"10,000 Cranes" in the UIHC John Colloton Pavilion Atrium. May - July 31, 1998
"10,000 Cranes" is an installation of a thousand origami paper cranes designed for the atrium of the John Colloton Pavilion of The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Suspended throughout the eight floors of the mirrored atrium space, the 1,000 cranes will create, through reflection, "10,000" cranes, and represent both the legend of the thousand cranes and the 10,000 employees, students and volunteers at the UIHC. Both patients and staff were involved in the folding of the paper cranes, hence the project emphasises both the patient's and staff's shared hope and join efforts toward recovery and health.
In Japan, as the legend goes, a crane will live a thousand years, and that a sick person who folds a thousand origami cranes will become healthy again. From a colleague who had spent time in Japan, I have learned that in hospitals there, one can see strings of origami paper cranes hanging in patients' rooms or at their door, much in the same way we see flowers and cards here, given in the spirit of 'get well soon!'
As the "10,000 Cranes" project involved both UIHC staff, patients and their families in folding the thousand cranes for the installation, together we can verify the legend of the thousand cranes in the hope of achieving continued health. We can see in the 10,000 cranes its representation of the UIHC community, the reflection of the entire institution's commitment to the health of all Iowans. The 10,000 cranes magnifies the patient's hope that we working in healthcare have toward that end.