Art is that which gives life to life. Some are close to it by purpose. Rest are close to it unknowingly or as one simply can’t avoid it. Right from stone age, man has simply accepted art as essential ingredient in life and that’s the reason we have various forms and meanings to art across the globe, across different culture and also that’s why it is ever evolving.
As kids, among many of our silly games and toys, the one that was my favorite was to sail paper boat. The merriment wouldn’t have been the same if it is a ready made toy boat in place of self made paper boat. Later this art which is called Origami - art of folding the paper artfully, was shared to us in great deal in our weekly craft class in school. Our art teacher who had great talent and skill to turn anything into a beautiful art piece, had made it very interesting and favorite class to be looked forward in each week. I used to think why can’t this craft class replace all other periods which come more than 3-4 times in a week or atleast why can not craft class be given as a selective with the games and PT (Physical Training) periods which I never liked as I just hated losing every time L. The favorite art theme which our art teacher introduced in the same craft class is still my favorite till date and that theme is “Kasadinda Rasa”. Near translation of this Kannada phrase in English is “Funk the Junk”. Its a different story and will take pages to pen down if I start on how and when I applied this theme in few cases and how some had become a funny experience or led to even suffering sometimes and which are being recollected very often to have a hearty laugh by few of my friends, roomies and family. The inspiration for this also lies in our Mangalorean cuisine and ofcourse from my mom because main principle for both is that “hardly anything can be discarded that easily”. Yes, It is not an exaggeration if one says that there is hardly any fruit/nut/vegetable/leaves which does not find its place in Mangalorean/ Karavali cuisine/home medicine.
Coming back to Origami, I happened to visit a Chinese new year festival exhibition in Melbourne few years back and that small exhibition had some strange magnetic power to hold visitors from leaving the place soon without offering back enough of praises. As usual and like everything else about Chinese, I was simply left awed with open mouth at their geniuses at Origami section of the exhibition. They had almost every manmade and nature made creatures on this globe under that one small roof with difference being only that they were handmade from paper with few folds and unfolds and turns. That actually shouldn’t have been a surprise as China is land of origin for Origami which later traveled ad triumphed in Japan .
Recently I was staring at a brochure in shining red colour paper at my friend’s hand during one of those idle time in office. And that made me think about the leaping frog which we used to make in childhood. My hands started itching and I started folding the paper hesitantly as I was not sure whether I could recollect all the steps properly now. But to my surprise I could make the leaping frog from that paper which is now sitting proudly on my desk. This frog had drawn attention from many passers by and many had tried their hand in making it leap forward and also in making it limp eventually with so many pushes. One of the funny comments passed on the frog was from my friend known for his great talent for connecting the things. He told about the fable story of sleeping beauty who kissed a cursed cute frog to actually find a charming prince being freed from the curse and then they married and lived happily together thereafter. Then he asked whether I too have any idea of that kind with this frog. Ha Ha.. But another interesting comment was from another colleague who told how this Origami is being looked at as mathematical method of finding solution behind this mysterious universe quoting what he read in one of the National Geographical magazines. That was a great news for me and I started googling about it to find a gallery of information on Origami as science.
It is very surprising that this ancient form of art is a new tool for invention and also for application of new inventions. Thanks to advanced technology and computers which are empowering the analysis and research work by making it simpler, easier and quicker. It has made world to take new interest in Origami and Origami has transformed from an art form into Origami Science now. Shooting paper rockets is not just naughty kid’s play now. Japanese scientists have envisioned to launch origami paper planes made of sugarcane-fiber. Origami has given new designing technique to Lawrence Livermore national laboratory which is aiming to fold the plastic space telescope lens which is of the size of a football field, small enough to fit into a payload bay. University of Oxford used an origami pattern in heart stent design which allowed the device to fold into a very small package for its trip through the small blood vessels leading to the weakened artery where it could then be expanded to provide support and hold the artery open. Science is now believing that origami-the folding art will help it unfold the mystery behind how this universe is folded/formed.
This has triggered now a new thought in me. I was told as a kid that God is a great artist, architect and magician and he formed this world by spreading a beautiful & colourful big carpet on this globe and then he fixed mountains to hold the carpet and then he painted beautiful singing birds, pouring clouds, roaring tigers and many more. Now I think that God, the artist, the architect and the magician might as well have just taken a beautiful and colourful piece of big paper and folded and unfolded it in style.
More on Origami is here
As kids, among many of our silly games and toys, the one that was my favorite was to sail paper boat. The merriment wouldn’t have been the same if it is a ready made toy boat in place of self made paper boat. Later this art which is called Origami - art of folding the paper artfully, was shared to us in great deal in our weekly craft class in school. Our art teacher who had great talent and skill to turn anything into a beautiful art piece, had made it very interesting and favorite class to be looked forward in each week. I used to think why can’t this craft class replace all other periods which come more than 3-4 times in a week or atleast why can not craft class be given as a selective with the games and PT (Physical Training) periods which I never liked as I just hated losing every time L. The favorite art theme which our art teacher introduced in the same craft class is still my favorite till date and that theme is “Kasadinda Rasa”. Near translation of this Kannada phrase in English is “Funk the Junk”. Its a different story and will take pages to pen down if I start on how and when I applied this theme in few cases and how some had become a funny experience or led to even suffering sometimes and which are being recollected very often to have a hearty laugh by few of my friends, roomies and family. The inspiration for this also lies in our Mangalorean cuisine and ofcourse from my mom because main principle for both is that “hardly anything can be discarded that easily”. Yes, It is not an exaggeration if one says that there is hardly any fruit/nut/vegetable/leaves which does not find its place in Mangalorean/ Karavali cuisine/home medicine.
Coming back to Origami, I happened to visit a Chinese new year festival exhibition in Melbourne few years back and that small exhibition had some strange magnetic power to hold visitors from leaving the place soon without offering back enough of praises. As usual and like everything else about Chinese, I was simply left awed with open mouth at their geniuses at Origami section of the exhibition. They had almost every manmade and nature made creatures on this globe under that one small roof with difference being only that they were handmade from paper with few folds and unfolds and turns. That actually shouldn’t have been a surprise as China is land of origin for Origami which later traveled ad triumphed in Japan .
Recently I was staring at a brochure in shining red colour paper at my friend’s hand during one of those idle time in office. And that made me think about the leaping frog which we used to make in childhood. My hands started itching and I started folding the paper hesitantly as I was not sure whether I could recollect all the steps properly now. But to my surprise I could make the leaping frog from that paper which is now sitting proudly on my desk. This frog had drawn attention from many passers by and many had tried their hand in making it leap forward and also in making it limp eventually with so many pushes. One of the funny comments passed on the frog was from my friend known for his great talent for connecting the things. He told about the fable story of sleeping beauty who kissed a cursed cute frog to actually find a charming prince being freed from the curse and then they married and lived happily together thereafter. Then he asked whether I too have any idea of that kind with this frog. Ha Ha.. But another interesting comment was from another colleague who told how this Origami is being looked at as mathematical method of finding solution behind this mysterious universe quoting what he read in one of the National Geographical magazines. That was a great news for me and I started googling about it to find a gallery of information on Origami as science.
It is very surprising that this ancient form of art is a new tool for invention and also for application of new inventions. Thanks to advanced technology and computers which are empowering the analysis and research work by making it simpler, easier and quicker. It has made world to take new interest in Origami and Origami has transformed from an art form into Origami Science now. Shooting paper rockets is not just naughty kid’s play now. Japanese scientists have envisioned to launch origami paper planes made of sugarcane-fiber. Origami has given new designing technique to Lawrence Livermore national laboratory which is aiming to fold the plastic space telescope lens which is of the size of a football field, small enough to fit into a payload bay. University of Oxford used an origami pattern in heart stent design which allowed the device to fold into a very small package for its trip through the small blood vessels leading to the weakened artery where it could then be expanded to provide support and hold the artery open. Science is now believing that origami-the folding art will help it unfold the mystery behind how this universe is folded/formed.
This has triggered now a new thought in me. I was told as a kid that God is a great artist, architect and magician and he formed this world by spreading a beautiful & colourful big carpet on this globe and then he fixed mountains to hold the carpet and then he painted beautiful singing birds, pouring clouds, roaring tigers and many more. Now I think that God, the artist, the architect and the magician might as well have just taken a beautiful and colourful piece of big paper and folded and unfolded it in style.
More on Origami is here
- Between the folds: http://www.greenfusefilms.com/
- Pieces n Creases: http://library.thinkquest.org/5402/history.html
- Origami Science: Ancient Art To Cutting Edge Science: http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/origami-science/
- Origami Science: http://www.world-science.net/otieenchernews/070207_origami.htm
- Origami Resource Centre: http://www.origami-resource-center.com/origami-science.html
- Fold Everything: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/03/origami
- Fold Everything blog: http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/09/confessions-of-an-origami-novice-i-fold.html
