Paper Quilling

Graphic designer and calligrapher Sabeena Karnick, working in Mumbai India, has created a beautiful paper alphabet using a technique called “quilling.” Paper quilling has been around since the Renaissance when French and Italian nuns and monks used strips cut from the edges of guilded books to decorate book covers and other objects. These paper strips were rolled into shapes and glued together to create complex images and patterns. Later in the 18th-century European “ladies of leisure” practiced quilling when it was considered one of the few arts not too taxing on their delicate minds. Quilling was also practiced in America during colonial times. To learn more about the process of quilling visit these web sites: www.makezine.com and en.wikipedia.org

Metamorphosis Books

     
The metamorphosis book, also referred to as the “harlequinade,” was a simple movable book format that first appeared in the mid 1600′s. Later in the 1770′s, inexpensive harlequinades were printed in England featuring the adventures of a harlequin character popularized in pantomime  theater plays at that time. The books featured a full-page image overlayed with two half-page pictures that lined up with the image underneath. By turning up and down the half-page flaps, four versions of the illustration would appear and the storyline would be advanced. Werner Nekes has created a delightful little YouTube video of these books in action. Today we are inundated with moving images of all types, so it’s often hard for us to image how exciting this simple device must have been in a time when “movies” did not exist.

Lavatory Self Portraits in the Flemish Style

Here’s a novel approach to developing an alternate persona: Nina Katchadourian’s extemporaneous ”Flemish” portraits created with materials typically found in  public restrooms: paper towels, toilet paper and seat covers. Katchadourian frequently works with simple found materials, improvising them into artworks around a specific theme which she then photographs. For the 2012 election she has created a piece called Monument to the Unelected with campaign signs she’s designed to commemorate those who failed in their election bids. A version of this piece is now on display at the Washington Post offices here in Washington, DC. To see more of Katchadourian’s work, visit her web site.

 

Horrorgami Adams Family House for Halloween

From early childhood, London artist Marc Hagan-Guirey has been a huge fan of horror movies. He began working with kirigami (the Japanese art of cutting an image from a single piece of paper) by designing a model of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House in Los Angeles, but then gravitated to more spooky edifices with a design for the house that served as the set in the Adams Family television show. From there he’s moved on to create a Horrorgami Overlook Hotel (The Shining), The Amityville House, and the MacNeil house from The Exorcist. He has plans to do more, and has a show coming up in November at Gallery One-and-a-Half in London. A video of the artist and his work is at this link. Thanks to Betsy Rubinstein for bringing these horrors to our attention.

Paper Forest Web Site

For all of you paper lovers out there, The Paper Forest blog is a treasure trove of projects to make, paper art exhibitions, and related links. Fed by five artists, Jaime Zollars, Shelley Noble, Matt Hawkins, Dan McPharlin, and Falk Keuten, it reflects their wide range of interests and artistic views. Here’s the link to the site:  http://paperforest.blogspot.com/ 

Isabelle de Borchgrave’s Paper Dress Exhibition

Hillwood Museum and Gardens, the former home of the General Foods Corporation heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, is currently showing an exhibition of paperworks by Isabelle de Borchgrave inspired by historic costumes and dresses.  Trims, ribbons, buttons and even the lace on each outfit are all fashioned from various papers, painted in a trompe-l’oeil fashion to imitate the textiles of the period. Several of the dresses are displayed within the furnished rooms of the Hillwood Mansion, while others are shown in a more contemporary gallery setting within the Adirondack Building on the grounds. Definitely worth a visit when in the Washington, DC, area, the exhibition continues through December 30, 2012.

Pop-Up Book by Andreas Johansson

We thought this pop-up book by Swedish artist Andreas Johansson was quite striking. Titled From Where the Sun Now Stands it features imaginary landscapes collaged together from photographs the artist took in his neighborhood. Says the artist, “I create imaginary places that are both recognizable and completely alien. These new sites are constructions and have no history, while the places where the photographs once were taken have a very important past. For me, deserted places have a great symbolic value. They represent society’s backside, but also freedom beyond control and regulations.” To view a video of the book, visit

http://ny.voltashow.com/Andreas-Johansson.7320.0.html

Pop Your Candidate into the White House

With the Republican and Democratic conventions now on the horizon, it’s time for everyone to make a pop-up choice. Pop your candidate into the White House by downloading the images and instructions for constructing your own campaign 2012 pop-up card. Visit http://www.campaignpopup.com  And don’t forget to vote at the polls  in November.

Der Mensch als Industriepalast video

 The early 20th century was a time of great innovation and mechanization. Artists, designers and architects were fascinated with this new industrialization. (Recall Le Corbusier’s declaration that “The house is a machine for living). In 1927, German writer and artist Fritz Kahn designed an illustration titled “Der Mensch als Industrieplast” or “Man as Industrial Palace.” It related the complexities of the human body to those of working machines.

 Henning Lederer, a young German communications student, discovered this image in 2006 and set about to update and automate it in video format. The result is a wonderful mix of science and creative interpretation. You can watch the video here. 

A Big Apple Pop-Up

We thought this pop-up book by young designer Daisy Lew was worth noting for its unusual structure, combining a host of little pop-up blocks to create larger images of New York City icons: the Big Apple, a yellow taxi, the Chrysler Building and the Statue of Liberty. From one angle the pop-ups look like a city of multi-level skyscrapers, and from above you get the whole view. Check out the book on her web site at www.daisylew.com/popup.html