Marteau en tête Série-Collection : Des outils et des hommes

Jean-Paul Fargier
2001 - 26 min - Vidéo - Couleur - France

Mason, slate worker, glassmaker, cobbler, all use hammers adapted to their profession. The forge hammer is indissociable from the anvil on which it hammers. For a blacksmith, a good hammer is a hammer which he can forget, which so naturally prolongs his hand that the user’s thoughts seem to command matter directly. This communion is so strong that the blacksmith is often associated with a demiurge, just as Thor and Hephaistos were armed with hammers. From breaking up sheet metal to fine-tuning steel-drums, the hammer also participates in Caribbean music.