Origami Crane Mosaics
Imagine crane mosaic tapestry during construction.
A special project
that has more global context than our flag constructions involves the creation
of an 8’x9’ origami crane mosaic of the Imagine photograph that
serves as our home page. The original photograph was taken during our
Thanksgiving 2001 visit to NYC, where we visited Central Park to display and
distribute cranes, and talk about peace.
The
significance of this image is multi-layered: it is a memorial to John
Lennon who was a modern peace ambassador and New Yorker who died violently;
the word Imagine stimulates positive thinking; and a mosaic is an
embodiment of millions of separate pieces joined together to create a
unified message. Additionally, the crane mosaic requires the viewer to
stand back and gain some perspective in order for the image to come into
focus. In this way, our crane tapestries are also a metaphor for September
11 itself. This artwork helps us to tell stories, and this storytelling
helps to both convey a message, and
reflect our history.
On July 4
we first displayed the Imagine mosaic over the southern side of the Oceanside pier along with
our American flag, to express the notion that Peace is patriotic. During
the Peaceful Tomorrows vigil at Washington
Square on 9/10/02, a spontaneous
memorial developed at the site of our mosaic that included Japanese
lanterns, candles, photographs, notes, flowers, and blessings from priests
and shaman. It was a remarkable sight, and an unforgettable honor to have
participated in that peaceful event…and remembrance.
Completed 96"x84" Imagine crane tapestry with over
8,000 origami birds. Each bird begins as a 4” piece of colored paper---which
we print at our studio---resulting in a 1” bird when folding is
complete. The origami is then arranged on a grid to construct the image.
This process is unique to origami and was pioneered by Arlene Elizabeth for
the WTCHP to enable us to have more portable imagery to display publicly.
WTC Towers mosaic--formerly called the Yamasaki Tapestry.
120"x72" This mosaic was also displayed at the Peaceful Tomorrows
vigil, and then three days later in Strawberry Fields. We
suspended displaying it on 9/11 and 9/12 while we were in New York
because we were unsure of public reaction to viewing a representation of
the towers during this sensitive time. In fact, the public response to this
tapestry was overwhelmingly positive and moving as it depicts the towers in
such a subtle and loving fashion, and during a more peaceful time.
Currently we are working on a crane tapestry that will take 8
months to complete. This mosaic depicts Father Mychal Judge being carried
away from Tower 2 just prior to its collapse. Father Judge was identified
as the first fatality of the World Trade Center attacks because
his was the first body released by the coroners office. He was a very
complex person with many ties to the community, and the image of his
lifeless body being carried away by four rescuers symbolizes deep
compassion and tragedy, as well as duty.
Below is a detail study of the current project. This mosaic
will be composed of over 30,000 three-quarter inch birds. As with the other
crane mosaics, all production will occur in our studio, including the
printing and folding of the paper, and final construction of the tapestry.
Unveiling will occur in New York City, 2003.
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