Thai artist/designer Saran Yen recently tipped me on her paper cut-out animation. Titled Early Morning Life, the film was inspired by her family, and was produced as a form of critique on the vast gap between the rich and the poor in modern Thai society. The miniature set designs were created from different materials such as paper, fabrics, acrylic or even organic component such as wheatgrass, leaves etc. The result is a folksy, dream-like quality of a typical Thai village scene filled with fantastical rainbow of hues and textures. Check out the animation after the break

Click here to view the embedded video.

Early Morning life is an animated film told through the eyes of a stuck up middle class son about his parents’ poor childhood, their hidden ambitions, and how they escaped from the harsh reality of life. Emphasizing the fact that “class strata” exist even in a family institution, the film’s visual style is taken from neon-paintings that are commonly seen in souvenir shops and usually considered “low” art. It is a critic on modern Thai society where the gap between the rich and the poor is extremely vast. This results in everything from politics, lifestyle, culture, or even in a family institution. Nevertheless, the focus of the film will be on the working class or the mundane Thais and how they create their mental space to escape from the harsh reality of life, also known as the term “escapism”. It is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an “escape” from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life. It can also be used as a term to define the actions people take to help relieve persisting feelings of depression or general sadness. Some might call it daydreams or ambitions but this escape place either way is a mental cure from the rigors of daily life.

The main message is simple. The appreciation of little things in life, hopes and dreams, can also be very rewarding and that true happiness is there somewhere in the backyard.

Textile and printmaking artist Anni Albers of the Bauhaus fame has been a source of inspiration since design school. Her later printmaking etchings and lithographs in the 70s comprised of geometrical prints with triangular articulations loosely reminiscent of creased origami patterns on paper.

Enjoy!

If you like the works of Anni Albers, check out this book: The Prints of Anni Albers: Catalogue Raisonne

via but does it float

Photos courtesy of National Gallery of Australia

What happens when your filing cabinet is bursting at the seams from years of storage? Take cues from artist Nava Lubelski who used tax returns, rejection letters, and other collected waste paper and  rolled them into these breathtaking sculptures.

Artist statement:
Shredded paper sculptures, such as the Tax Files, reconfigure a mass of paper that has been grouped and saved due to written content, into slabs reminiscent of tree cross-sections where the climate of a given year, and the tree’s overall age are visible in a single slice. Historical information is revealed in the colors of deposit slips, pay stubs, receipts and tax forms. The cellular coils spiral outward, mimicking biological growth, as they are glued together into flat rounds, which suggest lichen, doilies or disease. The re-use of paper, as well as the attempted “repair” of the long-lost original tree, is an examination of feelings of despair about waste and unsustainability while simultaneously responding to the shadow impulse to hoard and keep what is no longer needed.

Tax Files

Rejection Letters

Matt Booth and Peter Crawley created Hypo: hypotrochoid designs generated by adobe flash and stitched on paper.

Matt built a small Flash tool which controls the radius and rotation speeds of the circles, with a code to specify colors and line thicknesses. Working like a digital spinograph, the tool performs an animation, and the designs were saved as a PDF to be printed at a large scale. Peter then worked on the animation results by stitching on paper.

More prints shown here.

via Creative Applications

Armed with a fascination for the pentagon, Dutch sculptor and artist, Gerard Caris amassed an extensive portfolio charting the evolution of his geometrical studies in the form of paintings, relief sculptures, 3D sculptures and even architecture. Believing that he has introduced a new chapter in the history of art, he named his artistic pursuit as Pentagonism.

Here are a few exclusive picks of his works:

Large polyhedral net structure rotated to reveal its changing shadows cast on the wall. Made of steelwire, cardboard, linen, paint.

another polyhedral net sculpture

view looking up from below

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Rhombohedra relief sculptures

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dodecahedron sculpture

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Architectural study: modular residential construction

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A painting from the Cosmos series

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Gerard Caris in his studio

More artworks on Gerard Caris’s website

Part of my formative years as an architecture student was spent fiddling with fabric while making references to fashion to solve issues of space and structure: a process which I truly enjoyed. Hence I was really excited to come across Elizabeth Delfs – a Perth, Australia-based visual artist whose soft sculptures function as fashion with reference to architecture. Her shape-shifting pieces are abound with tectonic qualities, and are crafted with human interaction in mind, forming dynamic shapes when in motion.

Working with materials such as foam, fly wire and plastics applied with repetitive cutting, smocking and printing, Elizabeth Delfs constructed billowing forms that switched between the interior and exterior, structure and surface. When worn, her garments challenged the wearer on the notions of commercial beauty – on what it means to dress up in unconventional forms, and whether the garments are indeed ‘architecture’.

On a recent June day, Elizabeth Delfs took time in answering a few questions, and shared some thoughts on her inspirations and aspirations as an artist with an interest in interdisciplinary works and collaborations. Huge thanks to Elizabeth who graciously provided the images of her wonderful pieces!

P|F:  Could you tell us about your background, and what interest you about working with textiles?
Elizabeth Delfs (ED): I completed my degree in Fashion and Textile Design at Curtin University of Technology. I have worked between fashion, theatre, design, visual arts etc. I am not so much interested in textiles as I am in material culture; being the language of material and how this evolves and is appropriated through process and concepts, and how these outcomes and processes are reflective of individual and collective ideas to do with past, current and hypnotized histories and artifacts. This is what I am interested in; how these disciplines interweave and speak about cultures from an anthropological perspective, acting as sign posts for the time we live in and provoke alternative thinking. Textiles and fashion is of course a very rich terrain to reference, because cloth and garment are so intimately entwined with all aspects if human existence, be it in Western society or hunter-gather tribes.

P|F: What are your sources of inspiration, if any?
ED: I am interested and influenced by a lot of different art, design, fashion and music. I especially love Japanese fashion designers Issey Miyake, Junya Watanabe, Rei Kawakubo. I am also interested in architects Frank Gehry, Diller Scofidio + Renfro,  as well as visual artists such Maria Blaisse, Mary Temple, John Powers, Olafur Eliasson, Anish Kapoor, Dale Chihuly, Louise Paramor, Matthew Barney, Hiraki Sawa, Ruth Asawa.

P|F: Do you have any current/upcoming projects you are working on?
ED: I just finished working on a collaboration with architect David Barr, creating a set piece for a contemporary dance production for Steps Dance company (view the images below). Barr based a piece of the set on a work of mine and we produced it together which was a great experience. We worked using sheets of powder coated aluminum which we spray painted and applied a folding process. We produced around 50 pieces and arranged them suspended in a fashion that resembled a nest for the Phoenix from which the colour palette was also derived. I am also working CODA Architects on a public art project for a new building in Northbridge, (which is the night life district of Perth, Western Australia), and making new work.

P|F: If you have an artist or person in mind that you would like to collaborate with in the near future, who would it be and why?
ED: I would love to collaborate with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, they have done some amazing projects that are very innovative and move comfortably between a variety of disciplines, and produce projects that are conceptually and materially provocative.

P|F: Elizabeth, I’m definitely excited to see what you’ll come up next! Wishing you all the best in your future projects!

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photographic essay on the ‘space between’ series, with Sydney photographer Helen Eleftheriou and stylist Janai Anselmi

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the revolution series

photography: eva fernandez

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the collapsible series

photography: Eva Fernandez and Stephen Armistead

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installation in collaboration with architect David Barr for Steps Dance company

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the space between series

photography: Britt Salt, Christoph Hoppen

images courtesy of Elizabeth Delfs

Singapore has held a special place in my heart, partly from my childhood days spent in the island/country, and partly for dear momma who still calls it home. So I’m pretty stoked about an exciting exhibit coming up at the DMY Berlin Design Festival, which will feature artists and designers from my favorite city dealing with my favorite subject – paper.

Anonymous, a Singapore-based design firm who is the chief curator of the paper exhibit, called on 12 creative individuals to transform the humble material into objects of their imaginations. The result is Help Save Paper, which I regretfully would miss, but is a must-see for all you paper-crazies if you happen to be in Berlin! Below are some of the works to anticipate.

Much thanks to Felix Ng of Silnt for providing the images.

– Untitled by Ying Hui of demisemiquaver –

Project description:

This is a story about death. Almost.
For sure, it begins with death, which gives birth to many things: Fear, ingenuity and life.

Once upon a time, paper was an important aspect of every part of our lives. It gave us privacy when it was a screen, it sheltered us from rain as an umbrella. It was an expression of artistry in the hands of skilled paper-makers.
Thanks to digital proliferation, paperʼs numerous variants and breeds are dying out, leaving only the dull A4 copier paper, most commonly found in offices. In such dire straits, weʼve called on twelve individuals from all artistic disciplines to create an object using only paper – to create things of beauty, things of usefulness or anything else they can imagine, as long as it elevates the status of paper – from a surface for printing, to a versatile medium of brilliant creativity.

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– White by Mike Foo of Moof –

– n. 275 Waves by Grace Tan of kwodrent –

– Dear Alice by Yanda –

– Paper Tray by O.K. –

– Wound by Jonathan Yuen –

Project Credits

Initiated by: Antalis (Singapore)

Curated by: Anonymous Pte Ltd

Design & Art Direction: Felix Ng (silnt)

Photography: Jae Hann

Old films and cassettes were brought to life by artist Erika Iris Simmons who meticulously shaped the tapes into the likeness of popular figures such as Michael Jackson and John Lennon. The self-taught artist is inspired by a philosophy of how a spirit lives in a body, likening these portraits to ‘ghosts’ dwelling inside the cassette packaging. Love how Erika matched and constructed the tousled locks and frizzies on Marley and MJ with the curls on the tapes. Anyway, these are a few of my favorites:

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robert smith of the Cure

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paul griffiths

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lauryn hill

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Bon Jovi tribute with “Slippery When Wet” cassette

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promo for a radio station in conjunction with a German ad agency

left: kungfu cassette.   right: beat boxer

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the Dude

images via Erika Iris Simmons’ Flickr

Thanks to Lucie Hallenstein, a Fine Arts student at Australia’s RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), who recently sent some images of the Fold and Field exhibition where her lovely paper construction was displayed.

Based on a repeated triangular fold, Lucie’s paper constructions create spaces the viewers can enter, both physically and imaginatively.

Limm could totally pass as sculptures, but they are actually computer-generated images by depotArt. Would it be great to see these built as actual topographic models, in paper perhaps?

via today and tomorrow

Augmented Sculpture is an art installation that combines three-dimensional sculpture and 2-D projections by lichtfront and grosse8. The sculpture is a perfect canvas for a range of colorful digital lights to be projected onto its triangulated facets. Check out the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

last two images via lichtfront

via designboom

The exceptional medal design for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics was conceived by Canadian industrial designer/architect Omer Arbel and designer/artist Corrine Hunt. The medals are the first in history to contain gold, silver and copper recovered from end-of-life electronics otherwise destined for the landfill.

The medals are laser-etched with cropped portions of two large abstract artworks by Corrine Hunt – an orca whale for the Olympic medals and a raven for the Paralympic medals – making every medal one-of-a-kind with its cropped motif. According to Omer Arbel, the undulation on each medal corresponds to the natural topography of Vancouver.

Click here to view the embedded video.

images via dsgnworld

image of orca artwork via vancouver2010 video

Paper Installation by French artist Lenancker Romain for video game magazine, Amusement.

Puzzle Game – Consumable page for Amusement magazine
Paper Installation Artist : Lenancker romain
Photography: Gregoire Vieille
Retouch : Elodie Campeanu

via elastika

Pleats and folds are the predominant themes that artist and Lazerian‘s frequent collaborator, Richard Sweeney, has applied to his sculptures. His portfolio boasts a wide range of intricately folded, geometrical models, all in paper, some done by hand while others are realized digitally via 3D softwares and Rapid Prototyping.

graphite on folded paper

graphite on folded paper

floral corsage for Boudicca

Richard Sweeney’s Flickr page

Design Miami 2009 just began, with a bang! Click for some found images:

images via soulellis + miami new times

Check out some of the sculptural works of Polly Verity of Polyscene, who uses predominantly polypropylene to create these intricate pleatings.

For more of Polyscene’s works, check out the photostream

Check out these awesome paper sculptures formed by pleat tessellations, all created by mathematics and computer science professor, Goran Konjevod whose inspiration came from the paper artist Paul Jackson. My favorite is the baboon head.

Excerpt from his website:

“Most of my pieces so far are abstract shapes naturally formed by the tension of the paper when multiple layers of paper are arranged according to regular or irregular patterns. In that sense, they could almost be said to be discovered, rather than invented or designed. In particular, the pieces shown in my Pleat Tessellation gallery pages have been developed from a single urform discovered by Paul Jackson. The experience of folding these pieces has helped me begin to understand how particular fold sequences interact and in a few cases I have been able to visualize the final shape before starting to fold.”

View his portfolio at organic origami.

The works of Dutch paper architect/artist, Ingrid Siliakus, are magnificent engineering feats requiring precision in handling the most humble of materials, ie. paper. Ingrid further developed the art form pioneered by Masahiro Chatani in the 1980s into more complex geometries, often requiring numerous prototypes to achieve a final design. The detailed cutouts, which often uses a single piece of paper, result in breathtakingly intricate folds of building patterns that resonate with M.C. Escher paintings.

More images at a click.

left: ‘Elevation’; right: ‘Reflection of Sagrada Familia

Statement of the artist: ‘…Working with paper forces me to be humble, since this medium has a character of its own that asks for cooperation. It is a challenge to find this cooperation with each separate paper brand I work with. Working with paper the way I do, namely by means of cutting and folding creating paper sculptures, asks of me to work with meditative precision. Paper architecture does not bare haste, it is its enemy; one moment of loss of concentration, can lead to failure of a piece…’ ‘…I experience an ultimate satisfaction at the critic moment when the paper, with a silenced sigh, surrenders and becomes a blade-sharp crease. The sound of the paper, which guides this surrendering, to me is incomparable…’

cutouts of Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim

Innerrings

Progression of the cuts and folds

]]> http://www.pleatfarm.com/2009/09/30/the-paper-architect-ingrid-siliakus/feed/ 0 http://www.pleatfarm.com/2009/09/23/sipho-mabona-origami/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sipho-mabona-origami http://www.pleatfarm.com/2009/09/23/sipho-mabona-origami/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:06:17 +0000 pleatfarmer http://www.pleatfarm.com/?p=896

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out this gorgeous stopmotion animation created for Asics with an all paper origami cast.

The artist behind the paper genius is Sipho Mabona, renowned in his native Netherlands and the world for his sophisticated origami skills, from tessellation lampshades to inflatable puffer fish to a large-scale gallery space. More of his works and origami animations after the jump.

Images of the ASICS origami lounge in Berlin

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koi origami installation

Click here to view the embedded video.

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the awesome inflatable fugu origami

Click here to view the embedded video.

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crease pattern for the cockroach origami

cockroach origami

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tessellation lampshade

images via mabona origami

]]> http://www.pleatfarm.com/2009/09/23/sipho-mabona-origami/feed/ 1 http://www.pleatfarm.com/2009/09/21/pleated-structures-by-deepa-panchamia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pleated-structures-by-deepa-panchamia http://www.pleatfarm.com/2009/09/21/pleated-structures-by-deepa-panchamia/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:12:11 +0000 pleatfarmer http://www.pleatfarm.com/?p=816

London-based textile artist/designer Deepa Panchamia created her structural wall art, sculptures and apparel using her signature pleating technique.

Read an excerpt of her philosophy:

“I have taken an unconventional approach to textiles. Combining silk organzas and leathers with inventive pleating techniques, I create intense, double-sided, structural surfaces. The combination of transparency and solidity give my fabric enhanced properties allowing it to be moulded, manipulated and transformed – moving textiles away from its traditional two-dimensional form.

With this technique I have developed a network of structural wall art and sculptures for interior spaces. My designs consist of energetic pleated waves juxtaposed with delicate pocketed constructions. Material and colour selection are paramount to the design. The transparency of the organza allows the internal formation to be revealed, creating an engaging relationship between the exterior and interior. I intentionally use a limited range of subtle colours that create shadows on the surface, enhancing the contours of the piece.”

close-up of her textiles sculptures

images via deepa panchamia