On Fri, Apr 24, 2015 at 2:57 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > On 23 April 2015 at 19:29, Paul Hanson <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Origami Live Ask the team - Is origami an art or craft? > > > Generally, art is expressive, capturing movement, energy, spirit etc. of > an object/idea. Craft is mechanical; rote. > Some Origami models are designed to specifically capture a particular > artistic element of an object/idea; other models are generic > representations of an object. > > OriFUN to all, > Dianne >
Origami, to me, is both an art and a craft, and the factor that determines which is the intent of the folder. A lot of what I'm hearing is "It is art if it's your design, but if you're just following diagrams then it's craft." I find this to be untrue. I might fold a model designed by someone else as a means of practicing a particular folding technique, as a challenge, or merely to replicate another's work for proof of concept, and in such cases I would consider my work to be craft. However, I might reproduce this designer's work with the end goal of a particular aesthetic in mind. I make very deliberate choices as to what type of paper I use, the color(s), the size, sometimes I try to convey certain emotions or moods in the model I'm folding. I consider this art, whether the model is my design or not. On the converse, I don't consider all the models I design to be art. I do physics research at Cornell University, and am studying the mechanical properties of origami structures. I design these structures to have specific characteristics and behaviors, and care little about the aesthetics. I fold as precisely as I can not because I want the model to look neat, but because I want to reduce error in my force measurements. I don't consider this work I do to be art, there is no emotional component. The paper I use has material properties well suited for my purpose, and it's appearance doesn't matter. However, I could envision folding the exact same models with artistic intent, and were that the case, my folding process would likely be somewhat different. Personally, I would feel insulted if someone were to tell me that other people folding my designs was purely craft and not at all art. I've greatly enjoyed seeing other people's interpretations of my work, and I would not be quick to dismiss it as craft. Much of it is, but it is my belief that a good amount of it is also art. I have a friend who used one of my designs to make a snowman, and I consider that to be extremely creative. His work in general is usually stunning whether the foldings are his designs or not. I think, what makes something a work of art is in the intent of the creator. Photography for instance, can be a highly respected form of art, with attention to details of composition and lighting, camera settings, type of camera/lens used, and if working with film, the development process. A lot of my photographs are intentionally underexposed and overdeveloped. There are a number of photographers who are highly respected artists, like Ansel Adams. Photography is also a huge part of social media, seen all over facebook, instagram, pinterest, etc. and I would consider most of this to be documentation, not art. I believe similar logic can be applied to origami. TL;DR I personally think that origami is art if you intend for it to be art.
