Folding Folds

Why do we fold things? Folding is one of the simplest methods for transforming something. Think of a simple sheet of paper. By folding it, we can divide it into new segments, alter its rigidity, change its volume, or modify the information contained in it. Folding implies mutation but not just at a physical level. Fold derives from the Latin flectere, which connotes a more metaphorical bending, curving, and bowing. Every time we imagine the impossible, we bend, curve, and bow that which we know to be possible. Every time we modify our notion of reality, we perform a folding operation on it. This talk addresses the idea of folding at different levels, constantly jumping back and forth between physical folding operations and purely metaphorical ones, thus outlining a complex imaginary web of interconnections between the act of folding and the deformation of the real.

Still from lecture Folding Folds