Erik Demaine & Martin Demaine, Destructors III, above the fold. New Expressions in Origami. Traveling Exhibitions

Transcription

1 Erik Demaine & Martin Demaine, Destructors III, 2013 above the fold Traveling Exhibitions

2 Yuko Nishimura, Wave, 2013 To most, the real beauty of origami lies in its simplicity, allowing everyone to create their interpretation of the world in paper. VANESSA GOULD, director, Between the Folds Above the Fold demonstrates the extraordinary power and potential of contemporary origami. In the hands of nine international artists, what was once considered a children s craft becomes a sophisticated global art form. Paper is transformed into breathtaking sculpture, large-scale installations and conceptual works that express contemporary social, political, aesthetic, and cultural dialogues. Above the Fold is the first traveling exhibition to bring origami installations from around the world to North American audiences. Visionary master folders such as Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine (Canada/USA), Vincent Floderer (France), Miri Golan (Israel), Paul Jackson (UK/Israel), Dr. Robert J. Lang (USA), Yuko Nishimura (Japan), Richard Sweeney (UK), and Jiangmei Wu (China/USA) push the boundaries of paper as a medium to create bold, provocative works. 2

3 Paul Jackson, Untitled, 2014 Each artist will create pieces specifically for this tour their collective works have never been seen before anywhere in the world. These nine internationally celebrated folders comprise a crosssection of contemporary origami artists, ranging in age from 29 to 71, hailing from four different continents, and working in seven different countries. Their origami creations will present original, above the fold commentaries on diverse aspects of modern life and art. Origami, literally meaning paper folding, has evolved from a Japanese craft into a highly expressive, global art form that intersects and impacts the realms of art and science. Today, artists from all over the world are folding paper into Even DNA is folded you and I are born from folding. PAUL JACKSON, Above the Fold artist increasingly elaborate and provocative sculptural works, while scientists and mathematicians are using origami to unlock the mysteries of the universe. Since even our DNA is folded, origami artist Paul Jackson has expressed, You and I are born from folding. We are all, in essence, works of origami. 3

4 Detail of Vincent Floderer, Unidentified Flying Origami, The exhibition celebrates these artists who are redefining a traditional Japanese craft as a modern global genre, inventing unexpected forms of artistic expression. Their works exemplify not only innovative methods of working with paper, but also the power of origami to unite disciplines as diverse as sculpture and geometry, physics and religion, mathematics and the global peace movement. Above the Fold was developed by International Arts & Artists and independent curator, author, and educator Meher McArthur, former curator of East Asian Art at Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California and curator of the traveling exhibition, Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami. This transformation of flat paper into swirling surfaces creates sculpture that feels alive. ERIK DEMAINE, Above the Fold artist 4

5 Richard Sweeney, Air,

6 Detail of Jiangmei Wu, Ruga Swan, 2014 Jiangmei Wu works to illustrate how folding can be expressed mathmatically, physically, and asethetically, how it can be done with different materials and techniques, and how these aspects work together with the conceptual space in which they occur. In her folded works like Ruga Swan (ruga is the Latin word fo a fold, crease, or wrinkle ), the folded forms have rigid properties and at the same time are flexible; they are deployable and can be collapsed again into smaller compressed forms. This installation, created from two folded sections joined together, unites her fascination with interior skin, natural forms, and the effects of light and shadow. There are many examples of folding-inspired design in architecture; however, folded architectural structures rarely make use of one of the main characteristic of folding design the kinetic ability to morph from a two dimensional surface to a three-dimensional surface. Ruga Swan seeks to construct a deployable three dimensional semi-rigid structure that comes from fabricating two dimensional materials, that can be collapsed into, again, smaller compressed forms. 6

7 above the fold Installation of Jiangmei Wu s Ruga Swan (2014) at Springfield Museums, 2014 Installation of Jiangmei Wu s Ruga Swan (2014) at Springfield Museums,

8 About the Curator Meher McArthur is a freelance Asian art curator, author and educator, and curator of the traveling exhibition, Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami. She received a BA in Japanese Studies from Cambridge University and a MA in Japanese art history from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University. She worked for nine years as Curator of East Asian Art at Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, CA, where she curated 15 exhibitions, including Gods and Goblins: Japanese Folk Paintings from Otsu (1999), Constructing the Cosmos in the Religious Arts of Asia (2001), Paintings, Prints, and Drawings by Hokusai (2001), The Nature of the Beast: Portrayals of Animals in Japanese Paintings (2001), Visions of Enlightenment: Understanding the Art of Buddhism (2002) and Kampai! The Arts of Japanese Sake (2004). She also curated the museum s permanent Chinese Ceramics Galleries (2000) and Gallery of Japanese Art (2006). As a guest curator at Pacific Asia Museum, she curated Jade, Silk, Porcelain : An Introduction to the Materials of Asian Art (2007), The Religious Arts of Japan (2007), Lotus Moon: The Arts of Otagaki Rengetsu (2008), Confucius: Shaping Detail of Robert Lang, Vertical Pond II, 2014 Values Through Art (2008-9), and Japan in Blue and White (March 2010-March 2011). She lectures and advises at several museums in Southern California, including the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, and the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, and has advised on Buddhist Art installations for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She is also a visiting professor at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Her publications include Gods and Goblins: Japanese Folk Paintings from Otsu (Pacific Asia Museum, 1999), Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols (Thames & Hudson, 2002), The Arts of Asia: Materials, Techniques, Styles (Thames & Hudson, 2005), Confucius (Quercus, London, 2010), published in the USA as Confucius: A Throneless King (Pegasus Books, 2011), and Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami (International Arts & Artists, 2012). She has also published two children s books about art: Michael and the Magical Museum (Pacific Asia Museum, 2003) and An ABC of What Art Can Be (The Getty Museum, 2010). 8

9 Detail of Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine, Greene Recycling/Destructors VIII, 2013 Miri Golan, Twisted Holy Book, 2014 Artists Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine (Canada/USA) A father-son collaborative team, the Demaines fold, pleat, and twist paper into powerful sculptural forms that illustrate the intriguing and profound connections between mathematics and origami. They use mathematical calculations to create unconventional works that challenge the direction of paper foldling. For years, the Demaines have been exploring the potential of curved folding, in which paper is folded along a curved, rather than a straight line. The Demaines plan to fold a series of their signature, abstract Curved-Crease Sculptures using modular techniques to increase sculptural size. They will also create combined glass-and-paper folded forms, large works that incorporate text, and mobius hypars (curvedcrease foldings) interlocked through space, thus blending art, science and literature. Vincent Floderer (France) An artist who specializes in crumpling, a technique that includes dampening and stretching origami paper to create organic and multi-layered forms, Floderer will create a dynamic, largescale installation called Unidentified Flying Origami. It will be a universe of floating, rotating organic models that move via air flow. The models will show the creative process Floderer uses to develop his crumpling techniques. Each model derives from classical, modular, box-pleated origami forms that he transforms into otherworldly creations. The installation will adapt to each venue s gallery space, changing aesthetically with each presentation. Miri Golan (Israel) A peace activist, educator, and origami artist, Golan will create a series of book sculptures, based on her conceptual Folding Paper piece, Two Books, in which origami figures emerge from the pages of two sacred texts, the Torah and the Koran, and reach out to each other. Golan hopes to use her installations as a catalyst to unite people of different religious and cultural backgrounds. She has founded an organization called Folding Together, a group that encourages Israeli and Palestinian children and adults to fold paper forms as a team, turning the creation of origami into a collaborative expression of hope for a more peaceful world. Golan s work represents the possibility for origami to be not only a means of artistic expression, but also a platform for positive social change. 9

10 Paul Jackson (UK/Israel) A folder who specializes in abstract origami sculptures, Jackson will design a series of large, folded photographs featuring the artist s own hands. The piece, Untitled, will be suspended from the ceiling, with images appearing on the front and back of the sculpture. On one side the image will appear smooth, and on the opposite it will be fragmented or abstracted, offering new perspectives on how we view ourselves. Dr. Robert J. Lang (USA) A former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory laser physicist and professional origami artist, author and lecturer, Dr. Lang will create a large, modular mathematical piece exploring the concept of infinity. In modular origami, multiple sheets of paper are folded into individual units or modules and combined to form larger, more complex geometric structures. Works are held together by the friction and tension created by inserting flaps from one module into pockets of another. Titled Pentasia, the surface of Dr. Lang s work will be composed of equilateral triangles and theoretically extends to infinity without ever repeating itself. Richard Sweeney (UK) A multi-media artist, Sweeney combines handcrafted, threedimensional models with computer-aided design and CNC (computer numerical control) techniques in the creation of his works. He will create a pleated paper installation called Air that spirals downward from the ceiling in a form that blends poetry with precision. Jiangmei Wu (China/USA) An Assistant Professor of design at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she does interdisciplinary work in art, design, mathmatics, science, and engineering. In addition to practicing and teaching art and design, Wu has consistently been interested as in design as it affects the public realm, historically and culturally, and most importantly, from the perspective of sustainable design and development. Recently, she has been investigating the relationship between geometry, surface texture, computational algorithms, and making techniques in the art and science of paper folding. Her recent works, including Ruga Swan, have been made using eco-friendly materials and techniques, for which she has gained international recognition and has been published world-wide. Yuko Nishimura (Japan) A young talent, Nishimura is already an award-winning origami artist. With a background in architecture and design, Nishimura will contribute several framed, wall-hung tessellations. Nishimura comments, Japanese people unconsciously experience the action of folding on a daily basis, and therefore encounter various folded forms. I think there must be a special meaning for Japanese people through this everyday practice, folding.in order to link the past with future generations regarding the form of folding, I do not limit myself to the category of origami but consider the pursuit of any possibility of folding paper. > Erik Demaine & Martin Demaine, Greene Recycling/Destructors VII,

11 Detail of Yuko Nishmura, Shine, 2008 Specifications Number of Works Approximately 15 conceptual works and installations Requirements Moderate security; 4,000-5,000 square feet Booking Period 12 weeks Curator Meher McArthur, author, educator, and independent curator Organized by Meher McArthur and International Arts & Artists Participation Fee $35,000 plus courier travel costs Shipping IA&A makes all arrangements; exhibitors pay outgoing shipping within the contiguous US Tour January January 2019 Contact Alyssa Hockenberry Associate Exhibition Project Manager alyssah@artsandartists.org 11