Giving back to the internet

About over a year ago, Krishna Kumar or KK randomly lamented that we Indians are a very ungrateful and selfish digital people. He says we consume the internet, devour it day and night for hours on end. We see pictures and videos and emote accordingly. We read blogs and content sites like voyeurs. We are voyeurs because we always partake, never participate. KK says we have never been a giving kind of people. Even if it is something that the internet deeply helped you in – a class project that you needed help with, a dish that we desperately needed to know how to cook, anything…we ask and we get and we are happy. No one thinks of going back to the place and thanking the person, the site that helped you out.

I think I had that in my head all this while and it suddenly popped up when I decided to write to the person who inspired the craft of paper art in me. Six-eight months ago, I spotted a zebra that was made entirely out of black and white paper. Black paper was hand-torn into strips and pasted onto a white sheet of paper. It struck me as the easiest and simplest thing to do so I set about mimicking it with old, dusty pieces of paper I could find around office. My boss , an artist herself, was only happy to see rubble go.

So I made myself my very own paper zebra. Here’s a pic.

Ever since then, I love cutting and pasting paper. I play with newspapers too, upcycling is something that’s always been dear to me. However, the sheer charm of spotless black and white paper is just irresistible. Paperwalla was born.

I got into an exhibition too. The Bliss Quirk Festival in Versova earlier this month was a sort of coming together of quirky designers with a unique quirk sense. I did not know what to expect and did not expect anything and that’s probably why I was the happiest person there when people liked and bought three of the six pieces I had specially created for the exhibition. Cloud 9 anyone? :D

So I thought I should write to the artist who inspired me. I just found Tina Tarnoff’s email address online and wrote to her, thanking her for inspiring me and asking her not to sue me because I hadn’t intended on copying her design, I was merely an excited student!

Hope she will reply with warmth and not with an attorney’s message. :-S