Origami Tessellations

I have a lot of superfluous photos from the book writing/documenting process - including many extra photos from the step-by-step photo shoots for the various projects included.

So here’s a bunch of them for the model “Bird Base Stars”, by my good friend Mélisande (or also Mélisande* on Flickr.) She graciously gave me permission to use this design in the book, along with a few other delightful patterns as well.

Nothing serious here, I just like to look at the way the pictures flow when I look at them in Aperture or flick through them on my computer, and I thought I’d try to share the same perspective with you.

Funny thing about this model: I folded this version (the easy one) and then a larger, more complex model from the same paper, and that beautiful blue just rubbed off all over my hands! between photographs I had to wipe my hands clean with rubbing alcohol. It looked like I was turning into a Smurf.

I hope the arriving spring finds you well, my friends! It’s a time of growth and renewal, and possibly my favorite season. Enjoy it!

-eric

hierarchical

Originally uploaded by goran konjevod.

Goran Konjevod has done a lot of work over the last few years combining math and art - the output is fantastic things like this new piece, called “Hierarchical”.

I love the way it all flows from a strict, ordered process and yet produces such an organic, vibrant result. From a distance I would have a hard time believing this is paper, much less a single uncut sheet of it!

Goran also has an exhibition running currently in Phoenix, AZ, which includes this work.

I’m looking forward to my next opportunity to check out his art in person - probably at the Origami USA convention this June in NYC. Maybe I can even get him to share some of his design secrets!

I’m still folding paper - see some of the work at the end of this post! But I’ve just started taking GMAW/MiG welding classes, and it’s a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to learning some metalworking skills and applying some of my love for geometric design… and seeing what comes out of the combination!

I have a lot of fond memories of my grandfather working in his shop welding things, and my first attempts at welding tonight (while messy) made me feel a connection with him, and it was a happy-making experience.

And then this - my first exposure to a computer-controlled plasma cutter! It was love at first sight!

I have, however, been doing work in paper as well. I took a week in early February and went on a personal “art retreat” in NYC, and I was able to get some interesting work done. I also came away with a lot of ideas for new work, which is still continuing.

Here’s a design for a bowl (of all things) which I am still refining, to be completed in some wonderful multi-hued blue handmade flax paper. Please forgive the quality of the photos here, I was taking photos during the build process for my own reference.

Here’s the blue flax that I’m intending to use, from Cave Paper in Minneapolis.

And here’s a sample of a variant pattern folded from the same paper in a chocolate / brown hue:

The paper has a delightful roughness to it, with an uneven deckled edge that should really make a great rim to the bowl. I’m looking forward to the final version of this; I just have to make sure that I calculate everything properly, as I only get one chance to make it, and it’s going to take three sheets of the blue flax to do it in the proper scale.

If anyone has a good suggestion for a clear and strong glue, please let me know. I haven’t found any satisfactory “connecting” materials yet, which is also holding things up a bit. Ideas welcome.

Can’t help but post this beautiful octagonal star design by Mélisande*:

She calls this piece “Stars, Flower and Octagons”. It’s an extension of a design she was exploring in December, based on an irregular negative-space octagonal star - the shape created when you connect lines from all four corners of a square to the midpoints along the sides.

She further details the origins of this shape via some geometrical explanations on this flickr post:

It has been used quite a bit historically, including this Moorish mosque (now a church) ceiling in Toledo, Spain. (Image used under CC license permission from albTotxo’s flickr photostream.)

And of course I would be remiss not to mention Mélisande’s new blog, starting 1/1/2008!

La Chronique de Mélisande*

I’d be hard pressed to find a nicer person out there. She has this to say about her art:

I’m not claiming my art to be only a product of my own genius, nor have I proprietarian pretentions on it : many of my ideas actually come from friends of mine and I’m happy when someone else find my work inspirational. It isn’t origami until you share it, according to my friend Philip Chapman-Bell.
Art is a way to abolish time, distance, and a consolation to our mortality.

Congratulations on your new blog, my friend, and I look forward to reading more about your creations.

For all of you out there, С новым годом, Happy New Year, Bonne Année, Feliz Año Nuevo, and prost Neujahr! May this new year of 2008 bring interesting times and good luck to all of us.

-Eric Gjerde

PCOC Gallery Exhibition Items, 5/5

Originally uploaded by EricGjerde.

I’ve been experimenting with this three dimensional folded structure for a little while now, and for reference I’ve created a simple crease pattern in case anyone wants to fold this.

You can grab one of two versions - one on a grid, and one without. They are much smaller versions meant for reference understanding; just expand the construct to make it larger.

http://www.origamitessellations.com/docs/3D_wigglies.pdf

The version superimposed on a grid: (sorry for the misalignment, this was done for reference purposes only, not for publication anywhere!)

http://www.origamitessellations.com/docs/3D_wigglies_grid.pdf

I hope you enjoy, and if you fold one of these please send me a photo! I’d love to see how it turns out.

I’ve been following the continued explorations of Andrew Hudson, via his Flickr stream.

Lately, he’s been working with a series of three-dimensional tessellation structures, particularly stretched pleats and box pleating. These are some areas that I have explored recently as well - there’s much fertile ground here for new ideas. Seeing what he thinks of and all his conceptual work is very inspiring, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of his constructs as time goes on.

Here’s a small sampling of his work, with links to the original flickr images.

Check out this box pleated house structure - imagine pleating together a whole city? Andrew linked to this additional blog post, as well, with another fantastic box-pleated house… it serves as a good example of what can be further be done.

This reminds me, of course, of a recent work by one of my favorite Italian origami creators, Lorenzo Marchi. When I see this design, all I can think of is a proto-city, waiting for tall skinny skyscrapers to grow upwards, making an entire cityscape. If one was sufficiently ambitious, I suppose an entire landscape could be created, from the city core to the rural countryside. I’d love to see that!

3D Cubes, by Lorenzo Marchi

I recently shipped 5 pieces to Vancouver for an upcoming exhibition at the Pendulum Gallery, coinciding with the PCOC 2007 convention. Much of it is new work, representing some new folding concepts and ideas that I have been exploring lately.

Night Creature, 2007

Odd Man Out, 2007

Printemps, 2007

Pecten Magellanicus, 2007

Vertebral Stretch, 2007

I also have a number of pieces on display at the Treasures of Origami Art exhibition at the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa, Israel. This wonderful exhibition was the product of much hard work and planning by Dr. Saadya Sternberg, who was kind enough to ask me to participate.

The Tikotin exhibition is currently open, and will be running until December 2007. The Pendulum Gallery exhibition will be from October 29 - November 10, 2007, in Vancouver, Canada.

Something I mentioned to my wife the other day- I have yet to participate in any gallery or museum exhibitions here in the United States! I hope to have a show in my hometown of Minneapolis some day soon, but so far I seem to spend most of my time shipping my creations abroad. At least I’m getting much better at filling out customs paperwork!

-Eric

Teaching at Origami USA Convention, NYC June 2007

Originally uploaded by EricGjerde.

Well, I had all the best intentions to add more content to this booklet - but it’s hard for me not to just put in all the material from my book! So I’m posting it now in the same format that I used at the Origami USA convention this summer.

Download the PDF

This document is just a small taste of the material from the book, put together from some of the draft work and preliminary writings. The final product is quite lengthier and more detailed, as well as more polished. (Editors are very good at taking text like mine and making it readable!)

This 8 page booklet is meant to be printed on 11×17 (or A3, in a pinch) double-sided- so it can be folded into a proper booklet shape.

I had a lot of fun putting this together- thanks again to Jamie and Jeff for helping me to create and format this document!

Prolific origami genius Brian Chan created this how-to video for one of his creations, Mens et Manus. It’s so very, very funny.

Click To Play

You can view (and download) the movie in larger formats here:

http://chosetec.techtv.mit.edu/file/93/

(Thanks to Brian Webb for the link!)

I’ve been doing a lot of “idea work” lately- also known as playing around and not doing anything seriously. Here’s some examples of work in progress, which I intend to keep developing into some new things.

This came out of some explorations with complex 3D surfaces with non-convex edges in the shape of a zig-zag. This came out quite nicely but the large zig-zag shape made the paper curve into a circle… so I added some compression in the center, which made a corrugated pattern in the midst of it all. It’s sort of a strange mix between my normal tessellation techniques and origami corrugations, as done by Ray Schamp and Polly Verity.

Working on completing this piece- it’s sort of a triptych, although it’s on one sheet of paper. Once I wrap it up I’ll be documenting the process via some instructional material to be posted on this site.

I’ve been fascinated by “pleat explosions” after seeing the work of paper artist Jen Stark. I wanted to riff off her work, transposed into my chosen methodology; it’s been difficult due to inherent limitations with uncut folded paper techniques. So I decided it was high time I start trying new things, and I cut the paper in specific locations to free up some pleats.

I haven’t spent a lot of time doing the modeling and shaping of this trial attempt, but I think there’s some nice possibilities in it. I think there’s a whole family of floral shapes that can be pulled out of this, and I’m contemplating a large tessellation of these floral designs. It will also allow me to try some dye techniques, using some ideas from Jane Araújo and Joseph Wu, both of whom have done a lot of experimentation with dyes of various sorts. More on this to come.

I found a new geometrical pattern to be exploited on a triangular grid- also used sparingly in the tessellated corrugation piece above. It yields a large 3D cone shape- I’m sure there’s something that can be done with this. For the meantime it’s being filed away under the “things to be explored later” category.

Last but not least, my publisher sent the final lasers for my book to me for last-minute corrections. After a few tweaks I sent it back, and it was shipped off to the publishers last week! I’m glad to have this project completed; it’s been a lot of fun but also a bit stressful at times. It was also a very valuable learning experience, and I’m better prepared now for the next book.

-Eric