"In both creation and repair, the challange can be met by adapting the form of a tool, or improvising with it as it is, using it in ways it was not meant for. However we come to use it, the very incompleteness of the tool has taught us something" (Sennett 2008: 194).
Sennett writes that "Repair is a neglected, poorly understood, but all-important aspect of technical craftsmanship" and that we can understand how things work by fixing them. (Sennett 2008: 199).
Sennett describes "changing the object's current form or function" as 'dynamic repair' (Sennett 2008: 200). "Acts of repair are a proving ground for all tools" (Sennett 2008: 200).
Sennett also devotes a chapter to 'Material Consciousness' where he discusses the 'presence' of the maker. He writes that maker's stamps on metal, wood and clay leave a "personal mark of his or her presence on the object" (Sennett 2008: 130).
I returned to Sennett's chapter on 'The Hand' which I explored earlier in this journal as the nature of my work has changed and I found new and interesting points. Sennett writes that science seeks to show how the motions of the hand, the sense of touch and ability to grip in different ways, affects how we think (Sennett 2008:149).
"Our human ancestors learned how to hold things in their hands, to think about what they held, and eventually to shape the things held, man-apes could make tools, humans made culture" (Sennett 2008: 150).
Mary Marzke is an ethnologist who has sorted out the three basic ways humans grip things.
- Pinching small objects between the tip of the thumb and side of the index finger.
- Cradling an object in the palm and then moving it around with pushing and massaging actions between thumb and fingers.
- Cupping grip - allows humans to hold an object securely in one hand while working on it with the other hand. (Sennett 2008: 151).
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