The art of how these magical constructions of paper engineering work will be a major focus of the exhibition, Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn. The show will be arranged by construction type in four areas:
- movables (primarily books that have movable parts that do not emerge from the surface of the page)
- pop-ups (book that in variant ways do emerge from the page)
- folding books (accordion forms)
- fantastic forms (that use multiple constructions)
This is an innovative way to display the history and variety of pop-up and movable books.
The experience will be dramatic, as works of varying forms, sizes, and publication dates, geared toward either children or adults, are situated in cases side by side. The art of the book will appeal to all who are fascinated by how things are constructed; to designers and paper engineers of all ages who will be inspired by all the diverse forms; and to educators and art teaches who are seeking examples that may be used in class projects.—Elizabeth Periale
As a paper engineer, book artist, and curator I've spent some time exploring the pop-up books in the Smithsonian Libraries' collections. This show promises to be a fantastic look at some of those amazing books, and a wonderful public introduction to the sculptural book genre. I'm looking forward to the show!
Posted by: Carol Barton | 07/14/2009 at 10:00 PM
Fascinating images from a bygone era. That Pinocchio image with the pop up fish is stunning!
Posted by: buy power sanders | 02/07/2010 at 05:35 AM
As a kid I was a huge fan of popup books. I think they were a valuable learning tool as a child and would love to learn more on how to construct these
Posted by: cover letter | 04/14/2010 at 10:16 AM