Photo of the Day

From December 30, 2012, excerpt from a giant origami crane in Logan Square:

The idea for the crane began because one of her friends, apparently, makes these guys all the time. In fact, as we were chatting in her living room, Sima’s father showed me a small crane that was sitting on the coffee table. 

I learned that the crane in the yard does, indeed, light up in the evenings – and is set on a timer (to go off around 4:30 PM). I also found out that Sima has plans to include a workstation outside, where people would be able to write down their wishes for the new year, create their own origami cranes, and add it to the one in the yard. 

In a way, this additional component transforms the crane from something you just observe to something that you interact with… as anyone passing by would be able to participate.

Hoang Tien Quyet's New YouTube Channel

Check out his first video:

Get a load of that pug mug

Outstanding detail on this pug face, by Marciano Zavala:

Paper: a three tissue paper 74 x 74 cm.
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Origami Designs Store in The Simpsons

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According to The Simpsons Wiki:

Origami Designs is a store that sells origami designs at the Springfield Mall. 

Two appearances:

Episode – "The Day the Violence Died"  

Episode – "Last Tap Dance in Springfield"

How to Play with Nishida Shatner

Watch it to the end.  He diverges from the traditional tsuru.


Check out his models.  His alien is outstanding:

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Last POP for 2014

Towelie by Jared Needle

Jared Needle tried to help me with the Sergey Yartsev ballerina crease pattern.  I did not get through it, but may try again.

A few more photos here.

Labrador designed by Jared Needle

Sunday Funnies

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Box with Automatic Opening

Post by Ángel Écija Blanco.

Christmas Cro$$e$

12-21-2014

Made 30 of these for a friend.  No two were exactly alike, as I didn't follow any pattern. 

An Amazing Year: 2014 Delta Video

Hat tip:  Jane Rosemarin, via O-List

Exposición Papiroflexia Bicolor

Hat tip to the British Origami Society:

 

At the Museo de Origami Zaragoza until March 15th.

Lecture 5: Artistic Origami Design

Back and Forth and Back 1

Some beautiful work by Ian Koss:

Another Owl Study

Beth Johnson's owl had blown me away. 

Here's a new one folded from a triangle of elephant hide with acrylic painted on prior to folding, by Edgar:

Golf Bag with 3 Clubs

12-21-2014

Golf bag with 3 clubs
Created by Jesse Barr
Folded by Michael Sanders from one dollar

With Christmas coming up and me not sure what to get my dad, I finally sat down and had a go at this model (was reminded of it when I visited Won Park's group and saw a request for golfing clubs and a mention of Louis Cooper's model- of which I've done her club but never tried the bag).  Jim Cowling had given me hints at WCOG a year ago.  It wasn't that hard; and I'm pretty sure I essentially for all intends and purposes formed the 3 tips out of the paper for the clubs the way Jesse Barr had done. 

Sunday Funnies

Smile! It's Christmastime!

Hat tip:  Mary Saunders

Happy Hanukkah !

Sunday Funnies

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How to Trisect an Angle with Origami

Hat tip:  Jo Nakashima


*UPDATE 12-14-2014*

Saadya on the O-List makes a great point:

The video is lovely, but I can't help being annoyed that the first discoverer of a method to use origami to solve this problem--Hisashe Abe of Hokkaido University--is nowhere  in the video (body or credits) mentioned by name. It is as if origami is this general pool of knowledge and there are no pioneers worth crediting for their efforts or discoveries. (Meanwhile in this presenter's companion video on "Euclid's Big Problem", Galois and Wantzel--mathematicians--ARE mentioned by name.)

Folding Sheep

Next year is the Year of the Ram.

Hat tip:  Hisako Tanji

Boldly Going Where Folders Have Gone Before

Won Park Enterprise

At Marti's last Sunday, Ron Fujioka brought a stack of bank bill $ that he had been holding onto for Fred Upton for 2 years.  Why?  Because Fred had put out a request for anyone with bills that held the numbers "1701" in its serial- the same as the serial number on the various Enterprises.

So Fred taught Won Park's version of the Enterprise last Sunday.  Fred figured it out from Won's descriptions and from some help Won gave him back when he made a visit out to Los Angeles.

Photos here.

Drawing Origami

Alexander Kurth's review of Nicolas Terry's new book:

Soarigami

Hat tip to  Beverly Baudino for sending me this yesterday:

A Dallas-based company has come up with a new way to end inflight battles in the hated armrest war.
Soarigami is a clip-on, origami-style plastic divider that looks very much like a paper airplane and acts like an armrest extender -- giving passengers a bit more space. 

~~~

The Soarigami is made of strong plastic that folds into a thin profile for easy transport, says Grace Lee Chang, co-creator of Soarigami. The Soarigami securely attaches onto the armrest with flexible spring-action ‘landing gear.’ The ‘wings’ become the new extended armrests and the ‘vertical stabilizer’ in the middle acts as a barrier between two elbows.
“Sora means sky in Japanese, and gami means graceful,” she says. “With the product being origami-inspired and meant to be used in flight, the name Soarigami was born, aiming to soar the skies with grace.”
The Soarigami product is still being tested, but is set to be available for purchase in early 2015 for around $30.

Drunken Origami

Inebriated folders December 5, 2014 at Bang Bang nightclub in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego

Last Friday, I traveled to San Diego to teach origami in a dance nightclub setting.  So low lighting and wasted party-goers made for some challenging teaching.  Conversation fun and folding devolved with one group into everything being a sexual inuendo.  I would have been off brushing up on origami underground.  Since it was also a Japanese-themed party and nightclub, and they had Sumo wrestlers perform, I think this would have been a good model to teach and have fun with:

 Since everyone was inebriated, this is probably how exciting it would have looked to them:

 And incidentally speaking of Sumo, I recently saw this cool Sumo wrestler by Yoo Tae Yong:

Photo source:  Beth Johnson Origami

You can see more angles and other models on his Flickr.

It was a closed event, business company holiday party; and I was kept over the scheduled time (which I suppose is a compliment).

I was impressed with a couple of patrons getting through folding a Carmen Sprung Stern Franziska.  My attention-getter was constantly launching my boomerang glider. 

Driving back to LA latenight, I assumed would be a breeze; but it wasn't.  That's when freeway construction and repairs happen (not that it doesn't go on in daylight, either) and I hit more than a few heavy traffic jams and annoying detours.

Sunday Funnies

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Saturday Morning Cartoon

Spy vs. Spy:

Crane-making production

Video description:

An update on where I am in my quest to make 1000 Origami Cranes and A little motivation to help you find the strength and persistence to do something like this. You can do it! Be motivated and persistent like me. I have the persistence to fold all these cranes and you can too!!!
Lots of fun stuff on my website including origami projects like a flapping bird, and a paper water bomb.

A goose!

I think this is from the Jim Carrey movie, "Liar, Liar", using the crumplegami technique:

NOA #472

Sunday Funnies

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Carmen Sprung's Stern Franziska as a Blow Spinner

Folded one of these for the first time at Sunday's POP; and then spontaneously just decided to hold it between two fingers and blow.  It spins pretty well!

I had one of my gymnasts demonstrate how:

A thimble-like bone folder/creaser

Need an alternative to a bone folder?  Try Fold-Ease:

Hat tip:  Dimmis Petrides

Bennett Arnstein shows off a Star of David spinner

I folded Carmen Sprung's Stern Franziska for the first time; then turned it into a cool spinner.

Biggest surprise of the day was Jared Needle dropping in.  He apparently moved back here two days ago from his stint in Dayton, Ohio.

Photos of today's POP meeting here.

Sunday Funnies

Origami Fugu Puffer Fish (Sébastien Limet)

Sunday Funnies

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Bennett Arnstein Shows off a spinner

From 2008:

Sipho Mabona Interview

David Donahue's Elephant Head Gift Box

Origami Day

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Happy Veterans Day.  Fold a peace crane for vets (kami-flaged); and thank them for their service!


Examiner.com:

November 11th is known commonly as Veterans' Day, Remembrance Day, or Armistice Day around the world, but it has also been designated as Origami Day by the Nippon Origami Association.

Origami is the well-known art of folding paper into desired shapes. According to the NOA, origami first began in Japan around the time paper was introduced from China in the 7th century. It was originally used to help decorate places for religious rituals, but slowly evolved over the centuries into an aesthetic art form with multiple schools of disciple. These days, most consider true origami to be accomplished by using only folds, no cuts or pastes. 

One of the most commonly folded and famous origami shapes is the paper crane. It is recognized, particularly in Japan, as a symbol of hope, peace, and longevity. One popular story depicting this symbolism is that of Sadako Sasaki. She was a young girl who suffered from leukemia caused by the radiation released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb at the end of World War II. The commonly told version of her story goes that she believed if she could fold 1,000 paper cranes she would be granted a wish. However, she passed away before accomplishing the feat. School children around the world still fold paper cranes in her honor.

November 11th was chosen as Origami Day by the NOA because it matched the idea of peace expressed in Armistice Day, the end of World War I in 1918. 11/11 also symbolizes the four sides of a square - the most commonly used starting paper shape for Origami folders.

January 5, 2010

Simple method of dividing paper into equal parts

I first learned this method from Yami Yamauchi at WCOG:

Sunday Funnies

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Hat tip:  Mark Kennedy, via O-List

How to be a jerk origami tipper

Tuesday Funnies

Origami Bottle Cap

Someone brought Nick Robinson's Business Card Origami.  I decided to try out the bottle cap model because it was a pretty cute concept.  I then stuck the folded model on one of the beer bottles in Marti's refridgerator.  I wasn't going to tell her; but then, couldn't resist seeing what her reaction might be.

Morisue Kei's Imperial Walker

Source:  Karol Kafarski

Hongyi Wan's Origami Phoenix

Sunday Funnies

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Thomas Hull on Computer-Generated Origami

Is it cheating or somehow less humanly artistic to create origami through computer programs?

Boing Boing (video is 2 years old):

Part one is here.

Via Sok Song > Vanessa Gould > Thomas Hull.

NOA #471

Happy Halloween

Offered them toothbrushes for their Halloween treat; but they didn't go for that. So gave them Talo Kawasaki's patty bat instead

Origami Sighting and sprout

$2000:

Hat tip: Colin Rowe

The Bat Hat

April 2005

This model was published in one of the OUSA Convention books:

With the visor lowered down, I'm blind as a bat!

6-22-2007

Origami in Space

Via Dr. Robert Lang to the O-List:

In the 21^st century, origami has caught the attention of engineers who are using it to create all sorts of new structures--from collapsible packaging to airbags for cars. Origami has even found its way into space!
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), mechanical engineer Larry Howell and a team of researchers from Brigham Young University collaborated with NASA to design a solar array that can be tightly compacted for launch and then deployed in space to generate power for space stations or satellites.

The collaboration began when Howell received an NSF grant to explore combining origami with his focus on compliant mechanisms, which are typically single-piece structures that are jointless and flexible.

Read the article at the National Science Foundation.

Yellow Origami Umbrella Movement

In wake of the Sa, and political climate in Hong Kong, comes a couple of true origami kasa models.  Hat tip to Sy Chen for the first video find:

Traditional:

At the Genius Bar (That's what my station was called)

More from the Van Nuys Japanese Garden:

Cat by Gilad Aharoni

Sheep Dog by Seth Friedman

Echo

Origami-inspired furniture:

Designed by Tom Faulkner:

Echo was inspired by Origami, the Ancient eastern art of paper folding.

This strong, urban design skilfully echoes the complex folds with seemingly effortless simplicity, yet the mathematics is carefully worked out in order to give the table the necessary strength. Echo is a modern and an original piece of origami recreated in plate steel.

Hat tip:  Origami Blog

Sunday Funnies- The Real Lives of Origami Figures

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While scavenging for Sunday Funnies cartoons, I discovered the work of Aaron Caycedo-Kimura.  I wasn't the only one, as Discover Nikkei has been republishing his collection of origami-related cartoons.

A brief bio on Discover Nikkei:

My mother taught me how to fold when I was a kid, and I've been folding ever since. Origami figures are fun to make and marvel at, but what are they REALLY like?

~~~

 Aaron Caycedo-Kimura is a visual artist and writer. A sansei born in Santa Rosa, CA, he now lives on the East Coast, where he earned a Master of Music at The Juilliard School in New York City. He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for his paintings, and his poetry has been published in print and online. He works as a graphic designer and lives with his wife Luisa, a poet, in Connecticut.

Shafer's Bat Pop-Up Card

From Origami Pop-Ups to Amaze and Amuse:

The Origami-inspired Kasa

Sure, the air umbrella is cool and all....but how would it function in windy conditions?  And when the battery runs out after 15-30 minutes?

Enter a kickstarter campaign for a new invention, inspired by the origami umbrella:

NPR:

Sunday Funnies

3-D Ghost Racer!

Samurai Hat

Robert Neale's $ Butterfly and Instant Origami

Here are a couple of clips from yesterday's Origami Festival.  I have much more, but not the time and energy right now to sift through and edit them down:

Van Nuys Japanese Gardens Origami Festival

I'll post some video clips, later.

Photos here.

Sunday Funnies

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Hat tip:  Scott Cramer, via O-List

Scott also makes mention that hovering your cursor over the cartoon reveals the following caption:

Hat with Ears by Gerardo Gacharná

Tadashi Mori:

Hat with Ears, by Gerardo Gacharná.
Made with two square sheets of paper.
Recommended size: 60cm (24in)

You can find step-photos for this model by Gerardo on his site.

The Miniature World of Anja Markiewicz

Published in The Fold:

Imagine your whole exhibition, more than 30 models, stored in a matchbox. Anja always presents her models with a magnifying glass, otherwise you won't be able to see much of its beauty and elegance. As a master in miniature origami, she decided to go this extra mile and become a professional origami artist.
As always, nine questions are answered, and this time we have a bonus – I tried my hands in miniature-folding, under the smiling supervising eyes of Anja, and it was a very interesting experience...

Read the rest of Ilan Garibi's interview

Pumpkin by Janessa Munt

From a hexagon.

Paper Glider Machine Gun

Hat tip:  Joe Power via Origami-L

Jesus Diaz:

This German genius has created one of the most awesome inventions in recent memory, one that will bring incredible voice to humanity: A fully automated paper airplane machine gun. Yes, people: A machine gun that folds plain paper sheets into airplanes and then fire them across the sky.

History of paper gliders:

Marti's 1st Sunday without Marti

Marti was once again traveling the world; so Margot hosted the meeting at Marti's house.

Among some of the things taught:

Talo Kawasaki's patty bat
David Donahue's penguin
Skating penguin by Taichiro Hasegawa
Ron Fujioka taught Joseph Wu's $ Utopia Bacon


I surrendered my Origami Starry Revolution book over to Joe, to work on.  I love the Ray Star Torus model, but not sure if I have the patience to get through the project.

Photos

Sunday Funnies

Photo of the Day

Great composition!

By Paul Frasco

Halloween Origami Instructions: (Fernando Gilgado Gómez)

How to float an origami boulder

Why Your Child Should Play with Paper (Ages 4-8)

Via Tuttle Publishing

If I had an obsession this year, it would be paper. Not just origami, seriously, it was just paper. Paper is a lot like a person in a way. You can do things with it but at the end of the day, it's still paper. You can use it to hold stuff. You can use it to pass information. You can also use it to appeal to someone's emotions. You can alter the shape by folding or tearing but it is still paper. Paper is the ultimate open-ended toy.

Read more.

NOA October issue #470

Heather's video description:

A book review of NOA Monthly Origami Magazine, issue 470, October 2014

Today I review this issue of Monthly Origami Magazine. In this issue are some great origami designs for October. This issue focuses on forrest animals and things for Halloween.

NOA Magazine is great! I highly recommend it. You can get a year's subscription delivered from Japan to most places in the world. They accept PayPal.

NOA Website: http://www.origami-noa.jp/
Magazine Subscription: http://origamikyokai.cart.fc2.com/

Alexander Kurth's Helmet

Smart Buildings

Hat tip Joel Stern via O-List:

This Origami-Inspired Office Design Expands, Contracts, And Changes Its Shape

Want more room? Not a problem. Using drones and inflatable balloon-type devices, a new kind of transformable architecture could create buildings that morph to meet our needs.

Read more.

POP

I seem to have lost my origami somewhere....

 Lisa Tanahashi finished off our POP meeting by teaching Carlos Bocanegra's persimmon/tomato.  Fun and easy model.

Travis taught Robert Lang's koi.

I met a couple of young folders who are into the super complex.  They borrowed Travis' Kamiya works 2 and folded about 100 steps worth of the minotaur in 2 hours.


 Joel Stern encouraged us to make monkeys for the OUSA annual holiday gift.


 Stopped by Olympic and Sawtelle (Japanese district in Santa Monica) for some dinner and found these rare $1.50 packets of 50cm x 50 cm super-sized kami.

More photos here.

Sunday Funnies

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Do you ever dream origami?

I woke up this morning from a dream where I had taken Assia Brill's curlicue and modified it into a swirl rose (now that I'm awake, I don't think it'd quite work).  I was pleased with it and was showing it off to other folders.  One woman started to almost take it apart, reverse engineering, and I got testy on her since it was the prototype.  Then I started buying some floral tape and wiring products at Michael's and David Brill was there, behind the counter as a cashier.  I told him about my new variation of the curlicue.

Swedish song with origami

September 14, 2014 episode of I Kveld Med Ylvis, Vegard, Bard and Calle
Hellevang-Larsen performed A Song For Swedish Viewers, during which they
folded origami.

Hat tip:  Carol Martinson, via O-List

Everyone is Legendary at Something

Hat tip Carol Martinson, via Origami-L:

Robert Lang panel after "Animals out of Paper" play today

Joel Stern said this play is good:

September 15, 2014 to October 5, 2014

Location: 

Los Angeles, CA USA

Description: 

EAST WEST PLAYERS
Tim Dang, Producing Artistic Director
With generous support provided by the S. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment for East West Players
presents the
Los Angeles premiere of ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER
By Pulitzer Prize Finalist Playwright Rajiv Joseph
Directed by Jennifer Chang
"CRITIC'S CHOICE!" - LA Times
Now Playing thru October 5, 2014
Post-Show Discussion with Renowned Physicist and Origami Artist Robert J. Lang
Sunday, September 21, at 2 p.m.
A chat with renowned physicist and origami artist Robert J. Lang, along with the performers and creative team immediately following the show.

Members of the WCOG and local folding groups were offered tickets for contributing to the models donated for the play.

Make Lincoln smile, frown, look the other way

It incorporates the tent fold.  (^_~)

Sunday Funnies

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Voices of LA Last Sunday

Joel Stern invited Lisa Tanashi and myself to help him at the Voices of LA Culminating Festival event yesterday, an initiative of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, promoting the diverse cultures found in Los Angeles:

A FREE, family-friendly celebration showcasing all five cross-cultural artistic collaborations commissioned specifically for Voices of LA. The day also includes a Food Stage hosted by Evan Kleiman of KCRW's Good Food and featuring some of LA's top chefs; interactive workshops; food trucks (kosher options); and multiple stages with klezmer, mariachi, Korean & Persian music and dance, plus other Los Angeles cultures.
The festival takes place in and around the renovated and historic 1929 campus of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Koreatown.

Joel and Lisa taught origami workshops while I ran a booth showing off models and providing entertainment.  We were outdoors, and the heat was crazy hot. 

As is my historical wont, I keep missing the best moments with my camera.  I should have my GoPro run the whole entire time.  I had some great reactions and funny moments that did not get captured.


Photos.

Sunday Funnies

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Origami in the Garden

Origami Ponies by Kevin Box, photo/Kevin Box, courtesy Santa fe Botanical Garden

Santa Fe Travelers:

Origami in the Garden is a large-scale outdoor sculpture exhibition created by Cerrillos artist Kevin Box. The exhibition at the Santa Fe Botanical Gardens on Museum Hill opened on April 25^th. The entire exhibit features 15 origami sculptures. Using lost wax casting and fabrication techniques Box captured the delicate nature of origami, the art of paper folding, in the more permanent medium of metal. A single blank page inspired each sculpture in the Origami in the Garden collection.  If you haven’t seen this exhibit yet put it on your schedule. It runs through October 25^th. Admission is free to New Mexico residents (with ID) on Sunday, September 14^th from 9am to 5pm.

The Curious Art of Origami

New exhibit coming soon to Pasadena:

Using mathematical calculations to map out the folds necessary to form particular elements of an animal, bird or insect, origami artists from all over the world have been designing increasingly complex forms, often out of a single square of paper with no cuts or glue. Some artists, however, have pushed the artistic boundaries of origami by experimenting with different types of paper and new folding techniques to create works that barely resemble traditional origami – elaborately patterned geometric forms called tessellations and simple figural or abstract forms created with very few folds.

Curated by Meher McArthur
Featuring art by Robert Lang, Linda Mihara & Giang Dinh
The Curious Art of Origami opens September 19, 2014.
On view daily (except Sunday) through November 19, 2014.
9:30am-6pm in the Shumei Hall Gallery.

I believe Meher McArthur is the same curator that coordinated with Dr. Lang during the Origami exhibit at the Japanese-American National Museum in Little Tokyo a few years ago.

Just five more minutes.....

It has been said, "time heals all wounds." I do not agree.
The wounds remain. In time,
the mind, (protecting its sanity), covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But, it is never gone.
-Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

Ron, Dan,.......David.

“Just five more minutes, Daddy…”
-David

The Truther is Out There

I mean, WAY out there!  Lol!

Remembering...

Self-Folding Robot

Previously posted.

Origami for Self Defense

Well, on the heels of the bottle opener out of paper, I recalled seeing a video of one of my old teachers, Dan Inosanto, teaching about how the old Filipino Escrimadors would roll up a newspaper very tightly and use it as an improvised impact weapon (rolled up densely, it's about as good as wood).

Poking around, this is an example of what you can do with paper:

For kicks, I thought I'd run "self defense origami" in the YouTube search engine.  I was shocked when this lame video came up (not expecting to find a thing under that topic heading):

Yup....5-and-a-half minutes of your life that you will never ever get back.



You're welcome.

Fold a Bottle Opener

Nice party trick:

I first learned this from Won Park....who apparently picked up from YouTube.

1st Sunday at Marti's yesterday

I was not planning on attending because of work; but after the gymnastics meet ended, I made the hour drive to Marti's.  Missed the first two hours. But most people didn't start leaving until after 5pm.


Andrew Ting tried to teach me Beth Johnson's pig.  Not entirely successful, but it was fun.  Andrew folded one out of a 4 inch square.

More photos.

Owl-standing!

I am blown away by this:

Beth Johnson Origami:

New owl design. Inspired once again by Tomoko Fuse's book, Spiral. One uncut square, no cuts or glue.

Such a clever usage of an existing technique, "picking up the ball and running with it."