Paper & Glue: Whimsical worlds of Zim & Zou

 

Zim & Zou

"The flat paper sheets turned into volume are giving an installation the poetry of ephemeral material."
- Zim & Zou


Oof, there's something about the work of Zim & Zou that just hits me. Their work just seems to be this powerful representation of imagination come to life for me. We're moving on to a papercraft project, creating 3D models in Rhino that will later be cut with lasers out of paper for use to fold and assemble into real life objects.

Zim & Zou started their career as designers and moved away from computer design, so a little counter intuitive for this project, but inspiration is inspiration! They really seem to embrace the medium, which is one of the reasons it quickly resonated with me. Some of the supplied artists seemed to enjoy pushing the limits of paper, to the point that it's no longer recognizable as being made from paper and impressive as it is, that style of work is something that doesn't really appeal to me. Zim & Zou mention on their site, as well as interviews, that it's the textures and colours or paper that appeal to them and it is really apparent in the work they do.


The pieces celebrate that they're made of paper, there's no effort made to hide from that fact. The shapes are geometric and planar for the most part and the material itself is raw, with nothing added on top to change the colour or texture. For me it's not that you're impressed in that "oh way, they made that out of paper!?" kind of way but more impressed that it's quite possible to make out of paper but the time and dedication it took to bring their vision to life is what's impressive. That's the beauty, seeing Zim & Zou's vision of this vibrant and ethereal world come to life.

This is not paper but a good example of how Zim & Zou embrace the medium they're working with

It genuinely makes me sad that I cannot go inside this house or walk around the world it's in.

One thing I've learned quite quickly in my short time at AUArts so far is that I'm someone who finds a lot of satisfaction in not fighting the medium, letting it guide me in my process, and that the medium can bring so much value to an artwork. This love of the medium as well as their wonderful imagination is what is so inspiring to me about Zim & Zou's work.


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