Impossible Objects and playing Card Kirigami

Wow, I am so glad I started this blog. Since my last post, a had a fellow direct me to a website for Ian Rowland of UK, who has developed specialty area in cutting and folding playing cards into seemingly impossible configurations.

He calls his cards WOW cards and he has them categorized as either ReFlexions or Flinks.

Here is a link to his Wow card introduction page:

http://www.ianrowland.com/WowCards/WowCardsPage1.html

It would appear from his website, that, with my linked card, I have done something even Ian Rowland: The Mindreader, The Mind Motivator, (+ refigerator magnet) has said is not possible. As I said he has these two catregories,

ReFlexions and Flinks*.

*This is my own crude summary. I say this because, while I have made a sincere effort to convey this information without plagiarizing, etc. Ian Rowland e-mailed me back after I asked him for feedback on my blog. He commented that "There are bits that you seem to have copied or summarised inaccurately, but I don't have a problem with it"

The "ReFlexion" cards by definition must be made by only cutting and folding, but NO reattaching cuts with adhesives or rejoining in anyway. By that definition, it sounds like my linked card would definitely fall in with that category.

By definition Ian Rowland says that his "Flinks", are different because they only appear to be produced in an organic way, that is to say with no rejoining or reattaching of any cut or torn parts, they are really only linked because there was some kind of "cheat" or rule broken to make it, some kind of rejoining or reattaching. At least I think that is what Ian Rowland is saying. My cards would not be "Flinks" because they are in actuality linked only by cutting and tearing the card with no reattaching and so obey all the rules concerning Rowland's ReFlexion cards.

I THOUGHT I was really ON TO SOMETHING!
OK, I here you chuckling with that edit on the rss feed!


So I was curious what Ian Rowland would think my linked card should be categorized as. Before seeing the actual object, in trying to solve the problem of the linked playing card, one may wander into thinking about the possibility of it being some type of PPO.

A PPO is what Ian Rowland refers to as a "Permanent Paranormal Object". Ian Rowland owns several examples of these including some impossibly linked rings from aluminum foil:

http://www.ianrowland.com/WowCards/WowCardsPPOPaperFoil.html

and a couple linked rolls of tape:
http://www.ianrowland.com/WowCards/WowCardsPPOTapeRolls.html

Rowland says although these objects appear to be possible PPO's, and he has no idea how they were made, he believes they are made by normal and natural means, albeit very clever, and that there are in reality no true physical PPO's, or paranormal objects. In layperson terms, one would say the object was not created "by magic".

So I can say that my linked card is NOT a PPO, because I make it by completely natural means
and when examined in the hand it is easy to understand how it was accompished in principle.
Construction of my linked card obeys all the rules for Rowland's ReFlexion cards.

As I have said I believe my linked card has great potential for magicians, puzzle people, close-up artists, origami and kirigami lovers, or anybody who is interested in doing weird things with playing cards.

Thank You Nir for this! This is just the type of info I have been looking for!

I will be interested to find out if Ian Rowland knows about anything that precedes my linked card........