What do you think of origami?

Asked by kevbo (25672

) March 11th, 2008

It’s something that I’ve enjoyed for awhile, although I haven’t done it much in the past couple of years. My crowning achievement thus far has been creating a damn near perfect lion from a standard post-it (the final product measured somewhere around 1” square, but it was stolen from my desk after a few months, so no photo). I also like what’s called the “Rokoan” style which is using a single sheet that is partially cut so that two or more swans are joined at wingtip, wing or beak.

I find it an absorbing hobby when I make time for it, but I’d also admit that it’s ranking on the list of (American) male hetero hobbies has dog-eared the corners of my enthusiasm.

Years ago, I took a free class at the library and was struck by the meltdowns people had on the last day when we were folding a shark (a challenge for a beginner), and it drove home for me the level of precision required and how early imperfections will compound as you get further into the folding. That demand for perfection appeals to me as well.

Perhaps my favorite origami art is a self portrait/mask by origami master Akira Yoshizawa.

So, I’m just curious what your experience has been or what you think of it. Other than sharing, I suppose my point is to use your thoughts to get inspired.

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8 Answers

I love origami. I’ve been doing it for near 10 years now. I find it helps me focus only on the paper, essentially allowing me to ignore the world for a small bit. I’m not extremely good, but I can make enough things to get by. I’m sad that there’s very little origami oriented websites on the interwebs [that have been updated in the last 5 years]

Perchik (4997

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I’m not at all experienced in origami, but its amazing to me what others can do. As a spectater, I really like it. It seems it takes more than some other works of art.
Ie.- pencil drawings, cartoons, pottery.

I applaud any and all origami artists! ;)

Randy (11232

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For our wedding, we did the 1k cranes thing—it was a whole lot of fun (and now I can fold cranes without thinking about it). We wanted to incorporate them in some way so my mother-in-law crocheted them into garlands that we strung up at the reception.

I found a book (I think called Origami Boxes) that is about these very neat modular boxes, typically with lids. A lot of fun and a bit practical. Oddly, I came across them because I was trying to figure out how to make a triangular paper “plug” to go in the end of a FedEx tube.

bpeoples (2551

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I’ve got a modular origami book that explores some interesting geometry. I’ve made a lot of multi-faceted shapes using that logic. At one point in time I had a 3d modeling program that I used to design a multi-pointed object, that I subsequently broke down into pieces that could be made from many squares of paper. It was a fun project.

Perchik (4997

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