art and science folded together
December 16, 2008 1:54 PM Subscribe
MetaFilter's Eric Gjerde has just come out with a book, Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs. Eric also makes really unusual, complex and mathematically interesting origami. His site has all kinds of cool things to look at and explore, like Owen Jones' The Grammar of Ornament, Joel Cooper's amazing paper sculptures and Ernst Haeckel's awesome book, Kunst-Formen der Natur.
Previously.
Previously.
Go Eric G! That's some amazing folding!
And y'all don't miss Eric's origami flickr sets.
See also on flickr: tessellations from Alexander Soukas.
Also, though it's not tessellation work, check out the charming origami jewelry of Julie Savard.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:35 PM on December 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
And y'all don't miss Eric's origami flickr sets.
See also on flickr: tessellations from Alexander Soukas.
Also, though it's not tessellation work, check out the charming origami jewelry of Julie Savard.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:35 PM on December 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
BTW, nicky, your previously link to jonson's 2007 post (which I'd missed) reminded me of that former MeFier, who I hadn't seen here in a while. Lo and behold, he done blew town. Account disabled. He turned in many a fine post here... sorry to see he's gone.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:39 PM on December 16, 2008
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:39 PM on December 16, 2008
Yay! Good on him. The stuff is beautiful.
[self-link to our entry on Eric on the MeFi User Sites blog]
posted by not_on_display at 4:02 PM on December 16, 2008
[self-link to our entry on Eric on the MeFi User Sites blog]
posted by not_on_display at 4:02 PM on December 16, 2008
As much as I love math, science and origami this guy is just intimidatingly hard.
posted by DU at 5:56 PM on December 16, 2008
posted by DU at 5:56 PM on December 16, 2008
Yay! free advertising! :)
Thanks MeFites - I'm really excited about the book coming out, and sharing my work with the world at large. I just returned from a trip to an origami convention in Italy and the response I had from people about the book was fantastic. As a first time author it's wonderful to get that kind of feedback.
We have a wonderful community of people on Flickr who fold this kind of thing; I started up a group about 4 years ago, and it's grown immensely since then. if you find this work interesting I highly recommend spending some time paging through the thousands of photographs.
Flickr: Origami Tessellations Group
What's been surprising to me is the random connections I have made with people - finding architects, designers, professors and teachers, all of whom are using these tessellated patterns to make new things, teach concepts to students, or other fascinating uses. When you put your work online via flickr or a website (or both!) it's kind of like casting seeds out into the wilderness, without ever knowing what happens to them. Having your work come back to you via strange and interesting ways is a delight and is astonishingly fulfilling. It has made me understand that my personal perspective of sharing and openness is the proper mentality to have, because for everything that I give out I receive back ten-fold.
I suppose this is a rather tangential musing on my part but it's been at the forefront of my mind these last few weeks. :)
and DU: if you think folding it is hard (not necessarily so!) you should try writing a book about it! Have you ever done the writing exercise where you must explain how to tie a shoe to someone who has never tied a shoe before? It's kind of like that, but 10x more difficult to explain. I'm quite pleased with how the book turned out, but it was most definitely the hardest project I have ever worked on - so much more so than actually making the artwork itself in the first place.
Much thanks Nicky for thinking of me and making this post!
posted by EricGjerde at 8:59 AM on December 18, 2008 [1 favorite]
Thanks MeFites - I'm really excited about the book coming out, and sharing my work with the world at large. I just returned from a trip to an origami convention in Italy and the response I had from people about the book was fantastic. As a first time author it's wonderful to get that kind of feedback.
We have a wonderful community of people on Flickr who fold this kind of thing; I started up a group about 4 years ago, and it's grown immensely since then. if you find this work interesting I highly recommend spending some time paging through the thousands of photographs.
Flickr: Origami Tessellations Group
What's been surprising to me is the random connections I have made with people - finding architects, designers, professors and teachers, all of whom are using these tessellated patterns to make new things, teach concepts to students, or other fascinating uses. When you put your work online via flickr or a website (or both!) it's kind of like casting seeds out into the wilderness, without ever knowing what happens to them. Having your work come back to you via strange and interesting ways is a delight and is astonishingly fulfilling. It has made me understand that my personal perspective of sharing and openness is the proper mentality to have, because for everything that I give out I receive back ten-fold.
I suppose this is a rather tangential musing on my part but it's been at the forefront of my mind these last few weeks. :)
and DU: if you think folding it is hard (not necessarily so!) you should try writing a book about it! Have you ever done the writing exercise where you must explain how to tie a shoe to someone who has never tied a shoe before? It's kind of like that, but 10x more difficult to explain. I'm quite pleased with how the book turned out, but it was most definitely the hardest project I have ever worked on - so much more so than actually making the artwork itself in the first place.
Much thanks Nicky for thinking of me and making this post!
posted by EricGjerde at 8:59 AM on December 18, 2008 [1 favorite]
Oh YAYYY Eric Gjerde dropping by! So pleased your book is being received well. I love your open, generous spirit and joie de vivre. Those qualities also are expressed in your delightful website. How wonderful you're experiencing appreciation from others. I wish you every success.
posted by nickyskye at 6:24 PM on December 18, 2008
posted by nickyskye at 6:24 PM on December 18, 2008
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