To copy is to steal

Humanity is made like this.
Regularly, during my trade fairs or designer markets, I hear people whispering “he just stuck tiles on a table!” “, “it’s not very complicated to do! », or « but where do you find your materials? », « do you have a card? an Internet site ? » ..and even better « can I take a picture? it's for my husband, my daughter, my sister...she's going to love it".
Sometimes these seemingly innocuous little phrases are sincere and devoid of bad intentions.
..Occasionally ;

.. Because unfortunately, the reality is often quite different (and all the creators I meet experience these same situations on a recurring basis); In a Western world more and more dedicated to leisure with extra free time, the fashion of "Do It Yourself", and free downloading, have created a rather unhealthy way of thinking, starting from the postulate that it is above all necessary not buy such and such an object at the asking price, especially if you can do it yourself.. or – as I wrote just now – download it for free (legally or not) in front of your computer screen.

Of course, we can all be inspired by the work of others.

Myself, I was inspired by the work of Piet Mondrian to divert the codes and especially the work of the material .. because there is a big difference between copying and creating.

When we copy a model, when we reproduce a style, a visual, when we realize "in the manner of", we deprive the creator and the author of all his rights...even when we do it only for his personal benefit .

When we reproduce for ourselves, it is for the economy or for the pleasure of producing.. for the pride that we will derive from it. Inevitably, we will show others what we have done, family, friends, friends, colleagues...it's human; In the eyes of all, it will become OUR achievement, OUR creation; It is OUR name that will be associated with it..

..The initial creator - him - is completely forgotten.

I don't steal from anyone even if at first, my creations may seem expensive (after reflection, everyone understands that not).

I spent thousands of hours developing my ideas, perfecting my creations; I tested many things with more or less success, I got injured too, I broke equipment, materials – many times – until I found the right gesture, the right timing, the right process. .

..In short, I have developed a technique -complex - that is unique to me..

When “we take ideas” - even very simple ones - we appropriate all the work of reflection and invention of the person who originated them.

The creator - with all his manufacturing clumsiness - is proud of what he has achieved, proud to show his work...and happy when he sells it to people in front of him who fell in love with his work. work and its quality. Many creators (sur)live from RSA - which is my case - and their income comes from the sale of their creations .. when there is a profit! ..because the cost of trade fairs is exorbitant and I'm not even talking about all the ancillary costs (diesel, hotels, food costs, car parks), I'm not even talking about the contributions (normal in principle but murderous for the VSEs when the big TRUSTs deduct everything and tax with impunity with a ridiculous tax rate, no need to give you names, you know them), taxes, purchases of materials, electricity, etc, etc.

When we steal the idea of a creator to copy or reproduce it, we steal his work; We deprive him of the just pride of what he has achieved, we deprive him of his originality, of his particularity, of what makes his identity... that's all that we appropriate!

When we voluntarily reproduce an object, in addition to robbing the creator of a possibility of income .. we become responsible for the consequences for the community: because it is the whole principle of distribution (and to which we hold) that is assigned; Through taxes, contributions and other taxes, it is the resources of the hospital, national education and all public services in general - that we find normal to use and whose constant degradation we see. – that we finance.

Of course, what we have appropriated is only a drop of water, “we are not doing anything wrong! ?" ..but when it is reduced to the scale of an entire population, to massive practices of “free” reproduction, it hurts a lot! This is called the “butterfly effect”.

This text was written for the most part by a creative colleague (Véronique, not to name her) whom I met a few years ago at a trade show and who -it seems- "closed the curtain" (like a lot) no longer able to see anything about her on the web.

And, of course, this text is only intended for people with bad intentions (and we do not live in a world of care bears), the others will see it – rightly – only as a collection of common sense…