ZACK NOBLE •   ASHEVILLE, NC

Tools are something I use every day. Some are useful for specific jobs and some are part of my everyday toolbox. It is fascinating to me that some tools stand the test of time and others are used and then never picked up again. It is often said in the blacksmithing world that we out to “work smarter, not harder.” The purpose of tooling is to do just that, to make our lives easier. Another interesting thing to me is how tools may have been invented by several different users at different times or places out of necessity. Sometimes I find tools or am asked about a specific tool, “what exactly does this do?” Finding one and not knowing what is was made for is always a great mystery.

The tools in this body of work are representations of imagined tools that may do a specific job, or are replicas of tools that have existed in the past but have been enlarged or changed in a small way. I enjoy the challenge that comes with the forging process and the methods I use are a testament to the tool or the person or persons who invented them. The blacksmith was typically the person in the village who helped make the idea of a new tool come into existence.

Using the historic or imagined tool as a starting point gives me so many possibilities for sculptural forms. This body of work also serves as a way to think about our past and present. How has our relationship with tools changed over time and how has it remained the same? In what ways do we think differently about tools now compared with how they were thought of in the past? How has modern tooling changed the aesthetic qualities of objects we use today?

 

 

 


ASSOCIATED EXHIBITIONS

SHOWCASE GALLERY

Opening Reception: Friday, January 5th (5-7pm)

January 5 - February 21, 2024
High Point Market Spring 2023
May 6 - October 4, 2023
LOWER LEVEL GALLERY
January 6 - February 22, 2023
Isolating Mass_ Zack Noble and Frank Hursh
SHOWCASE GALLERY
May 7 - June 25, 2021