Improvised tools made from flotsam, sticks and stones

[Permalink]

I see in one of the photos in the gallery that they seem to be drinking a concoction made with pokeweed berries. Which are poisonous. I applaud the commitment to art pour l’art’s sake, but wonder if they aren’t setting a bad example for the kiddies.

So, in the picture in the post one of the artists has found a metal implement that could easily serve as a trowel to break hard earth or be turned into a strong blade … and they’ve used it as the handle of some sort of spoon?

2 Likes

When the artists at Studio Fludd were sent to a peaceful Italian island with a group of other artists, they decided to improvise a set of living tools out of random flotsam and other found objects.

(Emphasis mine). Looking back at the description, the fact that they look more like nondescript homemade tools rather than being functional makes more sense.

They took their inspiration from John Cage’s aphorism that “Poor tools require better skills.”

Well, they certainly have the poor tools.

Clearly it’s a commentary on the hstorical human misuse of technology. Whenever humans are provided with technology that could be used for a rational and logical good purpose, they will misuse it to inefficient and often evil ends. Sharp glass flakes get turned into arrowheads, metal into swords, the atom into a bomb…

WHY DO YOU HATE ART!!!

Yeah, and to add to the comment on how stupid it would be to use a tent stake as a handle rather than a trowel (or flattened as a knife blade), can you imagine actually eating anything with a spoon made from play dough? Salty? Yes. Fragile? Yes. Turns back into mush if used with any liquid for any significant period of time? Yes.

Back in my days as a poor art student whenever we had a project to work on my friends and I would automatically start checking wastebaskets and Dumpsters for things to use as materials, and many times making your own custom tools for the job was a given. When we had the cash we’d hit up thrift stores and junkyards for the really good stuff.

If a poor craftsperson blames their tools, I guess a good one makes better tools.

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.