FOLDFOLD - Pavel Pazukhin

FOLDFOLD

Solo Paper Animation Exhibition

Paper is the material I have used in almost every project. To make props, to build shapes, to set the stage for stop-motion animation. I have been working with paper for almost 15 years. But at some point, I found myself asking: can paper itself be the subject? Not as a container for other things, but as the main character.

What can a single sheet do when it starts to move?

I started exploring that question in 2021, first in my studio and then in a real forest. The forest work took on a life of its own: it became a short film, and later the exhibition SUMMER, held at FabCafe Kyoto in August 2024. The studio experiments continued in a different direction and eventually became this exhibition.

紙は、私がほぼすべての作品で使ってきた素材です。小道具を作るために、形を組み上げるために、コマ撮り映像の場を作るために。15年近く、紙と向き合ってきました。でもあるとき、こんな問いが浮かびました。紙そのものを主役にできないか。他のものの入れ物としてではなく、中心に据えるものとして。

一枚の紙が動き始めたとき、何ができるのか？

その問いを探り始めたのは2021年のことです。最初は制作室で、次に本物の森の中で。森での制作はやがて短編映画となり、2024年8月にFabCafe Kyotoで開催した展覧会「SUMMER」へとつながりました。制作室での実験はまた別の方向へ進み続け、今回の展示になりました。

Venue: BO/OK　奈良市東城戸町28
Dates: Sept 6 (Sun) – Sept 28 (Mon), 2026 *Open Sundays & Mondays only
Live Performance & Talk: Sept 21, 15:30 (Reservation required)

Paper is the material I have used in almost every project. To make props, to build shapes, to set the stage for stop-motion animation. I have been working with paper for almost 15 years. But at some point, I found myself asking: can paper itself be the subject? Not as a container for other things, but as the main character.

What can a single sheet do when it starts to move?

I started exploring that question in 2021, first in my studio and then in a real forest. The forest work took on a life of its own: it became a short film, and later the exhibition SUMMER, held at FabCafe Kyoto in August 2024. The studio experiments continued in a different direction and eventually became this exhibition.

FOLDFOLD was created at the invitation of Ryoko Nagaoka — designer, artist, and the person behind BO/OK. Her space in Nara, combining an art book store and design studio, felt like exactly the right place to bring this work together.

Every scene was made by hand, frame by frame. Paper was folded, cut, and assembled into three-dimensional forms, then animated in my studio.

Alongside the main video, three new scenes were made in collaboration with TAKEO, a specialist paper trading company. TAKEO Paper has been an essential material for me for many years. For this collaboration, I chose the paper for each scene based on its texture, weight, and color. Each of the following three papers becomes a story of its own. The original props used in these scenes will also be on display in the space.

Earth scene — NT Rasha Dark Brown 130kg
Ocean scene — Shin Danshi Hanada 160kg
City scene — Sagan GA 130kg

Visitors can also experience a paper animation filmed in a real forest using VR. On an adjacent screen, you can watch the same scene recreated in my studio.

The soundscape was created using the sound art piece Sound Temple by Katerina Shikhova.

「FOLDFOLD」は、長岡綾子さんのご招待によって実現した展示です。デザイナーであり、アーティストであり、BO/OKの主宰者でもある彼女の奈良の空間は、本と制作が同居する場所。この作品を持ち寄るのにぴったりだと感じました。

すべての場面は手作業で、一コマずつ制作しています。紙を折り、切り、立体的な形に組み立て、制作室で動かしました。

メインの映像と並び、紙の商社である竹尾とのコラボレーションによって3つの新しい場面を制作しました。竹尾の紙は長年にわたって欠かせない素材のひとつです。今回のコラボレーションでは、各場面に使う紙を質感、重さ、色から選びました。以下の3種類の紙が、そのままひとつの物語になります。実際に使用した小道具も空間に展示予定です。

大地の場面 NTラシャ濃茶 130kg

海の場面新だん紙はなだ 160kg

都市の場面サガンGA 130kg

さらに、本物の森の中で撮影した紙の映像もVRで体験できます。隣り合う画面には、同じ場面を制作室で作った映像が映ります。

サウンドスケープは、Katerina Shikhovaによるサウンドアート「Sound Temple」を使用して制作しています。