Do you fold Tessellations?

[Brimstone]

Kraft paper should be pretty good for tesselations, as it holds creases well. I have seen a few tesselations folded out of Kraft, just that I haven't tried

Kraft paper and tessellations, uhmm sound familiar:

[spiritofcat]

I like tessellations.
Since finding out how to make a hexagon I find myself playing with small hex tessellations a lot when I'm folding without any real aim or design in mind.
I haven't really folded any tessellations from CP or Diagrams though, just my own experiments and inventions.
I seem to have independently discovered some of the well known ones though. Eric Gjerde's Spread Hexagons for example.

[EricGjerde]

I like folding tessellations too :)

I've never really been interested in representational origami; I find it very appealing, and quite attractive, but not something I have wanted to fold. this is entirely a personal preference and of course others feel the same way about abstract geometric things.

The nice thing is that there's something for everyone, so we all can find an outlet for our creative impulses that satisfies us, even if it's not someone else's cup of tea.

That being said, I find tessellations to be more of a means to an end, rather than entirely an end unto itself... I think there's a lot of potential use for such techniques to be combined with upcoming newer methods of folding representational work, as seen with models by people like Kamiya, etc.

For me, folding tessellations is more about deforming/modeling a surface and an exploration of topology - not about math at all, but more about making structures and shapes from a plane, and the potential that such a surface holds. I'm very fascinated in architecture and structural engineering, much more so than traditional origami, and I love how the two come together for me through a single sheet of paper.

In any case, I'm very happy to see more people exploring tessellations, and hopefully it brings some people into the origami world who might never have dabbled in it otherwise.

-Eric

[chesslo]

i don't really like folding tessellations

[Daydreamer]

I like folding tessellations too

Really? I would never have guessed that. I thought you hated it...

I actually did some tessellation folding recently because it's a nice thing for looong train rides. I still like my stuff to get somewhat representational in the end though.

[Finward]

I love folding representational, for the results. But I find tesselations kind of entertaining, because I don't care very much for the result, I only fold because I want to fold. So, I like watching other's tesselations, I enjoy folding tesselations (unless I'm folding only to see my finished piece), I enjoy learning new tesselation patterns, Im certainly not interested in becoming a tesselat...er(?)

[Sara]

Hm, I'd say I've folded several tessellations, but I went for the "true love" option. In the end, I think you can "even" love tessellations without ever having folded one.

And while I do like representational folds, I am also fascinated by tessellations. To me, they are pleasing to look at - can a pattern not be art enough?
My partner doesn't quite see it like me, though. He always asks me what I'm going to make with the tessellation. For him tessellations only seem to be a technique for enhancing representational models, e.g. for adding scales and such to reptiles or fish. [By the way, he doesn't do origami himself.] I have tried to explain that I love the beauty of the pattern, and that the model is finished - but it's just not for everyone.
Having said that, I do think that tessellations can enhance representational models. Think of Robert Lang's Koi or Kamiya-san's Ryu Jin. There are of course many other examples, but those are the two most impressive I know. And one day, I tell you, I will fold that Koi!

-- Sara

[fold-it-all]

I have done a few, all of which I did from just their folded picture so they probably weren't too hard compared to others.

[Oruhito]

As most of you know, I fold mostly tessellation based models. Mainly because it is my area of design expertise, but also because I enjoy looking, designing and folding them. I really enjoy folding representational stuff as well. In fact I try to maintain some kind of balance with both genres. They both offer a certain aesthetic that neither one can have independently, thus folding both creates a yin and yang equilibrium!

[Elboberto7]

i like tessellations, they seem to hypnotize me. folding them never really bores me,but there rnt many diagrams or cps.

[飛竜]

i really dont like them i dont like the endless creasing.
the only tesselation i would try is one of those conjoined masks with a face that a famous origamist does i have seen his or her models on pictures of origami convention im not sure if its joel cooper.

yeah id try that because it looks sooo cool .
id split it into several weeks though

[Zorigami]

I like folding tessellations every once in a while, but I usually sway towards representational.
I love looking at them though!!!

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

A random bit of insight for those who are of the belief that tessellation and representational origami are mutually exclusive: Lets look at Islamic art. Muslims are forbidden to make any representation of a human or animal. (Hence the uproar over depicting the prophet Muhammed in a cartoon several years back--- Person=Forbidden, Holy Prophet=Extra Forbidden and blasphemous) This goes for painting, sculpture, etc. However, the Koran does not forbid the representation of plants. Islamic artists took what they could do, and just went wild. This, combined with the incredible Islamic mastery of mathematics yielded immense representational mosaics depicting repeating patterns of vines,plants, leaves, flowers, and other geometric forms. So really, tessellation, with it's stylized patterns and shapes can be highly representational. Just take a look at these:







There's your art lesson for today. Now go fold something.