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Between the Folds is an award-winning documentary that chronicles the stories of ten fine artists and intrepid theoretical scientists who have abandoned careers and scoffed at hard-earned graduate degrees - all to forge unconventional lives as modern-day paperfolders. As they converge on the unlikely medium of origami, these artists and scientists reinterpret the world in paper, and bring forth a bold mix of sensibilities towards art, expressiveness, creativity and meaning. And, together these offbeat and provocative minds demonstrate the innumerable ways that art and science come to bear as we struggle to understand and honor the world around us - as artists, scientists, creators, collaborators, preservers, and simply curious beings. "Luminously photographed", with a "haunting" original score featuring the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, the film by Green Fuse Films paints an arresting portrait of the mysterious creative threads that bind us all - fusing science and sculpture, form and function, ancient and new.

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Over the past two decades, Director and Producer Vanessa Gould has studied a mix of science, art, film, and design including, architecture and astrophysics at Columbia and music at the New England Conservatory. Between the Folds was a project born of great admiration for the artists and scientists working in paper, and the belief that their remarkable work should be documented. Gould is also a pianist and painter.

More information and broadcast dates: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/between-the-folds/index.html

Between the Folds Trailer:

At its heart, Between the Folds is a film about potential. The potential of an uncut paper square. The potential of a wild scientific idea. The potential to see things differently.

For as long as I can remember, the driving impulses behind art, science, sculpture and math have felt deeply connected—all ways of interpreting our experiences in a language that's universal. When I first learned about the curious phenomenon of fine artists, scientists and mathematicians from all over the world working in the very same medium of origami, I knew there had to be something special about it—that in the simplicity of a paper square must be hiding some untold potential for new connections and ideas.

Curiously, as a documentary project, this film has been less about telling a story and rather about finding an idea—layers of ideas. All of us involved in this project have been incredibly energized by the challenge of making a film about ideas—their evolution, their beauty, their paradoxes and mystery. We knew the project’s central themes would speak to different people in different ways, as any film about ideas should. Therefore, it was of great importance that its themes be presented subtly and flexibly, so that every viewer can experience the film in ways that are both universally resonant and personally meaningful.

For me, as a filmmaker, this has also been a project about transformation—not only of paper squares, but of people and lives also. Most of those featured in the film left traditional lives to devote themselves to the thing they love most—paperfolding: the magical process of transforming two dimensions into three dimensions. Their remarkable stories resonated so strongly with me upon abandoning my own former work, that I was determined to bring their inspiring stories of transformation to light. And so, my devotion to this film rests in the hope that others take inspiration from these incredible stories, as well.

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Click on each image for a larger view.

  • PAPER SCULPTURE BY CHRIS K. PALMER EXPERIMENTING WITH MOVEMENT AND LIGHT
  • EXPRESSIVE FRENCH MASTER ERIC JOISEL HAS A MOMENT OF INSPIRATION ON CAMERA
  • HUMAN FIGURES BY GIANG DINH
  • IMPRESSIONISTIC SQUIRREL BY MICHAEL LAFOSSE
  • THE WORLD'S LEADING ORIGAMI THEORIST ASCENDS THE STAIRS AT THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LAB AT MIT
  • ABSTRACT "CRUMPLED" ORIGAMI BY FRENCH ARTIST VINCENT FLODERER
  • HANDS GETTING DIRTY WHILE FOLDING
  • EDUCATOR MIRI GOLAN USES ORIGAMI TO HELP TEACH MATH TO KIDS THROUGHOUT ISRAEL
  • MATHEMATICIAN TOM HULL DRAWS CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ADVANCED MATH AND ORIGAMI
  • PHYSICIST ROBERT LANG CHALLENGES THE PHYSICS OF A FOLDED SQUARE TO ACHIEVE A KIND OF HYPER-REALISM
  • GEOMETRIC FOLDED TESSELLATION BY ERIC GJERDE

What was your favorite childhood craft?

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 4:19pm