Why I hate the traditional origami Crane

Ok, so maybe hate is too strong of a word but it got you to read this. So maybe I don’t actually hate the origami crane. However, I firmly believe that it is the single most overrated design in the entire history of origami. Despite that, it is probably the most universally recognized and probably the most commonly folded design in the entire repertoire. As such, it is the design that most people think about when you mention origami. Any avid folders out there have probably had this experience. You mention to someone that you do origami and they react by saying "Oh, you mean like those little cranes?" It’s as if you told someone you played piano and they said "Oh you mean like that chopsticks piece you play with two fingers?" This is what bothers me. That an entire dynamic and expressive art form has been reduced in most peoples mind to one single expression, and not even a very good one at that. I mean, let’s be honest for a change here. It doesn’t even look like a crane. What is that big pointy thing sticking out of that back supposed to be, an antenna? If you ever take the time to look at a real live crane you will notice that their tails don’t stick up and taper to a point. And where are its legs?

I know I can hear some of you out there saying "but what about history and tradition and the whole thing about the thousand crane amulet and wishes for world peace?" Yes, I agree we should respect and honor the traditions and history that brought the art to the place that it is today. However, if we are to take this art form seriously we should be striving to go beyond what has been done before. I am told that in Japan there is a saying that the greatest gift that a student can give to a master is to surpass that master’s skill. If not for generations of practitioners diligently applying that way of thinking we would all still be making generic looking birds with some kind of antenna sticking out of their butt instead of the amazing array of forms available to us today. As for the whole "Peace Crane" story, back when I was in college several friends and I actually banded together to make a thousand cranes as a demonstration for peace. We collectively spent hours and days of our time diligently folding and focusing our thoughts and energies toward the goal. And when we finished we packed them all up and mailed them to the White House with an ardent and earnest wish for world peace. You may have noticed that it didn’t work. My advice to you is, if you are genuinely concerned about world peace don’t waste your time folding cranes. You won’t accomplish anything except to make you feel marginally better about yourself.