With Popular Kinetics based in Washington, D.C., national politics is our local news. So we were delighted to find an artist who has used the pop-up format (large-scale, no less) as commentary on the current election campaign. Kenneth Tin-kin Hung has designed two 8×8x8-foot pop-ups, one featuring John McCain and the other Barak Obama. The first is titled Residential Erection: Elephant List, the other Residential Erection: Ultra Donkey. To see more photos, go to the Archives, April-May 2008, at http://www.postmastersart.com
Matt Schlian does amazing things with paper! But even more fascinating is his collaborative work with scientists at the University of Michigan. There they are studying how paper folding relates to protein structure. Mis-folded proteins are suspected to be one of the causes of Alzehimer’s disease, for example, and paper folding on a nano scale might lead to a better understanding of how to correct this problem. To see images of Matt’s work and read more about this project, visit marcusprize.blogspot.com/2008/02/matt-schlian.html and also his website www.mattschlian.com
Marion Bataille’s new pop-up alphabet book will be coming out in September, 2008 (Roaring Book Press, ISBN 978-1-5964-3-425-7). It’s full of interesting pop-up maneuvers, tracing the entire alphabet in a dance of movable pages. A great video with a zippy soundtrack previews the upcoming edition.
Ruth Marcus teaches an art class with students who are mostly Sudanese refugees. Recently she did a project where they learned how to make some basic pop-ups. “With only two pieces of paper, some cutting and some glue, the kids can make moving cards of their very own, and color all over them as well.” Visit the kids at Ruth’s blog to see more photos.
The long-awaited Volume 2 of Carol Barton’s The Pocket Paper Engineer is on it’s way, and will be available in late June. This volume will cover the steps in constructing four glued pop-ups: platforms, props, spirals, and straddles. The book includes ten new projects to be constructed right out of the book, plus lots of photos, ideas, and step-by-step instructions for creating your own pop-ups.
A number of readers have sent us emails about the paper sculptures of Danish artist Peter Callesen. We’ve been a fan of Callesen’s work for some time; his single-sheet, dreamlike renditions of fairy-tale figures are all the more magical because he works with the simplest of materials. If you’re not familiar with his work, be sure to visit his nicely-designed web site to enjoy a few minutes respite from the workaday world. petercallesen.com
And speaking of castles, Carolyn Hughes reminds us of another pop-up media sighting, Bruce Foster’s animated pop-up book seen as the opening and closing of the Disney movie Enchanted.
We’ve just returned from China where The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 2, is being printed, and one of the things we’re always fascinated by there are the joss papers. Also known as dzi-dzat, these are paper reproductions of commerical objects that are burned as offerings for the dead. Traditional joss papers are silver and gold paper squares. Others take the form of stacks of faux paper money (known as “hell notes”). But these days, all manner of objects are appearing in temple stores: paper cell phones, TV sets, laptops, and even small cars, to be burned in large ovens on site. Pictured above is one of our favorites, a dental kit featuring a paper toothbrush, toothpaste tube, mouthwash bottle and cup.
The tradition of joss papers goes back to feudal China, when printed paper charms and offerings were displayed and burned at auspicious times of the year. For more information on joss papers, visit these sites:
Want some fun furniture for your kids to play on? Try making these folded paper pieces: a stool, a chair, and a rocker. Designed by Swiss architect Nicola Enrico Staubli, these simple yet sturdy items can be constructed from corrugated cardboard (preferably recycled) and decorated with paints, crayons, or collage elements. You can download the patterns for free from Staubli’s Foldschool web site: http://foldschool.com/_objects/objects_stool/objects_stool.html
Pop-up books have been making appearances in a range of new media situations lately, from ads to TV shows to music videos. Here are a few engaging examples:
The Lexus may not be the car for everyone, but you’ve got to appreciate the ingenuity behind their pop-up book commercial. Here’s the link for viewing. And if you’re interested in a behind-the-scenes look at how the commercial was made, check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyrTCqdVG-8
Finally, The ABC TV show “Pushing Daisies” recently featured a paper engineer character in the episode titled “The Smell of Success.” To view the episode, go to the ABC web site, scroll down to the “Pushing Daisies” series, then find “The Smell of Success” episode. (You might have to load ABC’s player program, which just takes a few minutes.)
Paper Animation is hot this year!Fraud in the 80’s is a light-hearted music video by the band Mates of State that combines paper cut-outs, collage, dancing art materials, and more. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERW1UfLalw4
