Sources: Kathrine Schlageck, 785-532-7718, klwalk@k-state.edu;
and Caitlin Muret, 785-532-7718, cmuret@k-state.edu
Websites: http://beach.k-state.edu and http://www.langorigami.com
Images available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415.
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu
Monday, July 27, 2009
INSECT ORIGAMI EXHIBIT TO SWARM K-STATE'S BEACH MUSEUM OF ART STARTING AUG. 4
MANHATTAN -- The work of one of the world's foremost origami artists is coming to Kansas State University's Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art.
The "Robert J. Lang: Insect Origami" exhibition will feature 20 insect-inspired works and will be at the Beach Museum Aug. 4-Dec. 24. Several larger-than-life spiders, butterflies, cicadas, beetles and a scorpion will be featured. Each piece is 4- to 6-inches long.
K-State's Beach Museum of Art and Insect Zoo are co-sponsoring the exhibition.
Lang first learned origami when he was 6 years old. He has created more than 500 recognized designs, many of which are noted for their complexity, detail and realism. Formally trained as an electrical engineer and physicist, Lang is a pioneer when it comes to the marriage of origami and mathematics. His art combines aspects of the Western school of mathematical origami design with the Eastern emphasis upon line and form.
Lang has developed new ideas on how to fold and develop crease patterns to create a whole concept. Until the early 1990s, folders struggled to capture certain details in their creations. Lang and other origami masters developed a method for folding insects, which involves mapping out where they want to fold legs, antenna or other details by drawing circles, squares and hexagons on a flat sheet of paper.
In conjunction with the exhibition, area students in kindergarten through the second grade will be able to visit the Beach Museum of Art, K-State's Insect Zoo and Manhattan's Sunset Zoo at no cost, thanks to an Arts-in-Education grant from the Kansas Arts Commission.
For more information, call the Beach Museum of Art at 785-532-7718 or drop by the museum on the southeast corner of the K-State campus at 14th Street and Anderson Avenue. Admission is free, and complimentary visitor parking is available next to the facility. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays.
