“How’d You Do That?”
In this month’s spotlight, we are excited to introduce Seth Berg, a Colorado-based artist, educator, and avid skier. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Seth recently created a gigantic light-up, pop-up structure. The enormous artwork was open to the public as part of a large community event, a fundraiser for the Ah Haa School for the Arts.
Inspired by the intricate shapes and patterns of an Indian architectural treasure, Seth’s labor of love was large enough to walk through!
In addition to creating ‘immersive art,” Seth is also a member of the Movable Book Society, a group of artists and collectors interested in paper engineering and pop-up books.
Seth Berg grew up in New Delhi during the sixties and is nostalgic for random aspects of Indian culture such as oversaturated religious stickers and vintage Bollywood posters. He studied Art History as an undergraduate at Oberlin College, and he has an MA in K-12 Curriculum from Goddard College. In 2008, he was invited to the White House by President George W. Bush as the Colorado Teacher of the Year.
Can you please tell us a little about yourself?
I worked in education as a teacher and consultant until I was 65, and now spend my time as a paper-engineering artist.
What draws you to creating pop-ups?
I consider pop-up cards to be one page books that can explore many of the subjects that interest me.
The childish joy of movable books doesn’t mean that the content has to be childish.
I like pop-up and movable cards that have an extra helping of magic.
“How’d you do that?” is a response I like to hear.
The lattice work pattern of the card depicted above is derived from an ancient carved stone window at the Stepwell site in Rajasthan, India.
What can you tell us about your recent architectural pop-up art exhibition in Telluride?
My recent exhibition, this past weekend (19-21 July, 2024), featured a giant pop up card of Chand Baori that visitors could enter.
I am not sure if anyone else has been foolish enough to attempt this. The opened card was 12 feet wide and 8 feet tall, because that’s the largest size I could achieve with commonly available materials.
A gallery docent used a rope pulley system to raise and lower the card every five minutes for each new group of visitors.
I’m proud that the card was big enough that some children got lost inside and left their bewildered parents searching.
What made you select Chand Baori as the theme for your exhibition?
I like abstract buildings inspired by Brutalism or Parametric architecture. I love it when an actual building looks like the set of a futuristic Sci-Fi movie. I’m especially intrigued when a piece of art or architecture from an ancient era has these same qualities.
How are you using paper circuitry in your creations?
I have started using Chibitronics LED lights for the cards in my latest project about Chand Baori, an ancient stepwell in India.
I like white pop up cards with colored lights, and I’ve also had success with large cards that fold to 11.5” x 11.5” on contrasting colored cardstock with Chibitronics blue lights on a blue backdrop, red lights on a red backdrop and yellow lights on a yellow backdrop. I use a reed switch (naturally off) so that the lights come on when the card is opened.
Although the Chibitronics LED lights are nice and flat, the batteries, magnets, and switches that I use are thicker than I’d like. I’m still exploring different ways to make the cards seem flatter and thinner than they actually are.
What do you want people to know about your creative process?
I have learned that it’s quicker to jump in and correct the mistakes as I go rather than try to plan a piece perfectly for the early drafts. This is partly because I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I tend to fixate on some details and forget about the larger (and more obvious) design challenges.
What are some of your other interests?
I collect lurid pulp fiction paperbacks from 1950-1976.
I collect ancient beads, preferably over 1000 years old.
I collect agates with a special optical property known as “chatoyance.”
I collect black and white photos of rain.
I own over 100 pop up books.
Where can people learn more about you and your work?
I hope to create a website soon, but I tend to move on and start a brand new project before I’ve had the chance to post finished work. I do have an email solely for my movable paper projects: waywardelves@gmail.com.