New Documentary Highlights Beauty and Diversity of Mathematical Origami

April 23, 2009

The combined beauty of mathematics and origami makes the award-winning, 55-minute documentary Between the Folds breathtaking.

Mathematicians, scientists, and artists have devoted their lives to folding squares of paper to create a wide array of intriguing constructions. The film portrays ten practitioners who use origami to experiment with movement and light; to teach mathematics to children at risk; and even to design better airbags. A number of them have traded in their prestigious academic careers—and sometimes the respect of colleagues—to pursue the wonders of folded paper.

These creators combine mathematics, algebra, number theory, engineering, sculpture, and music in the search of intricate folds that lead to elegant and unexpected shapes and designs. A unifying factor is the respect the artisans show for Akira Yoshizawa, who is credited with raising origami from a craft to a living art.

The film by director-writer-producer Vanessa Gould, who studied astrophysics and architecture at Columbia University, contains a haunting score by Emmy-nominated composer Gil Talmi and ravishing photography by Melissa Donovan. Shown at the Cleveland Film Festival (March 19-29, 2009) and elsewhere, Between the Folds can be previewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE4lqYzS2m0.

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

"Think of it," one reviewer wrote, "artists, scientists, mathematicians, seemingly eccentrics all, have devoted their lives to origami . . . thereby creating metamorphic art, often luminescent as light bends and penetrates softly diaphanous surfaces, each piece conveying an ever-present tension between technique and emotion."

Source: Ashland (Ore.) Daily Tidings, April 1, 2009.