11 levels of complexity

A Coy Koi

Carp

Designed by Robert Lang

Folded by Michael Sanders

At Westcoast Origami Guild

6” x 6” square of Japanese foil paper

Found this last week while cleaning. I folded this at WCOG when Ben Muller taught it (2005?  2006?). I’m thinking he learned it from Dr. Lang (so whatever year that may have been in which Robert taught it) and committed it to memory (this was before diagrams came out and before “Origami Design Secrets” was published).

One day, I would like to fold one and incorporate the scales. On the bucket list...

How Origami is Inspiring Scientific Creativity

Superbrain

Dr. Lang's email sent to the Origami Email List:

Hi all,


Several weeks ago, I was invited to Nanjing, China, to be one of the “course-setters” for a Chinese game show, “Superbrain”, in which two teams of contestants compete in various types of mental challenge, and the one I was involved in required examining origami crease patterns with spots on them and estimating how many of the spots would be visible on the outside of the folded model. The show is now posted on the intertubes:


http://www.iqiyi.com/v_19rrc1ybno.html?vfm=f_245_360d


You have to wait through 45 seconds of commercials to get to the show. The origami stuff starts showing up at about 40:00 in.


I want to especially draw your attention to the other course-setter, Pei Haozheng (裴浩正), who is a very talented origami artist and designer (and, incidentally, did the vast majority of the course-setting work; I was basically the window-dressing). Most of the origami you see during they show is his work. He’s a skilled artist and a nice guy, and we had some fun chats, where I learned more about the origami scene in China. There’s not a lot of folders, and a few famous (and infamous) ones who have a tendency to pass off others’ work as their own (to the chagrin of the rest), but the community of original designers is vibrant, if small, and growing. I expect we’ll see more from them in the coming years! And keep an eye on Pei.


Enjoy,


Robert

I gave up in hunting for an embed code.  So click on the link and enjoy!

Mary Anne's Butterfly

Folded from 6" duo-colored kami

My favorite quick fold, at the moment.  Lang's solution for getting the antennae and still not be an overly complex model is genius.   Dr. Lang said that he likes the model well enough that it will probably see diagrams made and published, sometime, somewhere.

I only took two classes at PCOC:  Robert Lang's Mary Anne's Butterfly and Beth Johnson's cardinal.

Great Big Story

Toot from Dr. Lang, via Origami-L:

I don’t know if it’s really a great BIG story, but CNN did a nice little story on my folding:


http://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/folded-universe-the-astonishing-beauty-of-origami/


A few errata:


(1) There’s a few errors in their chronology on that page. I’ve sent them corrections. Until then, FAKE NEWS! Sad!


(2) At one point, I seem to be saying I invented an airbag. Which is wrong. (I contributed to an airbag algorithm.) I expect the Senate to investigate.


(3) I borrowed a line from Marty Demaine in BTF at one point. Marty, your royalty check is in the mail.


Other than all that, I hope you like it.

CNN:

Exponential Explosion of Origami Evolution, Revolution, and Innovation

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.

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.

Folded: the Origami Art of Robert J. Lang

 From the NYTimes:

The discipline of origami may seem quaint, but modern folders are pushing the edge — none more than Robert Lang, a former physicist with hundreds of paper designs to his name. His exhibition in Pasadena goes way beyond cranes: There are a moose, a chameleon and a scorpion, a tiny hummingbird sipping on a paper honeysuckle, even a praying mantis biting off the head of her mate, folded from a single square. Dr. Lang has scaled up, with 60 life-size koi fish, and down, collaborating with scientists to build an origami bird, from a tiny purple sheet of self-folding polymer, that requires a microscope to view.

At the Williamson Gallery in Pasadena CA:



Exhibition:  June 17- Aug 20th

Opening reception:  Thursday June 19th, 7pm-9pm.

A Pajarita Puzzle Cube

Dr. Robert Lang, via the O-List:

A couple of years ago I wrote a paper for the Journal of Mathematics and the
Arts, titled "A Pajarita Puzzle Cube in Papiroflexia", about the underlying
mathematics of a modular cube that has the silhouette of a Pajarita on each
face. The "puzzle" aspect is that even after you've folded the 12 units, it
is not at all obvious how to assemble them in such a way that one obtains a
perfect Pajarita on each face.

I just learned that for a brief time, JMA is offering the paper as a free
download (normally it's behind a paywall), and so if you'd like to fold the
units (folding instructions included), try the puzzle, or create your own
version, here's the link:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17513472.2013.765311

Enjoy!

Robert

P.S. Oh, and I also just learned that it was awarded "Best paper of 2014" by
the journal. That's the "tootiness" of this post.

Salt Creek Tiger Beetle by Robert J. Lang (TUTORIAL)

Massive undertaking with an over two hour long tutorial by Djorde Jovanovic:

Photo of the Week: Giant Pegasus

By Kevin Box:

Source

Hat tip:  Deb Pun

I missed out on the post-Conference tour of Kevin's Studio last year since I had to get back home early from PCOC, for work.

Robert Lang in Gran Turismo Documentary

Dr. Robert Lang,  via the Origami Mailing List:

Last year, some folks from Sony asked to film me for a documentary they were
making about a videogame that has something to do with driving a fast car.
(Not sure of the connection to origami there, but hey, sure, let's do it.)
They've now released the documentary on YouTube, here

It's not quite "Between The Folds" (actually, it's about a million miles
from BTF), but they do include a nice little segment that ties in origami
that starts right around the 25:00 mark and runs for about 3 minutes. (The
whole video is 83 minutes. I haven't watched the whole thing.)

Background trivia: the design I'm working on in the image is this Katydid

I diagrammed it for an upcoming compilation book from Gallery Origami House,
which I just learned has been placed on indefinite hold ;o(. (Indefinite,
but not entirely stopped, they say, so there's hope.)

Origami Zealots not So Zen? Or Above the Fold?

Sarah Morris, Installation view, Black Beetle, Fondation Beyeler, 2008, Riehan/Basel, photo: Todd Eberle”

 Back in March, the lawsuit against Sarah Morris had arrived at a settlement.  Thus spake Dr. Lang:

No Bones About It

*ahem*:

12/13/2005 - A folded eagle appeared on the TV series Bones in "The Man in the Fallout Shelter" (Christmas episode # 108). In the show, the forensic team is quarantined just before Christmas and prepare handmade gifts for each other from items in the lab. FBI agent Booth (David Boreanaz) makes an origami eagle for Dr. Goodman, the director of the Jeffersonian. The model was the eagle from "Origami Zoo" by Robert J. Lang, and was folded by Michael Ujin Sanders.

That would be yours truly!

I only just viewed the episode in question. I have no idea what the premise of the show is about.
If I remember correctly, I folded 2 Robert Lang Eagles from Origami Zoo, and about 2 more that were partially folded, in case they decided to film David Boreanaz "folding" the model (they settled on showing Boreanaz ripping a sheet of paper, fading out to the next scene)

The model only makes a brief appearance toward the end of the episode. I like where Dr. Goodman, who opens the present with the origami eagle, asks, "You made this?" And Boreanaz gives a modest "yeah."

You can view the episode in its entirety here.

Robert Lang's Origami Flag

The NYTimes Magazine asked 10 artists to design "green" flags to illustrate Thomas L. Friedman's cover story. Here's how origami artist Robert J. Lang created his flag.

The Format "The Compromise"

From Robert Lang to the O-List:

A couple of months ago John Montroll and I were approached by a music video producer who wanted to fold some of our designs for a music video. Dave Brill has kindly pointed me to a link to a page with a link to the now-completed video; it's here.

Enjoy!

(The video itself is 35 MB, so don't try to watch it from dial-up.)

Robert J. Lang

Hat tip: Gilad Aharoni for the YouTube link.

Robert Lang Interview

from GDC 2005, by Stephen Ackroyd.

You can make your own here.