Paper is one of the office supplies that we take for granted. It's somehow reassuring to see the stacks of A3 or A4 printer paper, piled neatly by the printer or photocopier. If they run out, we're surprised and surprisingly discombobulated.
In this way, we take office paper for granted. It’s always around us because we need it for work. In a sense, we’ve mentally pigeonholed paper because we use it most for practical, solid, commercial reasons. But paper has another reason for living. And that's art.
Paper and art are inextricably linked. Symphonies, novels, scripts and sketches all find their first homes on paper. 'On’ is the key word; the paper is just a vehicle for the creative work. However paper can be the vehicle as well as the art itself. How? Origami.
We’ve been thinking about origami because of a film we stumbled across, which were looking forward to watching. It's called ‘Between The Folds’ and it's about, well, folding paper and making art. The cast list includes a scientist from MIT, a mathematician who sees connections between advanced maths and origami, a physicist exploring the folded square, and conceptual artists from around the world. Here’s the trailer for it:
Looks fascinating, doesn’t it? But for people who haven’t dabbled in origami, where do you start? Getting some paper seems to be the obvious first step. (Well, perhaps the first step is realising paper is more than just business.)
Although the trailer mentions using square paper, plain A4 office paper should be fine. Having done a bit of digging around, 80gsm copier paper is the right kind of paper stock you should be going for. The paper doesn’t have to be white, but I suspect the weight is important. (Presumably heavier paper makes for better models but is harder to fold.) If you’re a minimalist stick with plain white paper, but do move on to coloured copier paper afterwards.
Once you’ve made a few models and got used to basics of origami using white and coloured paper, get a bit more creative and try some duotone or fluorescent paper. And if you want to up your green credentials as an origamist (?), use scrap paper. Just remember not to use anything with confidential information on it!
You can find more information on origami, as well, as diagrams and tips, at the British Origami Society.
If you’d like to find out more about Between The Folds, check out Green Fuse Films website.
