Posted on: February 5, 2010 Posted by: Jay NeuFutur Comments: 0

The allure of folding paper is an interesting one, as evidenced by Between The Folds. With this hour-long special, viewers will get the opportunity to go into the minds of ten individuals that ultimately decided tot drop whatever it was that they were doing with their lives (including well-paying careers and graduate studies) to learn a skill that is extremely difficult. Each individual shown by those at Green Fuse Films and PBS has a different set of motivations for taking this bold path in life, and one of the most interesting stories would have to come from Chris Palmer.

Palmer creates a number of folded artworks that are influenced by the older geometric shapes found at the Alhambra (Spain). Where folding paper seems to be a time sink without too much in the way of useful applications, Between The Folds looks to showcase exactly how integral work in the field is. For example, to ensure that drivers have the most safe journey whenever they get into their car, there are a number of engineers working to fold the air bags just the right way into the steering wheel. Furthermore, the work of educators such as Miri Golan showcases just how versatile paper folding can truly be.

In eir story, the Israeli Origami Center looks to teach children of all ages math through different methods of origami. For those that want to see exactly what work is done at the Israeli Origami Center, there is a mini-documentary (clocking in at around seven minutes) called Origametria resent on the DVD version of Between The Folds. The outtakes also present here are an interesting addition, but I would like to see a little more detailed of a view of some of the individuals that are covered here. Still, I feel that this is the most indepth look into the work of those that use origami that I have ever seen ; pick it up to see how vibrant this field truly is.

Rating: 7.9/10

Between the Folds (DVD) / 2009 PBS / 55 Minutes / http://www.pbs.org / http://www.shoppbs.org

Leave a Comment