Origami physicist fuses art and science

Dr. Robert J. Lang abandoned his career as a physicist to become a full-time origami artist, but that doesn’t mean he turned off the scientific part of his brain.

He describes his artistic process as one of the foremost artists in the craft as “almost mathematical, very geometric. I take the subject and try to break down the subject mentally into component pieces and then figure out ways of representing each of the parts by patterns of creases that I know will fold into that part.”

I met Dr. Lang at the gallery space on the campus of Art Center College of Design, where a comprehensive show of his work is currently on display through August 20th. The school itself is worth a trip to Pasadena, high up on a hill atop a lovely residential neighborhood. And so is the art: dozens of meticulously folded artworks, from the traditional to modern twists.

Dr. Lang talked about his long-standing fascination with paper while we surveyed his work.

Folded: The Origami Art of Robert J. Lang/Art Center College of Design, 1700 Lida Street (Hillside Campus), Pasadena

Mathematical formulas for origami in the background; origami in the foreground