The seminar on hammers and sandcastles explored the relationship between humans and tools: how do we use tools? — how do tools use, shape and guide us? The so-called law of the instrument dictates our tendency to rely on familiar tools even when others might be better suited. We think with the tool and this way of thinking can limit how we imagine possibilities and arrive at solutions.
Inspired by the idea that tools are never neutral extensions of ourselves, we built our own hammer handles, questioning who is truly in control: the hand gripping the hammer — or the hammer directing the hand. Each participant conducted research into a tool of choice and worked towards a new tool for th HfG. There is: a highly decorated metal rod hatch opener, brushes to handle intentions, folding metal sheet furniture apparatus, buttons of all sizes and positions, P.O.K.E. — the portable object for knitting and embroidery, hybrid-material-and-multi-use sporks, hanging storage structures for an E2 table, edge bent matched boxes for office supplies, a research on the odds of instruction and use on the example of crema catalana, a small house (and garden) for an essay on permacomputing knowledge, and the non-normograph.
These tools displayed as physical objects on furniture we assembled using our self-made hammers. The process and findings of our individual work is documented as traces on the seminar wiki, mapping our collective exploration of tools. Below is a plan and list of all tools.
Tools
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| 1.
| at groundfloor hatch
4.
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| | 9. at kiosk
| wiki |
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
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table 1
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| 4. 8. |
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| | <-- 7. under tabletop
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| 2. 10. 6. |
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table 2
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FURTHER PAGES OF INTEREST
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- Seminar program and other dates, presentation organization
- Plans and constructions of nailed furniture for the HfG (presentation)
- Hammer handles built prior to above constructions, after drawing and making one's own hammer handle
- Poems on the presentation and tools we brought the first day
- no-input workshop with Sara Lehad