a millimeter in size.

Traditional origami involves folding and then unfolding the paper to see the crease on paper. These days, artists use mathematics and computer made designs to create complex crease first. The folds come later. Other works use a technique called wet-folding. It means the artist wipes the paper with a wet sponge or cloth before folding. The moisture makes paper fibers softer, 4)... instead of the more sharp creases.

“The curves are a lot softer and the creases actually stronger with wet-folding,” explained Uyen Nguyen, 22, who organised the show and made one of the works featured. Other pieces were made using another technique called “le crimp”. The technique allows for a rich and detailed texture by crumbling the paper. Artist Victor Couerjoly made one of these works. It shows the figure of a deer but 5)... the deer and its antlers look mostly like a tree and its branches.

“It’s totally different from traditional origami methods, but yet beautiful” Nguyen said. The exhibition showed the visitors that people don’t need any other material than plain paper to create thousand of different designs. All it takes is to be a little creative.