excuse me?
Posted by Willowhawk on July 23, 2003 at 00:11:46:
In reply to: You're WRONG! posted by Daniel on July 22, 2003 at 22:27:09:
: I totally understand where you're coming from....I really doubt you understand where I am coming from.
: You don't want your designs to be compromised by some Booh Hoo big
: corporation who's going to mass market your designs.
That is just a side argument. After 6 weeks (6 emails/2 phone
calls) this is the first mention of using stencils. What I am
expected to send them is basically bulky 'flash'.
: I think, and please excuse my passionate writing, that you are
: totally wrong. If you request to have your name on each
: copyrighted
: material made, ie stencil, you'll help through your designs bring
: henna & the art of menhdi to the mass population out there.
I haven't requested to have my name on every stencil. What I found
galling is the fact that out of the blue I am told to send designs
so that they can use them as they see fit. I was contacted/hired as
an ARTIST not to butter toast...aka use stencils.
: Isn't
: this what we all want?
Bring mehendi to the mass population? Yes, of course. It helps us
all to learn more of other cultures and to share the beauty as well
as the ugly. Mass market/assembly line mehendi...sorry, I don't do
that. If I did my booth would be nothing more than a pop up
tent/chairs/flash designs. I wouldn't take the time to talk with
people about mehendi, I wouldn't let people hang out in my booth
whether or not they are getting work done. I wouldn't do mehendi
gratis for the occasional person because I LOVE to do it.
I create an atmosphere conducive to what I do, a comfortable place
that is as close as I can get to what someone would experience in
their own home. At events people are getting a taste of mehendi, if
they want the full experience they book privately.
I chose the events I do a bit selectively. I am not a team of
artists...I am solo. I have a couple of big events (that I now have
an assistant for) to pay the bills...and even then it's the same
thing, just on a larger scale. I don't change books for bigger
events. Aside from that I do a lot of smaller events that allow me
to be 'living history' and very cultural.
: Don't we all want everyone out there to be
: aware of henna and to use it once in a while?
Yes, it is definately an artform anyone can learn. I have had 2
stencils in 5 years given to me to try out. They suck. Aside from
the huge waste of paste, the lack of knowledge/skill/talent needed
to use it....they bleed, and in the end, the stain looks strange.
You can become aware of henna and use it once in a while but still
learn to do it without a stencil.
Using a stencil and charging for it??? Maybe enough to recoup the
cost of the paste (minimal) and the stencil (minimal). But in the
end you still look like you have a stencil.
: Don't do the mistake of all the henna artists in the past
: centuries
: that let it become dust until we've come to revive it!
I wasn't aware the the nequashas and mehndiwala's had let it
stagnate and become dust. It is still being used culturally and I
don't think westerners reviving it has changed it much.
: I'd say you should go forth with it... even if it is to be able to
: walk into a big store one day and see one of your designs on the
: shelf, even if it doesn't bare your name on it, and have in your
: heart the joy of having created something long-lasting that many
: people would spend their precious dollars to acquire & use it
: because it looks cool. That sense of achievement is priceless.
Stencils, from what I have heard are not long lasting. The shelf
life of the product awaiting to be purchased lasts longer.
Again...the focal point of this is not really being asked to give
designs...that wasn't part of the original deal. But it does bother
me that I am expected to give them my designs for their use. I
don't work for them until the dates specified.
Acheivement may be priceless, but I am not going to whore myself
around for someone else's gain.
Mehendi has brought me a long way since I dabbled with it 5-ish
years ago. Delving into the cultural aspects has changed many
things about my life including religion. It's not an experience
everyone has had/will have....it's just how 'we' have worked
together.
In the end I have to face the ethnic communities and be able to live
with myself for RESPECTING their traditions/culture enough to not
turn this all into the westernization of something they hold so
dear.
Willowhawk
Cultivate modesty in the midst of good fortune,
But in times of adversity preserve your dignity.
-Tirukkural 97:963
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