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| Joseph Wu Origami Inc. on Facebook |
If you look at the flow of conversation between Joseph and one overzealous and demanding fan (at first I thought he must be a young kid; glad he changed his tune, by the end), the attitude of the fan is emblematic of a prevailing problem in the age of the internet, that appears to be rather unique to origami. Nothing else comes to mind in any other medium or artform where complete strangers across cyberspace make impositions, rude comments, and unreasonable demands of artists to teach them how to duplicate their work. And if the artist is resistant, coercion is sometimes employed on the part of the "fan". On Won Park's Moneyfolder Group, I remember those who would write in accusing others of "withholding" information for not sharing diagrams in their possession but with which they do not have permission from the creators to distribute. And I recall whiny entitlement attitudes from coercion artists who express indignation and offense when the creator refuses to go out of his way to spoon-feed directions to the demander. If the creator refuses to share, guilt by claiming "this goes against the principles of peace and love and sharing that is at the heart of origami" Origami is about its selfless, giving nature, you see. I guess it's supposed to work in one direction.
I was thinking of the following story, relayed by Thomas Sowell, after communicating with a small business owner who has some of my origami work on consignment. She was interested in the dollar koi, which Won gave me permission to sell, as a customer keeps asking about the one they have on display in the shop.
