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Death
of the Expert
(a
bit ? of a rant !)
This is a slightly reduced / edited version of a commentary piece
prepared for the current issue of the Ontario Artisan Blacksmith
Association quarterly newsletter, the Iron Trillium.This segment follows directly from ‘Life on a 3 x 6 inch screen‘. If you have not done so, also read the initial background piece in a previous blog posting.
As Artisan Blacksmiths, Just
who are we?
And
what exactly is it that we do?
There
are a number of reasons, personally, why this all has been at the
forefront of my mind over the last couple of months. With the
restrictions imposed by COVID, coupled with my own individual risk
factors, the ability to (safely!) offer workshop courses at the
Wareham Forge had simply ended. I turned 65 in November 2020, so have
entered some kind of fuzzy ‘retirement’, (with
at least OAS coming in to keep the lights on).
Increasingly,
I
find myself looking back on to over 40 years at a forge at this
point: from student, to hobbyist, to ‘artisan interpreter’, into a full time business (over 30 years).
I
do
appreciate
that there will be a wide range of perspectives held by those reading
this commentary (sorry, but mostly based on generational age).
So
here are some things I’ve seen over March 2021 (!!) and
why they concern me:
The
spark (that set me off) was this. Honestly, not so much what
this is – but how it was reported, and spread around.
This
is a video, with no commentary, of some guy (from Sweden it turns
out) who forged out a (not very good) Viking Age styled bearded axe.
All
working
on a stone block and using hand held stones as hammers.
For
why
would you do this?
This
video was distributed through a number of topic specific groups over
Facebook that I see : Axes, Hatchets / Viking Blacksmithing / Viking
News / Iron Smelters. Every time with a description like ‘Look! So
Cool!!’. That last bit
was
the final straw for me. My comment to the Iron Smelters of the World
group :
“ Look
at ME! I did something!!’ : Sorry, there is just too much historical
distortion going on here. NEVER would have actually happened. (Please
do not quote Africa) There is easily 1500 years of iron making and
use in North Europe before the Bearded Axe. “
Here
is the link to that video – go take a look and come back…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI6l2WqIlD0
He
starts with what looks like a roughly two foot long piece, of mild
steel, a 1
x 1” bar. (As if this was available historically?)It
certainly looks to me like he has metallurgical
coke
as his forge fuel (Not used in the same time period as the axe.)It
also is clear he has an electric blower air source. (Electric blower
– and rocks??)
It
was pointed out to me : ‘He is just having fun.’
Ok – that is
true, perhaps.
But
that at core is not my problem here. It is the way this bit of
silliness has been promoted, both from himself and most certainly by
others. On quick examination, this fellow has over a dozen similar
content videos (steel forged with stones) posted since November 2019.
This
kind of presentation is entirely about a ‘cult of personality’.
There is no information presented about What or Why, the details of
How obscured. (1)
About
two years back, there had been some discussions inside the OABA
Executive about expanding our visibility on Facebook. This partially
in light of the level of activity on this group ‘Canadian
Blacksmiths and Bladesmiths’,
which started in 2015. I do regularly check the additions there, and
try (??)
to
be a ‘wise voice’ contributor.
Now, I have every reason to support the original intent of those who undertook the effort of starting this open ‘discussion’ group. Over
the last two years however, I have seen a dramatic shift in both the offered
content, and the level of discourse, exhibited there.
The
joint impact of ‘Forged in Fire’ and the effect of COVID derived
free time is clear. The group has become totally dominated by knife
grinders.
Deliberately chosen to distinguish those who cut and grind alloy bars
and put handles on them. At this point about 50% of the
contributions are illustrating this kind of work. (2)
Further, more and more of the ‘contributions’ are little more
than thinly disguised advertisements for direct selling.
This
image was presented with the caption ‘One day’s production’.
(2)
Think
on this.
One.
Day.
There
is absolutely no black smithing
involved.There
is almost no blade smithing
involved. The only application of heat (implied) is through the heat
treating cycle, which is suggested will be undertaken by the maker
(at least not sent off to a commercial company).There
is clearly considerable knife making (grinding) involved.But
what is the *scale* of
production?
Where is the line that crosses between *hand* and *machine* made?
Is
there any significant difference between a single person using
industrial methods, or a larger factory with dozens of workers
employing larger, but essentially the same, machines? Especially when
the end product is a series of virtually identical objects? (Yes, I
do understand there will be variations in handle materials, although
those profiles are likely to be identical as well.)
Back
to my starting premise : ‘The Death of Expertise’
I
point you to a commentary by Tom
Nichols,
dated January 17, 2021. This posted to ‘the Federalist’,
obviously a Right Wing slanted publication out of the USA. (bias in
this article noted, ok?)
https://thefederalist.com/2014/01/17/the-death-of-expertise/
The
main thrust of this piece is related to, admittedly, American
democracy. But take this statement :
“ To
reject the notion of expertise, and to replace it with a
sanctimonious insistence that every person has a right to his or her
own opinion, is silly.”
When I first made reference to that article, I happily got back a link to
another commentary – one that points exactly to a shared
involvement in blacksmithing. This is a video presentation by Allen
’Ronin’ Rozon,
of Lames
Original / Origin Blades
from Saint Patrice de Beaurivage Quebec, a blacksmith and bladesmith.
(3)
https://www.facebook.com/OriginBlades/videos/2596577493990874
Here
is a discussion of roughly the same topic, but nicely broken down to
: ‘those that watch from a distance’ (armchair expert), ‘those
who directly experience’ (via demonstrations or courses), and
‘those who know’ (skills developed through massive repetition).
Now
as blacksmiths ourselves, we all know (or should know) the difference
between the ‘doer and the thinker’. How often have we all seen
someone demonstrate a technique or an object, yet when attempting
this ourselves suddenly realize just how difficult it is to
accomplish? (Honestly, this has become an important guide for me. Any
time I see someone doing something that looks ‘easy’, I attribute
this to long hours spent acquiring skills – NOT to the simplicity of
the task!)
Or
is what is seen on YouTube (increasingly) just good video editing?
I’m
going to follow this up with a trend I see increasingly with web
sites recently : All
Flash – No Substance.
The
most recent trend on web sites is to bend entirely to the whims of
the ‘lowest common denominator’.
Minimalist
layouts.Virtually
no text.Obviously
designed for that 3
x 6
inch phone screen.Business
names, but the individual not identified (or name buried down into
the site someplace at best).Lack
of any description of related
experience
Additionally,
I see the use of a few, admittedly professionally photographed,
objects being presented, instead of any attempt at detailing a large
body of work.
I
see ‘courses’ defined as being
not teaching, but as ‘experiences’,
with little description of the content, no mention of the facilities
used, or who the instructor even is,
much less what background
they might have.
I
personally have enough experience
that I can see the huge distortions from what is intentionally not
being made clear, allowing viewers to draw conclusions that do not
represent the truth.
Look,
I do understand I am a dinosaur (or at least remember seeing them).
My concept of the internet comes from the period of it’s birth and
development, when the fledgling web sites were mainly text with few
(poor quality) images. When the intent of the whole thing was about
sharing
information. Before it all became about driving sales, or even worse,
data mining personal details to allow individually targeted
marketing. Increasingly it is clear that those endless ’SEO
Specialists’ are driving the whole internet into mindless
commercialism.
Just
who are we?
And
what exactly is it that we do?
And
how do we explain this?
It
is clear that the public perception of ‘value’ has become determined by
effective visuals, and
‘authority’ by volume as
indicated
either ‘number of views’ or ‘frequency of posting’. It is
also apparent that this perception has extended beyond the
superficial glance of the general public, increasingly to those who
have a more direct interest in our specific topic and area of work.
I’m
going to suggest, from the perspective of 30 years involvement in the
‘Arts and Crafts’ sector, that this dumbing
down of presenting work, a drive to ‘capture market’, is going to
result in the general public also devaluing the work we all
undertake.
What
can we all, individually or as members of an Artisan Community, do about this?
Is
it far too late to have any impact?
Or,
do we even care?
Note
: Many of the viewpoints here are presented in a dramatic fashion.
This done intentionally to spark discussion.
Feel free to criticize and offer alternatives.
The
images seen here were pulled directly off open public postings on
Facebook, Identifying names have been removed – for obvious reasons.
Notes
/ References
1)
A deeper search revealed that this is all part of a doctoral thesis
at the University of Gothenburg :
https://www.gu.se/en/about/find-staff/gustavthane
“ In
my ongoing research, I make blacksmith tools; start with the tools
given by nature, my own hands, stones and sticks, and then use the
tools to make other tools, use those to make others etc. in four
generations. “
He
describes his experience as ‘making objects professionally for 10
years’.
Although
I well understand the concept of what is now called ‘sole
authorship’ in Fine Arts, I suggest that this kind of mixing of
modern and ancient process as if this was some kind of valuable
research is self indulgent (at best). The stated premise for this
study is so full of holes, I can’t realistically understand how it
was ever accepted as a formal thesis.
2)
A (small) apology to the owner of this image. This intentionally
un-named individual actually also does also create his own layered
steel billets (via hydraulic press) and forge those (power hammer)
into blade blanks, which he then finishes into knives. This
is all top quality work,
with excellent attention to detail.
3)
Like an increasing number of people ‘Ronin’ choses to separate
his Facebook identity from his professional / business identity.
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