As a child, little beat the magic of a pop-up book – the joy of uncovering a hidden treasure in such an unassuming place. Artist and paper master, Benja Harney, has given his own distinct, adult spin to the medium. Finally, pop-ups aren’t just for kids.
WHO: Benja Harney
WHAT: Paper Construction
WHEN: “In 2001 I was working at St Martins College in London running the cyber café for the students when my interest in Graphic design was tweaked. I was accepted as a student there but it turned out to be way too much money so I came home to Sydney where I was subsequently accepted into Enmore Design Centre. The course was three years of hard work and as fate would have it, in second year we had a class called 3-d Construction. I hadn’t worked with paper since I was a child and it was during this class that I rediscovered paper and my love for it.
“After I finished college I collaborated with fashion designer Michelle Robinson who wanted to make a pop-up look book to accompany her range. This was my first real paying pop-up book! It went down a treat and I then got totally committed to make more. I’ve since made pop-up books for different exhibitions as well as myself.”
HOW: “I start with a lot of thinking – sometimes it can be weeks if it’s a toughie. I usually roughly draw how I think the mechanism will work. Then I cut it out quickly with some scissors and stick it down with tape to see the form will work. After that, I get on the computer and use Illustrator to exactly map out the shape of the mechanism from my original rough template. I then precisely cut that out with a scalpel and ruler. After that it is a (sometimes long) process of refining the form till all the unnecessary bits have been cut away and only the simplest mechanism remains. This can some times take up to 4 or 5 goes to get right. Then comes the decoration/imagery, which has to be superimposed onto the flat template. This bit is great because the pop-up really now starts to come together. I cut all the final pieces out and mount them perfectly (and I don’t accept anything but perfection at this point) onto the base sheet of card – this is quite slow because you have to wait for the glue to dry. After all that, I make a cover and the book is complete.”
WHY: “It seems as if we found each other really. I just seem to have an affinity with paper. It is such a humble and rewarding medium to work in. We think of paper as a relatively fragile medium but when you pay attention to such things as grain, weight and form it can become incredibly strong and a powerful form of expression. It’s great to have this ability to envisage a 3-d form from a 2-d beginning and have it say something in an unexpected way. There is no room for the superfluous in paper construction - you have to strip everything away and it is this simplicity and purity of form that makes the art. I also love the extreme technical aspect of making pop-ups – it’s a real brain stretch sometimes. Mm’s can make all the different between success and failure.
“Perhaps one of the best parts is seeing the reactions to the stuff I make. People don’t expect a book to move when they open it – there’s a curiosity there that almost takes you back to being a kid again – that awe when you first discovered pop-up books. I love how adults really appreciate the thought, time and expertise that go into my creations.”
For more on Benja or to enlist his priceless skills visit
www.paperform.com.au