Can I make it more complex?

November 23, 2016 6:33 PM

Eric Standley creates complex geometric sculptures from hundreds of layers of laser cut paper. The process came about somewhat by accident.
posted by jacquilynne (15 comments total)

Love this statement at the end of the "accident " video:

"Most people think: Oh yeah, technology - you gain in efficiency and the price is you are humanly removed from the object. I think I am coming around a different way. I feel very connected to this - maybe because I'm right in there breathing on it. Every efficiency that I gain through technology the void is immediately filled with the question: Can I make it more complex?"
posted by Brent Parker at 7:19 PM on November 23, 2016 [5 favorites]

So...freaking...gorgeous...

Thanks, jacquilynne. This is why I come to MeFi.
posted by mediareport at 7:28 PM on November 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

I love these. They were some of the peices that inspired me back when I had access to a laser cutter. I never got this complex though, I couldn't imagine using up so much paper for one peice of art.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 7:55 PM on November 23, 2016

lovely.
posted by vespabelle at 8:30 PM on November 23, 2016

...WOW!!
posted by BlueHorse at 8:30 PM on November 23, 2016

I could stare at these for hours
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:34 PM on November 23, 2016

Oh, cool! I have access to CNC cutters with psaligraphy tools, maybe I should give it a go?
posted by Harald74 at 11:40 PM on November 23, 2016

oh, wow. Literally stunning. Articles have a tendency to overuse "complex" and "simple". When they say "complex" they mean "more than 3 different steps". When they say simple, they mean "one or two steps repeated probably hundreds of times". This is definitely an appropriate use of the word. I was expecting the article-use of the word, and literally gasped when I clicked through the link.


I can't tell if i like the squiggly parts or not. I'm going to settle with "it depends". Like, for this one, there's too much negative space between the squiggle, so I'm having a hard time viewing it gestalt.

On the other hand, this one his much tighter squiggles, and so I view it as a solid color with texture, which I much prefer.
posted by FirstMateKate at 6:19 AM on November 24, 2016

Oh, cool! I have access to CNC cutters with psaligraphy tools, maybe I should give it a go?
posted by Harald74 at 2:40 AM on November 24 [+] [!]

Yes, please. Any time you ever think "hm, should I try something new and make a thing?" the answer is yes. The world needs more makers.
posted by FirstMateKate at 6:21 AM on November 24, 2016 [5 favorites]

These are absolutely amazing, and I really wish I could see them in person. There must be so, so much more to them when you see them in three dimensions and at the real-life resolution. Like Rothko or Pollock, there's a depth that is lost in the translation to a photograph.
posted by explosion at 7:01 AM on November 24, 2016

Won't be long before they come in kits at the big box craft stores. Soon enough, they'll go from cool to boring.
posted by davebush at 8:15 AM on November 24, 2016

I do actually sort of wonder how close you could get to approximating this with the hobby paper cutters like the Cricut.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:47 AM on November 24, 2016

Created with CorelDraw? Now that's interesting. I guess it's still around.
posted by lagomorphius at 10:03 AM on November 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

The folks at LovePop pop up cards make amazing Pop-up greeting cards out of many-layered laser cut paper.
posted by DBAPaul at 9:58 AM on November 25, 2016

FirstMateKate, recently I've made a desktop organiser, wagon wheels for my daughter's theatre group and a bunch of Christmas decorations (to be painted by the kids). Not with the psalligraphy tool, mind, but with the router attachment. Fun!
posted by Harald74 at 12:54 AM on December 1, 2016