Landscape architecture professor Jolie Kaytes is rocking the Bay Area art world with The GridShifter, an origami kit inspired by the fault lines of California. The piece is being shown at a gallery exhibition in San Francisco beginning Feb. 21.
The City | Space gallery exhibition is called “Wish You Were Here!” and features re-imaginings of Bay Area souvenirs. Kaytes conceptualized and designed GridShifter, which comes packaged with maps of California and the Bay Area, along with instructions for folding the maps.
Kaytes’ work frequently blurs the line between architectural illustration and the fine arts as she combines techniques of both disciplines with her talent for thought provoking writing and design.
Kaytes’ origami project is not only entertaining but, with its sharp wit, doubles as a reminder that our assumptions about stability of place are not always accurate. For example, for the origami project “Fishermen’s Warp,” Kaytes writes, “San Francisco is wonderfully nested between the San Andreas and Hayward Faults. This, in conjunction with its diverse topography, make it an ideal location to experience a massive earthquake. Especially notable are the opportunities to see solid ground liquefy and witness the instantaneous development of new landforms. The locations of the city most susceptible to liquefaction are along the waterfront. This origami lets you create novel city spaces based on liquefaction prone areas.”
More by Jolie Kaytes
“Unpacking Place” is a reinterpretation for Web of an installation by Kaytes and her student colleagues at the Cougarland Motel in downtown Pullman.
