Manifold

Abstract

This paper explores Gilles Deleuze’s interpretation of G.W. Leibniz’s all encompassing theory of the fold; it reveals how folds permeate through everything in this world. The operation of the fold is explored through demonstrations of folding a sheet of paper and the possibilities of these folding operations are revealed within the paper folding experimentations of the origami artist Peter Jackson. Through Deleuze’s writings, we understand that the folds give rise to the shaping of our world and rise to the form of our body and our Being. Our body is our point of reference in the world – it is the point within which we fold and unfold out the world. Through the body sculptures of Antony Gormley we understand that our body and the world are always in a reciprocal relationship due to the interconnections of folding that permeate everything. Gormley’s work reveals how we are what is folded and how we unfold this back out into the world. The view of the self being inextricably interconnected with the flowing/folding phenomena of the world finds an affinity within the thinking of Zen Buddhism – aspects of which are revealed through the inclusion of some of the writings of the Zen philosopher Eihei Dogen. Within my own work we see how the theory of the fold and the thinking of Zen Buddhism fold together and we see how my ceaseless practice of folding paper mimics the folding phenomena that happens within the world, in turn uncovering how these folds – of which they are folded of, of which they are folded for, and of which they are folded in – fold together to build a new world. The works that accompany this paper range across disciplines, consisting of paper installations, performances, films and photographs, etchings and ink and pigment paintings. Central to my practice is the ceaseless paper folding of lotus flowers; these paper flowers feature in all of my works. The performances – documented through film and photographs, often depict the actual folding of these paper flowers along with revealing the folding that takes place between the body and the world. The installations are formed out of the folded paper flowers. The flowers are hung within space – where they float – and where together they form large fields of flowers, which flow with the movement of time; twisting and turning, folding and unfolding within space. The etchings, ink drawings and ink and pigment paintings all depict ideas of forming of forms, bodies and flowers and how these work within space. Ultimately this body of work explores the phenomena of folding; how we fold within the world, how the world folds around us.