Hammerhead

Year: 2024

Dimensions: 38” x 20” x 17”

Click the “Description” button below to see video.  Pressing the start button in the wooden base starts a timed cycle.  The machine sways forward and back, causing the hammer to rise and fall, and the operators shifting arm to swing back and forth.

The law of the instrument, or law of the hammer is a cognitive bias that involves an over-reliance on a familiar tool. Abraham Maslow wrote in 1966, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.

Materials:

Record player, photography enlarger stand, slide projector, hammer, nails, drafting table element, gearbox, motor, LEDs, miscellaneous hardware and aluminum.