> On Nov 15, 2023, at 7:59 AM, David Mitchell via Origami > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Under the subject 'Folding Legend and Joisel Award - Join our free event', > Ilan Garibi wrote: > > 'Neal Elias can be considered the creator of the modern box-pleating > technique' > > I think this assertion is worth discussing. According to Eric Kenneway's 'ABC > of Origami', BOS booklet 47, box-pleating is 'a creative folding technique > pioneered by F Rohm and developed by N Elias'. > > Kenneway explains that the crease pattern that results from 'box-pleating' is > a 'multiple water bomb base or preliminary base' ie a series of concentric > waterbomb bases or preliminary folds set inside each other, which can then be > collapsed to form the base that Elias and others used to create designs for > human figures. > > The question then arises as to whether 'the modern box-pleating technique' is > something entirely different. On this definition Mooser's Train, for > instance, would not be an example of 'box-pleating', although it is > effectively made from a series of pleated boxes. > > Thoughts, anyone?
The quoted description from Kenneway is, IMHO, not a very accurate description of the methods used by Elias (and Hulme, let’s not forget) that we now call box-pleating. But, if I recall correctly, even Elias didn’t call his techniques “box-pleating” — I think he used the term “box-folding”. And he did do plenty of 3D designs like Mooser’s Train (like his Cart and Horse, Grand Piano, and more), in addition to the flat-folded structures that are in his human figures. It’s a bit inaccurate to call him the “creator,” since he learned from Mooser’s train, and many of the techniques are even older (pleating was around for over a millennium in the New World, and I recall seeing what sure looked like an “Elias Stretch” in Giegher’s napkin-folding treatise). And "the modern box-pleating technique” now includes techniques that were added after Elias (e.g., polygon packing methods of design, “Kamiya pattern”, and the like). But he went far beyond what people had done before and added many new techniques of his own. I think it’s fair to say he showed the power and diversity possible with the technique, as well as creating many beautiful artworks. So perhaps “Neal Elias pioneered the modern box-pleating technique” might be a better way of describing his role, honoring his preeminence and contributions without suggesting there was nothing before him. Robert
