ANOTHER TYPE OF PAPER CONNECTION

Here is a sample of another type of paper connection. It is similar to, but different from, a recent model in this blog.

I intend to post a crease pattern for the units some time soon. Unfortunately, the Silly Season is eating into my blog preparation. I promise only that you will get them when I post them.

The unit connections are sturdy, reasonably quick and decorative. The main failing is that instructions for the unit connections will not be easy to diagram. I am not looking forward to that task.



In cases like these, access to a 3-D version of the units and a 3-D example of connected units would probably be much easier to follow than traditional diagrams.

"Step folds" are another good way of showing how the method is done. As some of you already know, I arrive at conventions with "teaching boxes" containing sets of step folds which can be turned over and around by the student folder. According to the feedback I receive, these are quite useful.

It is possible that a good video clip would explain the method as well. Unfortunately these are time consuming and hard to develop. There is no shortage of excellent examples of horrific how-to-fold videos on the net. They suffer from a variety of problems including distracting backgrounds, bad choice of table top or cloth, poor illumination, poor framing of object, object partially or totally out of range of the camera, object too small or too large, angle of view unhelpful or confusing, annoying sound or music, inadequate, inappropriate or unnecessary verbal instructions and colors which are garish or insufficiently contrastive for the medium.

Exceptions, such as instructional videos made by Michael La Fosse, are a joy to watch. I am under no illusion that countering the usual problems takes quite a lot of time and effort and probably the presence of good video equipment, expensive lighting and a suitable uncluttered space. I would have a hard time matching such expertise but one day I might try.

FAUX QUILT

I have been experimenting with the weaving grid and have come up with a kind of faux origami quilt.

I began by making the subsections and then connected them into long strips. Then I began weaving and twisting.



It was not long before I became hopelessly tangled and twisted. The solution was to remove all the dangling bits which were not necessary for the next step. This is making it easier.



In general, twisting the pieces together is not easy. The paper (cheap 20lb copy paper)is too bulky and not strong enough to cope with a lot of folding and upfolding. Some of it is getting a little thin. Very little of it is ending up with the same crisp folds with which I began the project. Some units are definitely a little crumpled around the edges.



I have been utilizing mini "dog clips" to clamp selected folds together while I arrange the folds prior to twisting. The clips work well but my arthritic hands find them difficult to squeeze and un-squeeze.

I think the piece would benefit from thinner prettier and sturdier paper. At the moment it suffers from the constraints of cost as well as the usual pitfalls of developing a new model and method of folding.

This is definitely not a fast method of paper connection. The benefit is that the intrepid (and arguably insane) folder can end up with a multi-colored flat piece of decorative origami of theoretically endless dimensions. As with any kind of quilting or pieced work, patterns and "pixel art" can be worked into the decorative sheet: all it takes is a little planning.

ORIGAMI WEAVING: PARTS 6A & 7A

Here are some diagrams which have grid lines superimposed on them. They should make better sense than those posted yesterday.

Yesterday's upload was rudely interrupted by a major coughing attack and breathing impairment. (I still have some residual 'flu symptoms which are causing me distress). Consequently my cognitive editing module failed to note that the diagrams had been screen captured without the important grid guidelines.

ORIGAMI WEAVING: PART 7

Here are diagrams for the thin woven strips in the origami weaving piece. As yet, there are no diagrams to show how they look when folded. You will have to make do with the photographs of the back of the work. These give you some indication of how they are slotted into each other and into the centers of the grid pieces but do not show the details of the locking diamonds which are buried in the slots.


In each case the piece ends in a diamond shape. Generally the diamond is one the back. Sometimes it is on the front. Sometimes the diagonal is connected along a seam in the horizontal direction and sometimes in the vertical direction. It depends on where the respective end is going to be connected.

Over the next few days I will try to construct some diagrams to clarify this.

You will have noticed that there are different designs for both the grid pieces and the strip weavings for different thickness of material. If you are working with thin paper, then use the design for thin paper. If you are using thicker or sturdier paper then use the design for thick paper.

The locking square twists are difficult to fold cleanly or neatly with thick paper, especially if you add extra thickness at the sides and ends. The downside is that your woven strips will strain the single thickness side of the slot in which they are locked.

The shorter version not only saves on end thickness, it saves paper as well. It will look the same from the front but is a little less interesting from the back. The downside is that it is a little more difficult to connect the pieces together because the pieces are slightly less stable in the process. It's not a big problem, however.

Try out both designs and choose the one which best fits your paper. My preference is to use thin strong paper (Salago, for example) and the thin paper version. In practice, I find the thick paper version more useful.

ORIGAMI WEAVING: PART 6

Here are instructions for making the grid section of the origami weaving showpiece.

There are a variety of ways of connecting the pieces to make patterns. Here I show patterns for two four-color patterns which work well.










The general connecting principles can be applied to other weavings and quilt-like creations. There is a "short grid" version of the original "weaving" which I am in the process of trying out in various paper weights and types of material.
Examples will appear in future postings.


The initial folding for these units is not especially difficult. It takes practice, however, to get the to get the "knots" undone and the pieces refolded together quickly and smoothly. Try the folds out with scrap paper until you get the hang of it. If you fold a lot of square twists you may be confident enough to skip the practice period. In that case, congratulations!


I believe that the Princeton Public Library group of origami enthusiasts is considering embarking on this model or another of the flat sheet connecting methods outlined on this site recently. Hopefully they will supply photos of masterful achievement as proof.

ORIGAMI WEAVING: PART 5

The weaving piece is complete. It's been an interesting experiment.




I rotated the central diamonds for some added interest.

The back of the piece is interesting in itself.

The prototype model is very tight and getting the last few strips together was tricky. There were a few minor tears. Sections of the wider strips buckled.

The result is a piece which is not entirely "square".

I covered the piece with a damp paper towel and ironed it. (See the last photo for the result of this procedure.) This helped, but did not entirely fix the problem. A side effect is that the shape of the underlying locking diamonds showed through on the front in several places. If you look carefully at the photo at full resolution you may be able to spot this.






The next version would benefit from a few modifications which might fix this. The narrow strips, which are made from standard letter-sized copy paper, would benefit from being a fraction narrower and longer to allow for the thickness of the folded paper in the wider strips. This would provide a little more ease of adjustment.



I still do not like the colors and am considering painting the whole piece with a bronze Pearl-Ex wash in an attempt to tie the colors together and give it a sheen which will lift the flatness of the copy paper.










I got a shipment of differently colored (and rare) legal sized copy paper today. This means that my next copy paper version will use colors I like better. I am also considering printing leaf, bark or crumpled patterns on the sheets before I fold them in order to provide the illusion that I am using expensive hand-made paper with "inclusions" or "texture". Although they provide visual interest, these extras often make the paper difficult to fold accurately.

Another possibility is using printed kraft paper gift wrap. This type of wrap is stronger than the usual gift wrap and generally does not suffer from color cracking on the crease marks.

ORIGAMI WEAVING: PART 4

The paper weaving has progressed still further - and so has the learning.

Yesterday there were two versions of the main frame strips: a short version and a long version. The difference in lengths is necessary to stagger the pieces so that they weave properly.

Today there are three versions of the narrow interior strips: two long and one short. The second long version tucks into the back of the first version in order to extend it. The triangular points on the back of the work show where this happens. The locking fold is different on these ends.

The short strip not only has a different lock on each end but one of them is on the other side. This enables the piece to be looped over the edge of the work and slotted in on the back side. You can see two of these strips in the photo of the back of the work: at the top and the bottom of the piece respectively.

Slotting the locks into and under the longitudonal slits in the large strips puts quite a strain on the edges of those strips. Several of the single thickness edges tore slightly.


One edge was badly damaged to the point where it began to affect the locking ability of two of the thin strips. I resorted to strengthening it with invisible tape.

Now the interesting question is: Does the work remain origami if it uses adhesive tape in its construction? I maintain that it does if, as in this case, the tape is not part of the design but is used to strengthen a damaged part, not to connect the pieces together. Of course, since the tape is invisible, I can probably deny that it is there to anyone who cannot detect it by sight. Can you see it?