Monday, July 08, 2013

My 2nd 1st Sunday at Marti's House of Amazing Origami Fun

It was quite a big turnout.










 I taught the Vernon Isaac tetrahedron with frame that Joel had taught me yesterday (and I swung by and taught it to Joe Hamamoto on my way to Marti's).  When Allison Reisel arrived, she pulled out a version that was different.  We took it apart and folded it as well.  Same unit as the frame version (I don't know what Vernon called his models- if anyone knows the names, I'm game)- only with a couple less steps.  I imagine the framed tetrahedron modular came about after this one.



*UPDATE* 17:57

Chila Caldera mentions that the original model (the version Allison brought to meeting) is attributed to Hiro OKAMOTO and is diagrammed by Satoshi KAMIYA in Tanteidan Convention Book 7 (pg 237) and is called Tetrahiron.  It mentions Metrocards as the paper of choice; which was Vernon's thing....Hmmm.....

*END UPDATE*

Allison Reisel brought some pre-scored crease patterned cardstock I had given her a couple years ago of Akiko Yamanashi's twist box.  People at the meeting hadn't seen it before, so we folded some.

Here's an example of the model, along with footage of the die I had the printer cast in order to score the paper:





I taught Max Hume's jack-in-the-box to those interested.  Marti told me a story about how a magician had folded her one while waiting for an Australia flight a few years ago.  I was in shock.  I asked, "Was his name 'Joel' "?  She wasn't sure, but as we talked more, Marti became sure that it was indeed the amazing master mentalist, Joel Bauer.  Joel was the one who taught it to me, having learned it from Tom Stamm.  Small world, indeed.

 Marti had out on display, 3 giant mirage pieces (or mirascope) that appear like 3D holographic images that aren't actually there.




The pig is not really there!

Having folded Vernon's metrocard models from business cards today, those few of us who overstayed our welcome at Marti's began talking about business cards.  Marti showed us one she obtained permission to do, but is having a difficult time finding a printer who will do it.  It involves an embossed surface that feels different, depending on which way you rub your finger over it. 

Marti also brought out two friends who had their business cards made up as the impossible object- or hypercard (something I had done initially years ago after Joel lectured me about boring business cards). 
While at the Matsuri Festival in 2005, in my hotel room, I figured out how to do the endless card on my own:


There's also magic tricks you can do in doling out business cards, which can create a memorable impression.

The topic of business cards came up as well when I spent time with Joel Stern Saturday morning.  He was inspired by Joel Bauer's video:


Joel talked to me before about making business cards that stand out.  He showed me a few examples from friends and associates he has influenced- some were puzzles.  Joel's own business card at the time was a big pop-up (okay, just reviewed the video I'm embedding and it's in there).



Today Hisako Tanji shellebrates (she's so into turtles!) her birthday.  Happy Birthday, Hisako!


Bird-shaped gyoza by Hisako


More photos here.



3 comments:

Unknown said...

About the business card models. The one on top is a simple variant of a cuboctahedron model that has been attributed to Mosely, Kawamura, and Jackson as a parallel discovery. It has square instead of rectangular faces.

For that matter, I (re)discovered it myself while trying to rediscover Vann's equilateral triangle unit.

That variant was titled "Tetra'Hiro'n" when it was published in the 2001 Origami USA Collection by Hiro Okamoto, although I suspect that others have also discovered this particular unit as well.

The first time I recall seeing the frame variation was on a page about NYC Metrocard folding, but I believe it is long gone and I don't recall a creator being identified.

There is a page on the OUSA site for a class in 2011 (and another in 2008) that shows two models interlocked (although I had to load the image separately because they have code that is interfering with the functionality of the site).

http://origamiusa.org/specialsessions/metrocard-modulars

http://origamiusa.org/specialsessions/mta-origami

There it attributes John Torres, but it does not indicate if he designed the unit, is responsible for this assembly, or both.

The Metrocard version is also pictured in Paula Versnick's photos from the Origami USA convention in 2002.

http://www.orihouse.com/newyork200206/index.html

Not that it really helps all that much, but at least there is a name for one of the units. I have spent a lot of time digging for information about business card models and it is very challenging to identify creators because there is often no attribution and the capability of the cards is limited enough that it seems like almost everything has been discovered more than once by someone.

The WordSmith from Nantucket said...

Thanks for doing some additional research and feedback.

I just checked my OUSA 2001; and I also have Tanteidan 7, which Chila Caldera says is in there as well.

malachi said...

Sorry, I meant to leave my name on my earlier comment. =)