Between the Folds (2008)

When I saw this PBS documentary about origami offered Instant Watch on Netflix, I thought what the hell, I'll watch it. I like Japanese food.I thought origami was a noodle and I could've sworn I ate some origami sushi when I was in the military. I thought it gave me gas, but that's wrong, it's the art of folding paper, so that damn PBS got me wrapped up in another weird subject. I don't know how, but PBS gets me watching the oddest stuff. When I finally realized it was paper folding I wondered what sort of wackos would waste their time on such silliness? Well, actually, wackos like me I guess because all my printer paper is ruined now. It's all folded up; won't fit in the slot anymore. Damn PBS.Origami is addicting and the sculptures these artists create are amazing. Elephants - drooping sad faces - finely detailed insects - it's all done with folds. No cutting or glue allowed in origami. Did you know that? Spindly insect legs done with just folds.I'm just a beginner, a "grasshopper" as they say in the Orient, and I don't like to brag, but I've crafted a few origami artworks of my own. It seems I'm a natural, it just flows out of me. I have one piece I've named "Isosceles Triangle" produced during my early "geometric" period. I have another called "Pointy Airplane" that will actually fly. You just have to put a paper-clip on it's nose, so it's really a mixed medium piece. Steel on paper. The one I'm most proud of though, my magnum opus as some would say, is called "Crumpled-Up Ball: A Study in Abstract". That one is many, many folds. Innumerable folds that I created during an inspired alcohol fueled frenzy. I display this masterwork in a glass case in my foyer and it leaves visitors speechless. They just stare at it, transfixed. Clearly it moves them, but I tell them it's not for sale. I can see the disappointment in their eyes, but I won't pervert my art for the thousands of dollars they'd probably offer me. I'M AN ARTIST, NOT A PROSTITUTE! So I recommend this episode of Independent Lens. The subject of paper folding is endlessly fascinating, just stock up on plenty of paper. You may not be as gifted as me, few are, but it might be a good hobby for you - keep you from wasting your time reading those countless inane movie reviews.

I expected to be introduced to a world of origami that went beyond my casual acquaintance of it. What I was unprepared for and moved by was how far beyond "beauty" and "technique" the pursuit of this art can take us. I thought this film was crafted in such a way as to gradually intensify the effect of discovering ever deeper meaning in the art and science of folding. Each artist portrayed approach their work with a passion and clarity that leads to greater discovery; their philosophical concepts derived from the methods to their art making is inspiring. The film is a perfect blend of informative storytelling and artistic inspiration.

One enters Between the Folds thinking this is about origami. By the end of it, I realized the implications of paper folding are much richer and more complex than I am able to grasp. The film takes one on an aesthetic trip, a mind trip, a math trip and ends up showing how this (seemingly) simple act can affect/explain/develop/interpret an almost endless set of understandings about our world. It deserves to be shown in every school from 3rd grad through grad school, and if anyone wondered about the intersection of art and science, they will find here. Entertaining, amazing, extremely well executed, one has to be asleep not to be moved and motivated to want this to be minimally on TED and let it spread virally.

Most people don't realize just how much origami has been a part of our lives, and will be for the unforeseeable future in exciting new ways. This film, at last, gives us a peek into a world of artists, scientists, mathematicians, educators and, of course, those that have the desire to simply fold paper. New horizons in medicine use origami to save lives. Teaching methods improve a child's ability to learn math. Complex mathematics are described with modular and curved folding. Industrial designers have made products for our daily lives. Molecular biologists are folding DNA! Vanessa Gould's lens shows us how this ancient art has developed as she interviews many of today's leading figures. This is the first (and only) film ever made on the subject.