Andrew (Andy) Baron
Born (1962-03-31) March 31, 1962 (age 62)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPaper engineer
SpousePaula
Websitepopyrus.com

Andrew Baron (born 1962) is a self-taught,[1] award-winning paper engineer and singled out by Robert Sabuda, a leading children's pop-up book artist, as a wunderkind of pull tabs,[2] specific devices used to cause movement in pop-up books.

Biography

Baron was awarded the Movable Book Society's Meggendorfer Prize for Best Paper Engineering in 2004 for Knick-Knack Paddywhack! The book, by Paul O. Zelinsky, has “200 movable parts, 300 glue points – twice the usual number – 15 lift-the-flaps, and 10 parts on the last spread alone, moving simultaneously with one tab!... 500 people [at the Hua Yang Printing Company in China] worked on the book."[3] Of this book, Robert Sabuda noted, "his designs are unique, complex, thoughtful and he doesn't skimp on the amount of paper or rivets needed to accomplish an action."[4]

Baron has also repaired and restored old clocks, music boxes, radios and typewriters since childhood.[5] In 2007, Baron spent about 70 hours repairing the "Draughtsman-Writer" automaton by Henri Maillardet (1745–1830).[6] A version of Maillardet’s automaton, a self-powered robot that writes poetry and draws four different images, was in Martin Scorsese’s movie Hugo and Brian Selznick’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret.[7][8]

Selected bibliography

Exhibitions

Year Title Location Notes
2012 Pop! The Arthur J. Williams Pop-up Collection[9] Florida Atlantic University, Wimberly Library Also included David A. Carter, James Diaz, Harold Lentz
2012 Pop-Up! Illustration in 3-D[10] Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA Items drew largely from the collection of Ann Montanaro Staples, founder of The Movable Book Society
2011 The Harold M. Goralnick Pop-Up Book Collection: An Exhibition[11] Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine The collection holds over 1,900 volumes, including works by Baron.
2010 Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn[12] Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Museum of American History Also included Matthew Reinhart, Bruce Foster, Chuck Fischer
2004 Show Me a Story: Children’s Books and the Technology of Enchantment[13] San Francisco Center for the Book Exhibit includes inside view of the production of Knick-Knack Paddywhack!

References

  1. ^ "Convention Roundup". Movable stationery; newsletter of the Movable Book Society. v.6 (2): 1. May 1998. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  2. ^ Zelinsky, Paul O. (September 2003). "Behind the Tabs". Riverbank Review: 22.
  3. ^ Rubin, Ellen G. K. (November 2002). "MBS Grows Up". Movable stationery; newsletter of the Movable Book Society. v. 10 (4): 13. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  4. ^ Pena, Adie (November 2001). "Pop-up Royalty". Movable stationery; newsletter of the Movable Book Society. v. 9 (4). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Benjamin Franklin Fiesta". Santa Fe New Mexican. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Benjamin Franklin Fiesta". Santa Fe New Mexican. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Maillardet's Automaton: The Franklin Institute Science Museum". www.fi.edu. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Franklin Institute's Maillardet Automaton Demo 11/04/07". 26 March 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  9. ^ "FAU Book Exhibition Pops in Three Dimensions - Boca Magazine". Boca Magazine. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  10. ^ "Pop-Up! Illustration in 3D". Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  11. ^ "(Bowdoin, Library, Harold M. Goralnick Pop-up Book Collection)". library.bowdoin.edu. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Smithsonian Institution Libraries Unveils "Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn" | Newsdesk". newsdesk.si.edu. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  13. ^ "PAST EXHIBITIONS:San Francisco Center for the Book". sfcb.org. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  14. ^ Pena, Adie (August 2001). "The Baron of Santa Fe". Movable Stationery; newsletter of the Movable Book Society. v. 9 (3): 3, 14–15. Retrieved 28 December 2016.