Twisted paper

Overview

A never-ending story about not getting the hang of it.

Background

The Möbius Strip is, according to Wikipedia “a surface with only one side (when embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space) and only one boundary curve.” I say it’s a cool shape with a cool name. For years I tried - and failed - to come up with a way of using it to tell a story. Obviously it would be a loop, with no formal beginning or ending, but apart from that I didn’t have much to go on. I bandied around some ideas, including a short treatise on time and space, based on this Worf-sampling Orbital track, a biography of French cartoonist Jean Giraud and a see-through comic about topless dancers.

None of these things worked, either because I didn’t really understand the concepts behind them (the first), because I didn’t have a strong affection for them (second) or because I was too embarrassed (third).

In the end, as with most things, I found bringing it close to personal experience was what unlocked it. I’ve never been a great one for home decorating and find the concept of wallpaper too strange to get my head around. The idea of every piece aligning perfectly made me feel stressed and this tension formed the the emotional heart of the story. As a former temp worker, I’ve had a lot of different jobs and can well remember the sinking feeling that comes with realising that no matter how hard you try, you’re just not getting it.

That understanding came with an insight sparked by the shape of the paper. What I like about the möbius strip is the twist it has in it, making it more interesting than a simple loop. That idea of the paper folding over itself put the picture in my head of wallpaper easing off one part of the wall, only to reattach itself to another.

This is one of several pieces I’ve created lately that involve loops or continuous cycles. Perhaps I just don’t like endings.