Fold-In
Thursday, September 20
  Drop frogs

not bombs. 
Monday, January 10
  updating to bump the statistics! Fnord! 
Thursday, October 25
  Taken from The Age, Sunday 21 October 2001. (Link to original article)
Russians rule at week two of Festival
(various writers/reviewers)
Sunday 21 October 2001

(...)
At the Centre for Contemporary Photography Marie-Ange Guilleminot places a soft felt disc in the middle of the space with two laptop computers, a supply of handsomely printed sheets of paper and some origami cranes (birds). The two computers take you through a step-by-step demonstration of how to fold the paper so that you can create your own crane. Entitled The White Transformation Parlor, the installation commemorates the bombing of Hiroshima, as the Japanese offer paper cranes as a tribute to the memory of the bombed population.

The installation is accessible, even for children, and also has a deeper significance. But here's the rub. If, like me, you sit and try to fold your crane, you won't know that you're performing the melancholy honors for the annihilated citizens of Hiroshima, because you'll only discover the significance of the origami upon reading the catalogue essay. The ethics of this are a bit suspect. You may well be happy to commemorate the dead but you'd prefer not to do it unwittingly.

The great thing about the visual arts component of the Festival is its focus on women artists, especially those using video, who express femaleness with an unabashedly moody and sensual relish. This is projected by some energetic writing, not least by the curator Juliana Engberg. Her curatorial premise of "the female sublime" is memorable and there are enough good works in the festival to bear the grandeur of the phrase.

Humid is at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Dallas Brooks Drive, South Yarra, until November 25; Fallen spirits is at Anna Schwartz Gallery, 185 Flinders Lane, until October 27; The White Transformation Parlour is at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, 205 Johnston Street, Fitzroy, until November 3.
- ROBERT NELSON



Robert's comments made me a little angry -- and made me want to see the piece for myself, but more on that later.

I originally searched through The Age via Google because I had been interviewed at one of the two peace rallies I've been to by an Age-associated journalist. Now that I think about it, she said it was for her own studies, and not for the paper, but it's been interesting to search The Age anyway! I have found another comment related to Guilleminot's installation by the artist herself in another earlier `preview' article:

Women behaving badly
By GABRIELLA COSLOVICH
Friday 27 July 2001

(...) PROMINENT French artist MarieAnge Guilleminot will also be in Melbourne at festivaltime. Guilleminot's delicate works comment on the fragility of the environment. Her projects here will include running origami classes for children, showing them how to make paper cranes as a tribute to the children of Hiroshima. ``MarieAnge is acutely disappointed by her own government's involvement in nuclear testing,'' Engberg says.


Perhaps Robert hadn't read the preview written by his colleague, or hadn't spoken to the artist or the curator, but the point he makes about unwittingly commemorating the dead is weak. I wonder if he objects to driving in a Mitsubishi-made car, etcetera.

Most of the people I have shown how to make cranes have themselves brought up the story of Sadako. I've since read on other origami sites that making cranes isn't necessarily commemorating the people killed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but an anti-war symbol in general, a peace symbol not unlike the dove; and at the end of the day, jeez, it's just a paper crane! I wonder if he wiped his hands on his front when he came to that awful realization.
 
Tuesday, October 23
  The Fold-In seems to have tanked lately, along with everything else I'm supposed to be doing. I've let my schoolwork slide, which is Not So Good seeing as I'm supposed to be salvaging my reputation as a student to my family and to myself. I just can't get a few things out of my mind at the moment, the emotionally loaded (and probably staged, hopefully staged) images of Taliban child soldiers brandishing Kalashnikovs while they wait for the US led coalition to arrive. Nearly 400 dead would-be Australians isn't helping my state of mind either. For me, the benefits of an open doors migration policy far outweigh the disadvantages; all this hullabaloo about security and job-taking only serves to expose ... well what does it expose?

1) that Australians are inherently xenophobic, and as such can be readily manipulated by certain politicians wishing to get elected/re-elected
2) the way the current federal government has neglected regional diplomacy, perhaps to achieve 1)
3) if we can't stop the six-months-in-a-leaky-boat brigade, what hope in hell do we stand against a serious 'we're gonna invade ya' army?

Don't let my political venting dissuade you from folding a crane or two: they don't care what you think, as long as they get folded! (^_^)

I've edited this post, I think I'd been drinking too much coffee, it had been posted about five times. I want to get my local library to put up some of my cranes. I'm sitting in my local library, so that shouldn't be too hard.

I also have some suggestions for anyone wanting to start their own fold-in -- it doesn't even have to be called a fold-in, by the way. Old wrapping paper, junk mail, and unsolicited religious tracts all make for excellent 'crane fodder'. Flesh is junk-mail. I have an excellent `foreign language' local phone book from my years in Bentleigh, one of Melbourne's Eastern European flavoured suburbs. The staples and the extra cutting (a4 -> square) will be worth it!

Sorry about the ranting, sorry for the inaction, sorry for being sorry. This "Wu-wei" business is harder than it sounds! 
Wednesday, October 3
  Another 150 cranes made today, taking the total to >450. I started late, having been up late last night on the internet and doing stuff. I intend to put scans of the comments people have been writing up here, somewhere, when I work out how to diddle with Blogger's default webpage layouts. Also, an explanation of 'de-centralised' ... I suppose I meant that anyone can do what I'm doing, all you have to do is be somewhere the same day for a few weeks, set up a little stall and start folding (^_^). 
Friday, September 28
  The Fold-In seems to have tanked lately, along with everything else I'm supposed to be doing. I've let my schoolwork slide, which is Not So Good seeing as I'm supposed to be salvaging my reputation as a student to my family and to myself. I just can't get a few things out of my mind at the moment, the emotionally loaded (and probably staged, hopefully staged) images of Taliban child soldiers brandishing Kalashnikovs while they wait for the US led coalition to arrive. Nearly 400 dead would-be Australians isn't helping my state of mind either. For me, the benefits of an open doors migration policy far outweigh the disadvantages; all this hullabaloo about security and job-taking only serve to expose the financial and political neglect with which our intelligence community has been treated over the years.

Don't let my political venting dissuade you from folding a crane or two: they don't care what you think, as long as they get folded! (^_^)
 
Thursday, September 27
  It's occurred to me that what I've done so far, with the help of others, has been a good start, and can either cruise along at its current energy and momentum or be pumped up into a larger campaign.

That's one of the thoughts I had originally, that this might somehow grow into a syndicated, replicated movement. There's certainly enough spare/scrap office paper floating around, and I always thought origami makes a good alternative to smoking ...

Anyway, so far there's about 300 cranes' worth, between the two strings hanging up in the Flinders St subway area and in the kitchen at home. Relax, they'll soon all be at Flinders St! Not bad for two days' worth of Fold-In.

 
A de-centralised, non-violent, and peaceful protest for world peace.

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Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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