Who am I? (And other questions)

Who am I?

My name is Marcus. I like to do origami. That's the short answer.

The long answer? My goal with this blog is to get people to really think deeply about origami. To that end, some of my posts are just pictures of models I've folded, but an increasing amount consists of writings on origami: its history, the culture surrounding it, the methods of design that people use, and the sheer diversity of artistic expression that exists within it today. Origami is so much more than cranes and fortune-tellers, and I'm someone who wants to share the richness and depth of origami with as many people as I can.

Thank you for indulging in my little corner of the internet, and enjoy!

 

Do you design all of the models yourself?

 

Nope! I list the designers of every model I've folded in each post; I've been working on designing more by myself but at this point it's still a mix of my designs and those of others.

Where should I start reading your essays?

I'd start with Everything is Awesome, which became foundational to what my goals with this blog would become. Many of my other essays refer to it in some way, so you'd be wise to read it first. I'm a bit more critical of the actual writing these days, but many of the ideas I raised back in 2022 still stand.

I consider Origami and Orientalism, written immediately following Everything is Awesome, my most important essay. It's one of my more "academic" works, with a lot of research put into it and a more formal tone than a lot of the other essays I've written. It's also about 5000 words long, so block out some time before reading it.

Sunday in the Park with Sadako is my reflection on visiting Hiroshima, the story of Sadako Sasaki, and their relationship to my practice of origami. Between these three works, there's a kind of story arc, centered around the origami crane, that reaches its conclusion here. This one's been republished in CMU's Big Straw Magazine, which I also write for, so check that out if you're interested.

From there, feel free to jump around wherever you like.

What's with the "Origami by Marcus archive" tag?

 

That's a holdover from my first blog, Origami by Marcus. When I got a notification that my blog might be shut down (due to student restrictions placed by Google), I backed up all of the content and moved it here. Everything from my old blog is in the archive, and everything written after that won't have the tag.