If You Love Something, Give it Away

ROBORTO (one of my micro sculptures)

As I grew up in my grandmother's shack, I was exposed to many new things on a daily basis, things that I would have never learned at school, at least a conventional school. Very early on I developed an interest in puppetry because I found that this miniature storytelling world enabled me to do practically everything that I was already enjoying, such as painting, constructing things with my hands, telling or creating stories etc. As I was the only one that did these things among my friends I became sort of popular and started to put up shows for the kids in the "neighborhood", although we lived in a pretty isolated place that could not yet be called such.

Some kids became interested in learning how I did some things, some "effects" that I had discovered... but I guess in a natural reaction I became secretive, not wanting to reveal what I consider was mine, my secret power.

My grandma, who was an old and wise native woman noticed that and called my attention. She made me see, in her very clear way something that I have never forgotten, and what has become a rule throughout my life. She said, if you ever learn or discover something new, share it and give it away. Otherwise you will become a slave to it and while you keep it to yourself others will simply go ahead and leave you behind.

There is a lot more to this idea, and I know it can be interpreted in a number of ways. Later on in my life for example, as I worked in the special effects business, my associates were very distraught by me explaining how I created my effects, which they though were our "assets", that gave us an advantage over the competition.

It soon became clear that the strategy worked, because, like kids with a new toy, competitors would spend a lot of time learning and "selling" the new effect to clients, while I was free to pursue new ideas without worrying about being ripped off.

There is of course a big controversy about this approach, dealing with copyrights, patents and such. To me, it became just a simple thought, If You Love Something, Give it Away.