3 days

1138: The Power of Many

| wonko

I love the geometric world of Tessellations, and have folded many. It is doubly satisfying when you design that tessellation molecule and how it tiles yourself.

This is a hex-point tessellation, and is based on a mathematical algorithm discovered by Aurélien Vermont ( @auregamiiii ) and described in a paper written by them as part of their study in Engineering. The algorithm describes a geometric construction method that lest you raise a n-finned spike from a flat surface and have the surface “heal” around it.

It does so by placing strategic dart pleats that seamlessly absorb the excess paper caused by the spike in a controlled and very flexible way. You can raise a spike at the intersection of a collection of creases (2 or more intersections). The folding gets progressively more fiddly the smaller the spike and the larger the number of intersecting lines.

I chose to derive a hex-spike, that is a 6-crease intersection spike molecule, based on a regular hexagon. Once I had derived all the creases necessary to allow one spike to be raised, I test folded it (just to check – theory and practice are sometimes at odds – some paper designs for origami seem to ignore the thickness of the paper which then breaks the symmetry or distorts the shape) and all was good.

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1113: Shore Crab

| wonko

When tidying my JOAS Tanteidan Magazines, I discovered a special edition that members used to get – one issue in particular has 2 terrifyingly complicated models I have not (to my surprise) ever tried:

This is Hideo Komatsu’s glorious “Shore Crab”, an amazing but intense design that is described in a fascinating sequence of diagrams. They are involved, number 194, and involved many advanced techniques, and in retrospect I probably looked at it at the time I got it and mentally added it to my “try later” pile.

I started with a 50cm square of crispy Kraft, and adopted my usual fold it until it either fails or finishes.

To my delight, the logical sequence and time to be accurate and careful resulted in a clean fold which I absolutely love. The resultant crab is plucky, has bulk (indeed, most of the paper is folded inside) and is just so anatomically crabby.

It takes great skill to design a model that closely resembles the silhouette of a figurative subject. It takes a special sort of genius in design to ensure that the model looks like the subject all the way around – the underside has all the features of a crab also – just brilliant.

I made a little clear acrylic stand that snugly slots into the crab’s carapace, enabling it to stand up like it is either walking or challenging and, I added some tiny spots of glue to keep seams from gaping all that was necessary to present the fold.

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1095: A Wing and a Prayer

| wonko

Having just treated my first 2 bits of Wenzhou paper, I was itching to fold something (and running out of time to do so). I decided on a Praying Mantis, designed by Jo Nakashima model that I have not yet folded:

Jo Nakashima's Praying Mantis

Based on a 40 grid, using fairly standard box-pleating tricks, this model is a lot of fun to fold. Jo helpfully provides diagrams that detail how to efficiently and accurately lay in the crease pattern (check it out here) and in doing so I learned a LOT about treated wenzhou: It is deliciously thin, crisp and really strong (it allowed me to bugger up a collapse 2 times before getting it right, without paper fatigue). One thing I did not expect was it’s relatively poor reversibility – ie. you fold in one direction and then turn it accurately inside out. I was expecting it to be easier to reverse.

Jo Nakashima's Praying Mantis Views

Instead of “parachuting” (apparently a CP solve no no), I used the central axis and formed the head, thorax and as a consequence formed the front 2 pairs of legs. The abdomen collapse is fascinating and bends back under the wings making it really tidy all round.

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950: Urchin Kusudama (Priceless Artwork #2)

| wonko

Riffling through boxes of stuff from our kid’s Kindy years, we came across a cache of artworks my Son painted. Being too precious to throw out (and long since removed from the fridge), I set about cutting it up into 2:1 rectangles – LOTS of them:

Urchin kusudama

I then arbitrarily folded them into a modified unit based on one I used that was designed by Tomoko Fuse.

paper prep
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926: Tiger, tiger, burning bright

| wonko

There are lots of origami tigers – few actually look like tigers – you know, the stripey thing. This model is radically different:

Using a HUGE square (I hand-made a large piece of double tissue – black and yellow), you start with a birdbase, then torture the paper for 2 days to create a pleated ruffle either side of the back ridge that is then zig-zagged to reveal colour slices that become the tiger stripes.

This model is really really intense – it took me ages to even work out what half the folds mean, let alone how to achieve them. Thankfully the double tissue was thin and terrifically strong, so it withstood the torture unscathed. Continue reading →

821: (271/365) Satoshi Kamiya’s Ant

| wonko

After re-subscribing to JOAS, in record time my back-issues of the Tanteidan magazine arrived and along with one of them, a really challenging diagram:

About 170 steps, extreme paper torture and, as a project, something truly terrifying but I knew I needed to try it. Continue reading →

703: (153/365) Square Twist Tessellation

| wonko

Assignment time can sometimes be boring for a teacher, especially when kids are beavering away independently:

This is a tessellation I have not tried before. Based on a square grid, diagonal squares rotate 45 degrees to lie flat again, causing pleat ripples that are cancelled out by adjacent twists – clever. Continue reading →

640: (90/365) Stellated Rhombic Dodecahedron

| wonko

Now I for one like stellated geometry – taking regular solids and adding pointy things is very satisfying:

The pointy things on this solid are rhomboid – so not strictly regular pyramidal but 4-sided none the less. Continue reading →

Stellated Washi Icosahedron

| wonko

When friends travel, often they find lovely small bits of Washi. Packs of this are full of a myriad of lovely traditional prints, rich colours often embossed and overlayed with gold.

The tricksey bit is to work out what to do with it – given it’s size and often the overpowering beauty of the design.icosahedron Continue reading →