the origami crane

The most peaceful form of meditation these days is folding a paper crane, an origami crane. I've always been interested in the "art of paper and paper-folding", whether it's just watching movies on the subject, i.e. "Between the Fold" or in trying to find a more interesting and less representational use of paper in art.

Recently, I started getting back into origami in order to teach my students how to fold paper, specifically the crane. The crane seems to be the most overused shape in origami next to a box, the heart, and the ever popular "cootie test" that every elementary school kid plays. The last three days I've probably created 100 different interpretations of the crane utilizing several different papers and images.

Upon doing this simple lesson I have discovered a new way to meditate and that is just sitting down and folding the crane. I've often thought about changing up what I fold or trying to learn a new form but I like folding something that is simple and somewhat overused, similar to the way Andy Warhol used the soup cans or pop culture icons.