Tools, physical objects that are the manifestation of a desire to create. They separate humans from most animals and gives us the ability to transform our environment beyond our natural limits. Our thirst for reshaping and developing the natural world drives the need for these devices. They are often overlooked and yet are an extension of the body and therefore the mind.

These images show examples of the many ingenious inventions that have been created to solve a specific problem or complete a task more efficiently. The tools themselves are common, well used, rusty. Some neglected with marks and signs of long years of service. They are created primarily for a utilitarian task but also have a stylish form and shapely beauty. Some represent a past age of hand built, precision engineered devices, in contrast to the modern methods of mass production. They are all hand tools that require the user to do the work themselves and be involved in the process directly. They sit between early human stone tools and the technology of computers and sophisticated machines.

These basic looking instruments can remind us of the complex systems and conventions that humans create. For example, measurement, mathematics, science, agriculture and engineering are involved in the objects’ reason for being and creation. These conventions could also be said to be tools of anther kind as they too arise from a necessity to understand, manipulate and control. Without these humble instruments we have no easy way to change the physical world or convert ideas into reality. With the tool we become more able to overcome many problems and to build a better life. They help us evolve, to rise beyond the limits of ourselves.