In the past thirty days, I have ended up with more than fifty pieces of origami works. When I first started this project, I didn’t think I would complete the thirty days. I honestly thought I would have to use some of the cheat days.
All the origami pieces I have completed since starting this project.
My goal when I first started this project was to rediscover my enjoyment of origami and learn to make more than the two things I already knew how to make. And this goal was met, but not how I imagined it to be. I thought I would be making simpler origami pieces, ones that usually resembled household objects or nature, but I ended up making more complex modular works. Near the bottom right of the photo (above), you can indeed see I did start with those (butterfly, crane, bowtie), but the more days that passed by, the more complex each origami piece became. I did enjoy these simpler pieces because I could do them rather quickly, but where was the fun in that? Though, at one point, I considered making 1000 cranes as a summer project since there is a Japanese story that says one of your wishes would come true if you fold 1000 cranes.
Throughout the thirty days, origami became one of the activities I would do while listening to lectures or watching my favourite Korean dramas. I fidget a lot so instead of clicking a pen or playing with my fidget cube, I might find myself folding something simple like a lily or a ninja star. It also helped me destress in a term where I’m taking two intersession courses together (something I haven’t done before) when assignments and projects were due one after another.
I really liked doing modular origami and all my favourite ones I did were in that category. Folding each module was quite simple, so I could put more attention into folding more precisely. However, putting the modules together was difficult sometimes, as one side might fall out if I connect another piece. My favourites from the 50+ pieces I did are the star wreath and the spinning top. Both were very symmetrical after folding and were very colourful.
Star Wreath
Spinning Top
The thirty days of art also allowed me to explore the types of origami paper I had bought or already had. Some were thicker than others and some were super thin. Each type of paper affected the outcome, as sturdy pieces, such as boxes, could do with thicker paper, modular origami tended to fare better with thinner and smaller sheets, and pieces with lots of folds benefited from something in the middle. There was only one type of origami paper I bought that couldn’t be used and it was because the material doesn’t hold folds very well.
Ultimately, this project led me to enjoy origami, especially modular origami, a lot more than I have in the past. With the availability of YouTube tutorials and videos that weren’t as easily accessible when I was 7, it makes learning origami a lot easier than trying to follow diagrams or books. This project gave me a really enjoyable experience and I will continue folding origami in the near future.