Seven Castles

Origami

                                      

October 24, 2006

 

Origami is the art of paper folding, with the goal to create a given result using geometric folds and crease patterns.

 

The birthplace of origami remains a mystery. Paper was developed in China in the first century, and Buddhist monks brought it to Japan by the sixth century. The "invention" of folding paper probably followed soon after the invention of paper itself. The earliest known traditions of paper folding were of ritual origin and the art was available only to rich courtiers. However, there are not many written records from that time, so it is not known whether origami first began in China or Japan. Yet, no one will argue that Japan developed origami to a high art form. The word "origami" is Japanese: oru means "to fold", and kami "paper".

 

Without scissors and glue, origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper, whose sides may be different colors, and usually proceed without cutting the paper.

 

Paper sculptures try to imitate objects existing in the real or fantasy world and the only limitations are artist's imagination and endurance of the paper. We can therefore admire large range of models from simple shapes to very complex three-dimensional forms. An origami design can be as simple as a party hat or paper airplane, or as complex as a model of the Eiffel Tower, a leaping gazelle, or a stegosaurus that takes an hour and a half or longer to fold. Sometimes the most complex origami models must be folded from foil instead of paper; this allows more layers before the paper becomes impractically thick.

 

One of the most famous origami designs is the crane, auspicious in Japanese culture. Legend says that anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will have their heart's desire come true. The origami crane has become a symbol of peace because of this legend.

 

Modern origami has broken free from the traditional linear construction techniques of the past, and models are now frequently wet-folded or constructed from materials (e.g. plastic) other than paper and foil. With popularity, a new generation of origami creators have experimented with crinkling techniques and smooth-flowing, sensual designs used in creating realistic faces, nudes, and other traditionally artistic themes.

 

The intersections between origami, mathematics, and science occur at many levels and include many fields of the latter. We can group these intersections into roughly three categories: origami mathematics, which includes the mathematics that describes the underlying laws of origami; computational origami, which comprises algorithms and theory devoted to the solution of origami problems by mathematical means; and origami technology, which is the application of origami (and folding in general) to the solution of problems arising in engineering, industrial design, and technology in general. These divisions are a bit arbitrary, of course; one genre blends into another. Origami math defines the "ground rules" for computational origami's goal of solving origami design problems and quantifying their difficulty. The results of computational origami, in turn, can be (and have been) pressed into service to solve technological problems ranging from consumer products to the space program.

 

Many people are wondering why serious people engage in such seemingly childish play as the origami. Origami moves receiver's senses just in the same way as painting or sculpture seen in a gallery. Many grownups remember making origami items as a child. It was often a case of watching as another youngster showed how to make a paper airplane or something similar. After a while, we develop a set of origami instructions in our head, for making several airplanes, boats, animals, water balloons and other toys.

 

Origami is a fun, simple and inexpensive hobby. Its effect as kids is to teach us creativity, patience and following a process. As grownups, paper folding is a great stress reliever and an effective way to bond further with our kids.

 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2006年10月24日 星期二 05:14】【 加入博采】【打印】