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The Only Way to Fully Understand How Amazing These Expanding Sculptures Are Is to Watch This Video

Feb. 9, 2013 11:03am Liz Klimas

Li Hongbo’s sculptures have been described as “freaky” and “bizarre.” When you see what they do and learn how exactly they’re made, you’ll probably agree with these designations but might also add “fascinating” to the list.

The White Rabbit Gallery’s description of the Beijing-based artist states that he has a special affinity toward paper.

“I love it and collect it,” he said, according to the gallery website.

He loves it so much, it’s his preferred medium. But would you believe that this (see the image below) …

Li Hongbo Makes Flexible Sculptures From Thousands of Sheets of Paper

It looks like a skull made from plaster. (Image: Vimeo screenshot)

… can morph into this (below) …

But it’s really thousands of pieces of paper. (Image: Vimeo screenshot)

… and this (below)?

The paper was manually glued together. (Image: Vimeo screenshot)

Here’s how he does it:

With the help of an assistant, Li Hongbo stuck more than 30,000 sheets together with carefully placed stripes of glue to form what look like two large blocks of balsa wood. Using an electric saw, he carved these stacks into identical human figures. One he leaves intact, except for a toppled head; the other is stretched out like a vast accordion, its torso and limbs looping around the gallery space like a gigantic Slinky toy. Many visitors find it hard to believe that it ever looked anything like its upright twin.

(Image: Vimeo screenshots)

Watch this video showing off Hongbo’s flexible sculptures:

The White Rabbit Gallery stated that Hongbo hopes this will show people the “endless possibilities of paper.”

Did it? Let us know what you think about the artwork in the comments below.

(H/T: io9)

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Comments (56)

TIME_THE_AVENGER
Posted on February 10, 2013 at 1:38am
Very clever and gifted man. It reminds me a little of Mummenschantz in it’s own way. (They were a bit unsettling, eh?)

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jman-6
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:12pm
That my friends is exactly what Nancy Pelosi had in mind concerning O’scamacare letting people express their artistic side! LOL…just kidding…while it’s not my cup-o-tea it’s pretty cool to see some still possess great creativity!

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canadianlady
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 8:36pm
Loved it! Bring us more stories like this.

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- TROONORTH
  Posted on February 10, 2013 at 9:30am
  It is an interesting effect and perhaps the ‘art’ of his pieces is in what they do rather than what they are. A sort of performance art, rather than sculpture.
  
  At any rate it is miles beyond the Art Gallery of Canada’s ‘Coat of meat’ wouldn’t you say ‘canadianlady’?
  
  Report this comment
N37BU6
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 7:24pm
There have been paper Christmas decorations like this for years.

Still cool, though.

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golflover1
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 6:30pm
I must be getting jaded. I didn’t find it that remarkable or interesting.

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- RRFlyer
  Posted on February 10, 2013 at 9:22am
  I guess you Are jaded
  
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- AmericaMustBeFree
  Posted on February 10, 2013 at 6:06pm
  I’m with you.. there are far more important things going on in the world.. oh sure sometimes nonsensical things come along to take the edge off everyday life.. But this wasn’t one of them!
  
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MisterSarcastic
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 6:05pm
The next Slinky?

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Sarah_Palin_Is_God
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 5:43pm
Most interesting thing I have seen on the Blaze in a long time.

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skip666
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 5:38pm
They didn’t tell you that he works for Dunder Miflin in Scranton, Pa.

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txannie
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 4:41pm
Genius…but creepy.

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lembrandt
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 3:39pm
This artwork isn’t going to cure cancer or provide cheap, abundant energy, but in its own way it is truly a work of genius. I have been an artist for a long time and have appreciated and studied art for longer than that and I have *never* seen anything like this – it is tremendously amazing.

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FlowerBell
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 3:15pm
Fascinating. This process may have many possible applications outside the art world as well.

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- Al J Zira
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:00pm
  I was thinking the same thing. Architecture.
  
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jpward001
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 2:40pm
This is a wonderful and awesome demonstration of art. I find the comments very telling on this site. I wonder how many of you could create anything like this. I know I can’t. I would love to learn the mechanics of the process. When did we become a nations of people without any respect for creativity and respect for the creator.

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Babci
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 2:19pm
I love the fact that I’ve never seen anything like these before. As an artist, I am reminded that there are so many ways to create. It is sad that so many comments are predictable and inane. I long for a time in America when people found invention/innovation inspiring and laudatory. The popular culture encourages us to ridicule and degrade (situation comedies and reality shows reek of this tendency).

Show this to a child and watch their eyes light up!

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- Twobyfour
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 5:01pm
  I am an artist myself. And I consider some of the comments irreverently funny. Why is it that many an artist seem to have a humorectomy and a high horse of insecurity?
  
  ” I see dead p… trees”.
  
  Report this comment
- MsMonsoon
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 8:38pm
  I am an artist and have studied art history almost my whole life. This is the kind of junk art you get when the National Endowment for the Arts encourages one to be different just for the sake of being different. When it has to be demonstrated and the method of construction has to be explained to be appreciated… self absorbed and narcissistic then describes these types.
  
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Mr.Fitnah
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 2:01pm
That’s racist

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- Displacedsoutherner
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:59pm
  Interesting but like many artists this guy has found his gimmick that in itself is interesting but ultimately only that: a gimmick. Add the 30,000 sheets and the labor and the process carries the end result while the visuals don’t.
  
  “Oooh, that’s so cool” I hear some saying but the content is non-existent and while the manipulating the sculptures is fun it’s not great or even particularly good art.
  
  Report this comment
avatar72
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 1:47pm
This better be done on recycled paper or we will have another liberal arts hypocrite in the world.

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banjarmon
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 1:22pm
Reminds me of a paper weight and is about as useful!

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- ikemen1
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 2:47pm
  that’s what they said about plastic at first…
  
  Report this comment
- Inlightofthings
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 8:17pm
  The “Pet Rock” was much less worthwhile…
  
  Report this comment
- FloydLogan
  Posted on February 10, 2013 at 6:10pm
  I thought the same thing when first viewing the video, now, I still speculate on the possible ways to use this. As someone said, what about architecture? I immediately thought of spinal columns and how terrible the problems can become to those afflicted. It bears reseach. This may be one of those times when what looks like a toy becomes a very useful tool. The construction timeand method is not terribly smart though. Nowadays, one should not need to directly finger all that paper, worrying about cleanliness an alignment all the while. That sort of job is what robots should be for, once there is an actual need.
  Meanwhile, I reccomend he market it as a novelty product, like the slinky or the lava lamp. Honest profit is nothing to be ashamed of.
  
  Report this comment
PAUL GULLO
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:20pm
If you are planning on dropping acid at this show, I would not recommend it.

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DZ-015
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:17pm
To heck with the white paper. Let’s see him do it to a printout of the Affordable Care Act; and then watch him stretch it into scary tentacles reaching out to engulf us all.

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- paperpushermj
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:39pm
  Regrettably that’s already been done.
  
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Unit_of_Fire
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:05pm
I hope Nancy Pelosi invites him over here so he can get some free obamacare and focus on his art and not have to worry about getting sick.

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Rowgue
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:04pm
Kind of stupid to be honest. He’s just making his sculptures out of a readily available commercial product and then stretching them out. He’s got talent in sculpting for sure, but the stretchy sculpture gimmick is needless and pointless.

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- jlancecombs
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 1:01pm
  He’s got talent in sculpting by gluing pieces of paper together. Try it. I can’t imagine a more difficult way to sculpt. He has to know how each sheet of paper will look in the finished product in order to make it look like a smooth sculpture.
  
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- MsMonsoon
  Posted on February 10, 2013 at 10:12am
  JLANCE: Really? Do you think perhaps he might stack and glue the paper before he starts sculpting. That would be the logical way to approach the project. I’m just saying. . .
  
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Exrepublisheep
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:45am
Cool.

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gzorpe
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:45am
Big deal… It’s a SLINKY made out of paper… Noth’nn new here… move along!!!

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- gyro
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:54am
  yay
  
  Report this comment
- Bookster
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:01pm
  Let’s see you make one.
  
  Didn’t think so.
  
  Report this comment
gzorpe
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:42am
NOT AMAZING… Big deal… It’s a SLINKY made out of paper… Noth’nn new here… move along!!!

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- gyro
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:55am
  yay two
  
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Gonzo
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:32am
See how great communism is? You get to make stretchy paper skulls. Sign me up.

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- qpwillie
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:41am
  Now come on, Gonzo. You just never know when you’re going to need a stretchy paper skull. Might as well have some on hand.
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:18am
Interesting for a short time.

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- Max jones
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 11:47am
  What’s it for? To amaze? To sell? To waste time and paper? Party decorations?
  
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- CanteenBoy
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 4:25pm
  It’s art. It’s for viewing.
  
  What are you for, Max?
  
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- Mosell
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 10:27am
  I can see a great use for this. You’ve seen the MRI images that go through the body slice by slice on a video display. Now each of those thousands of slices could be printed on a slice in this paper sculpture and medical students could take the MRI image apart and study what is seen at different levels. Of course the sculpture would have to be assembled on a post and pin system so it could be taken apart not just fanned out like an accordion.
  
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