One Sheet of Paper

Hi, I'm Jen. I'm the designer for ec—which basically means I do my best to make it look good. Part of my job is starting with a blank piece of paper and trying to decide what ec should look like.

Last week, though, somebody sent me some amazing photos of paper sculptures (hang with me, before you yawn!) that made me think twice about that blank sheet of paper. They were described as entries for a contest given by the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. (the 'modern art' gallery of the Smithsonian) but they were actually made by a Danish artist called Peter Callesen.

His goal is to create something meaningful with only one sheet of paper—but not in the way you might think. Usually we put things on paper. Paper is just a place to put your math assignment, your research paper or a pop quiz. You might make the occasional paper airplane. Even artists tend to use paper and canvases as a way to display their talent with paint or ink. But this artist made something out of paper itself, without drawing on it or painting it or adding anything to it. He used a knife, spatial knowledge (or how things work in three dimensions) and one sheet of paper to make beautiful, intricate sculptures.

Without adding anything to the paper at all, just by cutting and folding it, Callesen has made something interesting and compelling to look at.

In one respect, these sculptures are very simple. Most of them are all white. They are all limited by their small size. But at the same time, they are extraordinarily complex, detailed and whimsical. And they are about possibility. "What can I make from one sheet of paper?"

Interesting. I especially like the Tower of Babel (because it is so spindly and rickety-looking).