Thursday, November 11, 2004

Unfolding Origami's Secrets - By Louise Kennedy, Globe Staff

Interesting article in the Boston Globe today about Robert Lang. He is at MIT for a few days for a series of lectures and workshops on this ancient art of folding paper. He compares it to music.

''I love shifting gears completely, from art to math, which is very formal, abstract, and almost unrecognizable, and to engineering, which is certainly not art, but neither is it really math," Lang says. ''That switching gears is fun, and I think it also keeps the creative juices flowing in both categories. I very rarely have an inspiration when I'm sitting down at my desk to do an origami design. The inspiration happens when I'm doing something else, and then it's a question of whether I can get back to my desk quickly enough to get it done."

Inspiration comes any time when you are ready to receive it. I generally find it in quiet moments. It also comes when I am running. Some of my best thoughts occur on the road. It also comes in the shower. An odd place but not uncommon.

I will explore Robert's web site to learn more about his "tree theory". I like making these connections. I find intriguing that origami has

practical applications: ''foldable structures that can get very small and then very large later on," which can be useful, for example, in deploying a telescopic lens in space or in designing more efficient airbags for cars.

Have you done any origami lately?

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