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.

London based animator and illustrator Johnny Kelly, produced this two-minute animated voyage of an apple seed through its natural cycle of life. The Seed features a mixture of stop-motion papercraft and 2-D drawn animation. Watch the short film below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

watch the making of the clip here

via grainedit

Montreal-based fashion designer and university professor Ying Gao is known for her explorations in fashion that address movement and interaction with the environment.

Ying Gao created dresses made of various fabrics integrating microelectronic technology. Parts of the garments expand and contract as a respond to their immediate environment like light, movement, wind or touch

Living Pod: garments that expand when triggered by a light source

Click here to view the embedded video.

Walking City: dresses that respond to air, movement and touch

Click here to view the embedded video.

Playtime (still a work in progress): pleated garment inspired by Jacques Tati’s ‘Playtime’

images via ça va aller + exercises de style

living pod & walking city photography: dominique lafond

I came across Edhv while browsing the Dutch Invertuals site (part of the Dutch Design Week 2009 exhibition). As I dug a little deeper into the innards of this Dutch graphic design collective, I found Wordigami exhibited at the Salone del Mobile ’09 – a series of experimental posters combining typography and origami. Each poster carries two messages that are silkscreened on the folded and the unfolded surface. Thus by the acts of folding and unfolding, the contents of the messages are revealed. Wanna see how these are done? Check out the animation below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via Edhv

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/2009/09/23/papercraft-design-art-in-paper/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=papercraft-design-art-in-paper http://www.pleatfarm.com/2009/09/23/papercraft-design-art-in-paper/#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:19:34 +0000 pleatfarmer http://www.pleatfarm.com/?p=837

Just released this month by Gestalten, Papercraft is a comprehensive reference book for lovers of paper art and design. Click for the introductory video clip and images after this jump.

Papercraft is an extensive survey on the insatiable trend of innovative art and design work crafted from paper. It explores the astounding possibilities of paper and gathers the most extraordinary creations – from small objects and figures to large-scale art installations and urban interventions as well as three-dimensional graphic sculptures from a vast spectrum of artistic disciplines ranging from character design, urban art, fine art, graphic design, illustration, fashion, animation and film. The book also includes a DVD with fun DIY printable templates for creating your own paper characters and toys as well as a curated selection of the best stop-motion animations.

Click here to purchase the book

As a response to his love for the song, media artist Gabe Askew did a take of Grizzly Bear’s Two Weeks with scenes created using cardboard cutouts complete with wriggling fishes, crawling froggies, spinning flowers and many more paper-made characters. Simply awesome!

Click here to view the embedded video.