- One of the most important
attributes of origami is,
once we have studied and
understood the way paper folds
and unfolds, we can apply
those patterns to things
that are very different from paper.
I hope by bringing the
tools of mathematics
into my origami design that
I can then fold something
that's beautiful and that's unexpected.
My name is Robert Lang,
and I'm a physicist
and an origami artist.
Origami is the Japanese name
for the art of folding paper,
and most origami is folded
from a single sheet of paper
with no cuts or tears.
I have loved origami my entire life.
I've pursued it ever since I was a kid,
but my study was science and engineering.
I worked for NASA doing
research on lasers,
but throughout that whole time
I had been pursuing origami,
developing designs, and writing books.
In 2001, I quit my job
to try to make a career
out of origami.
I've worked on a couple of
different folding patterns
that were round and would wrap
into a cylindrical geometry
to fit into a rocket; and I
developed an airbag in a car
that inflates from a small, folded bundle.
So, whenever an engineer creates
something that opens and closes
in a controlled way, they can make use of
the folding patterns of origami.
Over the years, math has
allowed me to realize
as an artist, shapes and
creations that I couldn't achieve
any other way.
Traditional origami was relatively simple.
The designs would have taken
maybe 20 or 30 steps at most,
but today, origami pieces
can be so complicated that
they can have tens, hundreds,
maybe even a thousand steps.
When I'm folding, it's like
working with an old friend.
It's like dancing with a
partner whose moves I know.
If I move this way, I know
my partner is going to move
that way, and so I explore the
math, develop the equations,
solve the equations,
create the folding pattern,
and then I find out what it looks like,
and, as often as not, it is beautiful.
For me, the driving force
is that there's always
something new to try: a
new problem, a new subject,
a new shape that I didn't think
I was able to create before,
but now I think I know how
to realize it, and each time
I solve a problem I get
this wonderful feeling,
and you want more of those feelings.
