Above the Fold

They’re the type of people who stash crisp dollar bills. They rescue reams of paper from the office recycling bin. They save paper chopstick wrappers. For members of the West Coast Origami Guild, who travel from as far away as San Diego and Pearblossom to gather once a month in the basement of the Cahuenga branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, a piece of paper holds the same promise as an unopened Tiffany box.

“A good paper,” says Terry Hall, “is one that will hold a crease and doesn’t fatigue too quickly.” At 56, Hall, the guild’s current president, is not too shy to sport a T-shirt that reads, “I fold under pressure.” He starts the meeting by passing around photos of origami bears made by a Berkeley “folder.” Hall, a technical manager for Northrop Grumman, is himself an accomplished “folder.” He attended a hands-on origami exhibit 13 years ago and “instantly fell in love” with the art of paper-folding, which dates to the 1st century.

“If I’m not speaking, I can go into a Zen state. There’s a tactile sensation and fairly rapid gratification,” he says. He owns more than 200 books on the subject and in excess of $2,000 worth of paper, which he buys at Japanese gift shops and bookstores (his favorite is Kinokuniya in Little Tokyo).

Nearly everyone in the room of two dozen received the most recent guild newsletter, which Hall edits, featuring a diagram for a dollar-bill mountain goat. Half the group begins folding their buck, so to speak. One woman has only a $5 bill--will that do? (Yes, though it could get expensive.) Someone else takes issue with the word “flatten” in the directions and suggests “squash” instead. (Flatten means fold the paper and press down; squash implies spread the paper out.) The biggest problem is mastering the goat’s eyes, which should appear magically around step 8 (of 12), right after the mountain and valley fold combo.

Jasper Paulsen, one of the younger members, takes out scissors. “What is that?” someone asks accusingly. “It’s a square to pentagon machine,” Paulsen jokes.

“Does anyone have tweezers?” Hall asks. (Tweezers are legit, as is tape--in emergency situations.) He needs to perfect the head and neck of an intricate 3-inch horse. Tweezers found and surgery complete, some locker talk ensues about the X-rated designs of origami celebrity--yes, there is such a thing--Marc Kirschenbaum, a New Yorker. Rumor has it he has perfected, um, moving body parts.

Hall, who can’t confirm the rumor, folds while waiting in restaurants and in line, even while airborne. “Many times on airplanes I’ve had a whole bottle of wine given to me,” he says. “I make good animals for flight attendants.”

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West Coast Origami Guild, (310) 450-2510.