Robert J. Lang, one of the world’s leading masters of origami, who is serving as the 2010-11 Rydell Professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, will present public foldings of his work from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 24 and Wednesday, Jan. 26 outside of the Book Mark on the lower level of the C. Charles Jackson Campus Center.
As part of his Rydell Professorship, Lang is co-teaching a January Interim Experience course titled “Mathematics of Origami.” His works, including those done during the public foldings, will be featured in an exhibition at the Hillstrom Museum of Art titled Many-Fold Manifolds: Engineered Origami by Robert J. Lang, on view from Feb. 14 through April 21.
Lang, whose Ph.D. in Applied Physics is from the California Institute of Technology, has been an avid artist of origami, the art of paper folding, for more than 40 years. In 2001, he left his career as a distinguished physician and engineer to become a full-time artist. He is noted for designs of great detail and realism, and includes in his repertoire some of the most complex origami designs ever created. His work has been shown in exhibitions in New York (Museum of Modern Art), Paris (Carrousel du Louvre), Salem (Peabody Essex Museum), San Diego (Mingei Museum of World Folk Art), and Kaga, Japan (Nippon Museum of Origami), among others.
In 1992, Lang became the first Westerner ever invited to address the Nippon Origami Association’s annual meeting. He lectures widely on origami and its connections to mathematics, science, and technology, and teaches workshops on both artistic techniques and applications of folding in industrial design. Lang is also the author or co-author of nine books and numerous articles on origami art and design.
While Lang will depart campus on Jan. 28, he will return during the week of March 7 for series of public events yet to be determined. The public foldings on Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 are free and open to the public.
The Rydell Professorship is a scholar-in-residence program designed to bring Nobel laureates and similarly distinguished scholars to the Gustavus campus as catalysts for enhancing learning and teaching. It was established in 1995 by Drs. Robert E. and Susan T. Rydell of Minnetonka, Minn., to give students the opportunity to learn from and interact with leading scholars.
For more information about Lang’s residency at Gustavus, contact Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Barbara Knight Kaiser at 507-933-7541 or kaiser@gustavus.edu or contact Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Tom LoFaro at 507-933-7463 or tlofaro@gustavus.edu.
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