COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS
“Ocean Coral” (2013), Mi-teintes watercolor paper, by Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine.
One of the most humble media in the art world, paper, is explored in “Pulp Culture: Paper Is the Medium,” an exhibition which is at the Morris Museum in Morris Township through Dec. 7. It includes more than 80 objects: everything from life-size sculptures of humans to jewelry made out of paper.
At right is the gracefully flowing “Ocean Coral,” by Erik Demaine and his father, Martin Demaine. This is an example of what they call Curved-Creased Sculpture.
“When folded along curved creases, paper shapes itself into a natural equilibrium form,” Erik Demaine, an MIT computer science professor writes on his web site, erikdemaine.org. “These equilibria are poorly understood, especially for curved creases. We are exploring what shapes are possible in this genre of self-folding origami, with applications to deployable structures, manufacturing, and self-assembly. This transformation of flat paper into swirling surfaces creates sculpture that feels alive.”
Art of the Day is a series of posts, each focusing on one work of art on display at a museum, gallery or other exhibition space in New Jersey. These will appear daily, though not on weekends and holidays. To suggest works of art to feature, please email njartsdaily@gmail.com.
