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Useless Tools
For Every Anxious Occasion
By Sarah Katherine Stengle and Michael Joseph
[Clinton] New Jersey: Hunterdon Art Museum, 2011.
6 x 9"; 68 pages. Tête-bêche book construction. Bound in illustrated wraps.
Hunterdon Art Museum, Sarah Stengle: Useless Tools: "While most of us see tools as implements that help us accomplish manual tasks, artist Sarah Stengle transforms them into mysterious objects fraught with psychological tension. Her project, Useless Tools, comprises an artist book and a series of sculptural objects described and illustrated in the book. Formatted like an instruction manual, the book describes various 'anxious occasions' and imagines tools to handle them. ...
"For the book, Useless Tools, Stengle employed a 'tête-bêche' binding, in which two separate texts are joined together, but inverted head to tail—one beginning at the front of the book, and the other at the back. After writing short descriptive entries on individual tools, the artist collaborated with author Michael Joseph, who is a rare books librarian at Rutgers University. His written responses to Stengle’s original entries form the basis of a revised and annotated version of the text, situated at the 'back' of the book. The resulting dialogue between Stengle and Joseph is transcendent, moving beyond a discussion of tools.
"The true value of these non-functioning tools is their ability to remind us of our actual, if unacknowledged needs. While we may never find ourselves fleeing hunters in the forest or turning to stone, we still face challenges that cause us to crave the appropriate tools. How often have we fantasized about becoming invisible or having eyes in the backs of our heads? Who wouldn’t love to reconnect with a lost childhood pet? And what would it mean if we had tools to protect us from evil, or heal our devastating wounds? While arguably worthless as tools, they are meaningful as art objects, helping us address our unspoken fears, longings, and memories. With this provocative work Sarah Stengle demonstrates that useless tools can be powerful objects."
$24
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