On Purism in Origami

[malachi]

http://www.langorigami.com/info/paper/w ... apers.php4

[sunmaid]

One of the ideas that makes origami so interesting to the folder and to
the viewer is the nature of the creation of the finished product.
For example if you show someone The Last Waltz by Neal Elias and
they thing that it was created by using multiple sheets of paper and cuts,
it is not nearly as impressive as knowing that it was created from a single
rectangle with no cuts. Unlike origami, in most other art forms the nature of the creative process is not an issue of concern to the viewer.
Therefore in origami I think the issue of purism does have a place.
In general the less cuts and pieces of paper that are used the more amazing
the finished product is. This is not to say that creations from multiple pieces
of paper should be looked down upon. They are an interesting and beautiful
art form in their own right.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14908184@N04/

Sunmaid

[malachi]

chainsaw art

[Android raptor]

I mainly observe the purisms of no cutting and one piece of paper (except in modulars), however I think there are some situations where these things can be acceptable. Case in point: beginners and children. Most people want the model to look like what it's supposed to be, but some don't have the skill yet to fold say, John Montroll's horse. I think it's okay for them to use cutting to achieve results, however I don't consider it serious art. I also think things like ningyo can be considered art, but I don't consider them true origami.

[Jonnycakes]

I think origami at a children's level is just as much art as drawing at a children's level. It is still art. It isn't professional art-let's be honest, who wants a 5-year-old's picture hanging on their wall? It is an expression of feelings and reactions to nature through an interesting medium and it is certainly art. Using cuts/multiple pieces of paper does not diminish that, does it? Just because a 5-year old's picture is not nearly as impressive as the Mona Lisa doesn't mean it is not as much of an art form. The same applies to origami. It may lose some of it's relaxing, mentally and visually stimulating, personally satisfying qualities (and perhaps some prestige in the origami community), but it does not lose it's art...ness....artness is a word right?...

[origami_8]

who wants a 5-year-old's picture hanging on their wall?

Parents.

[origamimasterjared]

That's just so that the kid doesn't feel bad.

[origami_8]

I don't think so. I know a lot of people having pictures drawn by their small kids hanging in their office, where the children never are.
Parents love things that reminds them of their children like drawings or folded objects made by them.

[sunmaid]

And now and then art by kids is just as good or better than art made
my adult "artists"